Love Livigno? Where to go next for the height, the nights or the steep
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20267 min read
On our data, Livigno is loved for three things: it is high, it is snow sure, and it is duty free, with value on its list of what it does best. Our read on the mood is high and lively. The village sits at 1,816 metres, among the highest of the 55 resorts we cover. The season runs from late November to May.
There is a fourth thing it is rarely sold on. For a resort with a name for value, Livigno is a steep mountain. So which part you love decides the next trip: the altitude, the lively week, or the hard red skiing. The duty free stays behind on every route.
Livigno, measured
It is high from the bottom up. Every metre of piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and the lowest run finishes at 1,813, more or less at the village. Two thirds of it, 66 percent, is above 2,200. That makes Livigno snow sure on our measure, all of it above 1,800 metres and up to 2,767. Nobody can promise snow, but few resorts start the day this high.
The top is not the story. The skiing reaches 2,767 metres by our measure, which is middling among the resorts we cover, and from the lowest piste to the highest is 954 metres. Livigno's height is in where the skiing sits, not in how far it climbs.
It is smaller than the area figure suggests. The ski area is 115 kilometres, but it is two sectors facing each other across the valley with no lift between them, so a day usually starts with choosing a side. We measure 81 kilometres of graded piste around the village, and there is no marked off piste itinerary in our data.
And it is steep. Forty percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the fifth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against 26 at the median. The blues average 17.8 percent, the joint fourth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, against an Italian norm of 14.4. The reds, at 23.1, and the blacks, at 33.2, also sit above the Italian averages of 20.4 and 30.2. These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but every grade here runs steeper than the Italian average. Only a quarter of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, and there are 25 kilometres of blue and easier. A confident group will love it. A nervous one should know before booking.
Val d'Isère: if it is the height and the life, on a bigger map
- VillageVillage
- 1,850 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,456 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 300 km
Val d'Isère: 158 km of piste we measure. 90 km green and blue 57%46 km red 29%22 km black 14%
Plus 29 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Val d'Isère is the one pick that keeps Livigno's whole profile at altitude. Its village is at 1,850 metres, 34 above yours, and 100 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800, level with Livigno for the joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover. It is lively too: our read is a high altitude classic that skis big and stays up late, and its season starts in late November, as yours does, running to early May.
Everything on the mountain gets bigger. Espace Killy, which it shares with Tignes, is 300 kilometres, a figure checked against our own measurement, and it is all one linked area, against your 115 in two unlinked sectors. Around Val d'Isère itself we measure 158 kilometres, nearly twice your 81. The skiing reaches 3,205 metres, measured, 438 above your top. There are 22 kilometres of black against 8.9, and 28.7 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, where Livigno has none in our data.
It is a little less steep, and much roomier for a mixed group. Twenty nine percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 40, still above the median, and its blues average 16.9 percent against 17.8. There are 90 kilometres of green and blue, against your 25 of blue and easier.
The trade is the mood and the duty free. We class Val d'Isère as upmarket as well as lively, where Livigno has value on its list.
Sölden: if it is the snow and the nights, with glaciers
- VillageVillage
- 1,368 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,340 m
Sölden: 135 km of piste we measure. 77 km blue and easier 57%40 km red 29%19 km black 14%
Sölden is the closest match to Livigno we measure that keeps the lively week. It is sporty and lively by our read, with glaciers, snow and nightlife the three things it does best, and its season runs from late November to May, exactly yours. You can fly to Innsbruck for either.
The gradients are nearly a copy. Sölden's blues average 17.3 percent against your 17.8, its reds 23.7 against 23.1, and its blacks 33.3 against 33.2. Grade labels rarely line up across a border, so a match this close is worth knowing: a red there should feel much like a red at home. The share of steep piste is lower, 30 percent against your 40, and the gentle share is level, 26 percent against 25.
There is more of it, and more of the easy kind. We measure 135 kilometres of piste around the village against your 81, with 77 kilometres of blue and easier, about three times your 25, and 19 kilometres of black against 8.9. And the top is far higher: 3,306 metres, measured, the highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and 539 above Livigno's.
The trade is the village. Sölden sits at 1,368 metres, 448 below yours, and the lowest piste we measure comes down to 1,345 metres, against your 1,813. Eighty nine percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 100, which keeps it snow sure on our measure, up to that 3,306 metre top. And the duty free stays in Italy.
St Anton: if it is the steep, with far more of it
- VillageVillage
- 1,304 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,811 m
St. Anton: 155 km of piste we measure. 66 km blue and easier 42%65 km red 42%24 km black 15%
Plus 70 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If the best of Livigno is that the mountain is steeper than anyone expects, St Anton is steeper still, and far bigger. Forty three percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, joint second of the 55 resorts we cover and above your 40. The reds average 25.8 percent, the sixth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, and the blacks 34.1. It is lively, too, energetic and social by our read, the heart of the Arlberg, with off piste and nightlife on its list of what it does best.
The scale changes completely. We measure 155 kilometres of piste around the village, nearly twice your 81, with 24 kilometres of black against 8.9. Then there is the off piste: 70 kilometres of marked itinerary, the most of the 55 resorts we cover, where Livigno has none in our data. The Arlberg as a whole reaches further, but its size is not yet classified in our data, so we compare on what we measure around the village.
The trade is the height and the season. St Anton's village is at 1,304 metres, 512 below yours, and 71 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against all of Livigno's. It is snow sure on our measure, up to 2,799 metres, which is 32 above your top. The season runs December to April, shorter at both ends than yours, and it is no more forgiving for a nervous skier: only 24 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent.
So, which one
you want Livigno's height and its lively feel on a mountain about twice the size, and you can live without the duty free.
Tignes if you would go higher still and value matters more than the nights.
the nights and the snow are the point, and you would trade the high village for glaciers, a 3,306 metre top and three times the easy skiing.
it is the steep you love, and you want more black, the most off piste we measure and a lively village at the bottom of it.
It is the only route that matches your 100 percent of piste at or above 1,800 metres, it is just as lively, and it gives you nearly twice the skiing, all of it linked, with a higher top. What it asks in return is the duty free, Livigno's value and a little of the steepness.