Hintertux or Livigno: higher at the top, or higher at the door
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Hintertux and Livigno sit close together in our matching. Livigno is second on Hintertux's list of the 55 resorts we cover, after Sölden, and Hintertux is first on Livigno's. Both are high, both are snow sure on our measure, and you can fly to Innsbruck for either. Both are red mountains, 59 percent red by the kilometre at each, and neither has any marked off piste itinerary in our data.
So the snow is not the question. The question is where you want the height, and what you want around it. Hintertux is a glacier, snowy and no frills by our read, open every day of the year. Livigno is a high Italian village, lively, duty free and good value. One puts more of its skiing high on the mountain; the other starts higher at the door. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Hintertux | Livigno |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,500 m | 1,816 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,239 m | 2,767 m |
| Ski area | The glacier itself, 62 km; Ski Zillertal 3000, 206 km, by bus | 115 km, in two sectors with no lift between them |
| Piste we measure around the village | 110 km | 81 km |
| Blue and easier | 42 km, 38% of the piste | 25 km, 30% of the piste |
| Black | 2.9 km | 8.9 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 32% | 40% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 28% | 25% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 96% | 100% |
| Season | All year, on the glacier | Late November to May |
| Nearest airport | Innsbruck | Bergamo or Innsbruck |
Neither has marked itinerary in our data, so that row is gone. Hintertux has more skiing, more of it above 2,200 metres and more of it blue. Livigno has the higher village, the steeper mix and more black.
Altitude: Livigno is higher at the door, Hintertux on the hill
Livigno's village sits at 1,816 metres, 316 above Hintertux's 1,500. All of the piste we measure there, 100 percent, is at or above 1,800 metres, the joint highest share of the 55 resorts we cover. The lowest run we measure finishes at 1,813 metres, close to the height of the village.
Hintertux climbs much further. Its skiing reaches 3,239 metres by our measure, the eighth highest top of the 55 resorts we cover and 472 metres above Livigno's 2,767. Half of Hintertux's piste sits above 2,853 metres, against 2,352 at Livigno, and 83 percent of it is at or above 2,200 metres, against 66.
Both pass our snow sure test, which asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500. At Hintertux, 96 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,239 metres. At Livigno it is 100 percent, up to 2,767. Nobody can promise snow. What Hintertux adds is the calendar: by our own line it is the only Austrian glacier open every day of the year. Livigno runs from late November to May.
Size: Livigno is bigger on paper, Hintertux on our measure
Livigno's ski area is 115 kilometres, in two sectors that face each other across the valley with no lift between them. Hintertux's own area is the glacier, 62 kilometres. It shares the Zillertal pass with Mayrhofen, but the 206 kilometres of Ski Zillertal 3000 need a bus, and the bigger pass figure you may see quoted counts some slopes twice, so we leave it out.
Our measurement of the piste around each village is the same ruler at both, and it reverses the order: 110 kilometres around Hintertux, 81 around Livigno, 29 more at Hintertux. The Hintertux figure takes in more than the glacier's 62, so read it as the skiing within reach of the village rather than the glacier alone. Both sit under the 116 kilometres of a typical resort we cover.
Livigno is the steeper. Forty percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the fifth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against 32 percent at Hintertux and 26 at a typical resort we cover. It has more black, too: 8.9 kilometres against 2.9, and Hintertux's figure is the second least of the 55 resorts we cover.
Hintertux has more at the easy end: 42 kilometres of blue and easier against 25, which is 17 more. Neither is generous with gentle ground. Only 28 percent of Hintertux's piste and 25 percent of Livigno's is gentler than 15 percent, and Livigno's share is the sixth smallest of the 55 resorts we cover.
The gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Hintertux's blacks average 35.9 percent, the fifth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, and Livigno's 33.2, both above the averages for a black in Austria and Italy, 30.3 and 30.2. Hintertux simply has very few of them. On the reds it turns round: Hintertux's average 22.1 percent, a little kinder than a typical Austrian red at 23.4, while Livigno's 23.1 sit well above a typical Italian red at 20.4.
Who each one actually suits
Hintertux suits people for whom the snow is the trip. Year round glacier, snow sure and training are the three things on our list of what it does best, and our read of it is snowy and no frills. It suits confident red skiers who want as much of the week as possible high on the mountain, anyone there to train, and anyone whose dates fall outside the usual winter. It is not the place for a group that wants black runs: there are hardly any.
Livigno suits people who want the village itself to be high, and the week to have some life in it. Our read is high and lively, with duty free, snow sure skiing and value on its list. It suits a confident group that likes its skiing steep, and anyone for whom duty free and value are part of the appeal. A group with nervous skiers in it should read the blue row before booking.
The bit nobody tells you
Both are sold on the snow, and both have steep blues. Hintertux's average 19.3 percent and Livigno's 17.8, the second and the joint fourth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. A typical Austrian blue is 16.4, and a typical Italian one 14.4.
At Hintertux the step from blue to red is small: its reds average 22.1, under three points steeper than its blues. So the 42 kilometres of blue and easier that make Hintertux look the kinder choice are not as kind as the colour suggests. For an improver, a blue at either resort will ask more than most blues anywhere we cover. Neither is a place to learn. Both are places to ski a lot of red, high up.
So, which one
the snow and the height are the point: more of the skiing above 2,200 metres, a glacier open all year, more piste on our measure and more blue and easier for the group. Also if you are training, or your dates fall outside the winter.
you want to wake up high, with all of the piste we measure above 1,800 metres, a steeper mountain with more black, and a lively week in Italy, duty free.
Both are snow sure on our measure, and Hintertux gives you more skiing, 472 metres more height at the top and 17 more kilometres of blue and easier. Livigno is the right answer when the village and the week matter as much as the mountain, and the group is confident enough not to miss the kilometres.