One of the leading European countries in winter active holidays, Italy has a vast range of offers for skiers, skaters and generally for admirers of 'la dolce vita' life style.
High alpine snow resorts way above 3000 m a.s.l. guarantee perfect snow during more than half a year, and thanks to presence of several glaciers, ski lovers can enjoy
summer skiing in several Italian ski areas.
The sun gives a look to the valleys most of the time, and natural forests with unpolluted air, add one more reason to enjoy the staying in Italy.
Italian 'sky high' resorts are located in Valle d'Aosta, on the slopes of the highest European mountains.
Courmayeur features the number of fresh, perfect snow downhill runs, but also plenty of possibilities for off-piste skiing, used by the fans of heliski , who want to slide down
on the Italian side of the highest mountain 'Mount Blanc'.
Both Breuil-Cervinia and Monterosa Ski Area are situated around the slopes of Matterhorn are connected with famous Swiss ski area Zermatt.
Bardonecchia and Sestriere, once an exclusive resort known only among Italian upper class, at present enjoy the growing popularity, and international attention brought by the last Winter Olympic Games held in Torino in 2006.
Another area where one can ski on the Italian side of the Alps is Valtellina, which bursts the relatively small, but perfect ski resorts like Madesimo and Santa Caterina Valfurva, and the big ones
such as Bormio and Livigno, famous also for its former 'Duty Free' shopping zone.
For many of the visitors the term 'Ski Italy' means 'Skiing in Dolomites' and indeed the Dolomite mountains witness the biggest number of visitors during the whole year.
The ski resorts scattered around the large mountain ranges recently formed the group 'Dolomiti Superski' describing itself as a big ski carousel with more than 1 200 km of slopes in 12 large ski areas.
The highest Dolomite mountain Marmolada, the exclusive spa Cortina d'Ampezzo, Pale di San Martino, Madonna di Campiglio ( in Brenta Dolomites) and famous Sella Ronda range ar a 'must'
for every ski lover.
Every Italian ski resort is well prepared for the young skiers, but traditionally the family resorts are located in South Tyrol in the area named Ortler or Ortles, easy accessible from neighbouring Austria ( Innsbruck ).
Skiing is by no mean limited to the Nothern part of Italy. There are numerous small resorts in the middle of the country, which served as playground for famous skiers like Alberto Tomba, who
practised on the Appenine slopes in Abetone and Cimone.
The furthest southern place in Italy is Sicily, where one can ski on the slopes of Etna, if the level volcanic activity allows.
Welcome to Ski-Italy.com, we hope that you will find our web pages useful for planning your winter vacations.
