Kronplatz or Val Gardena: one pass, the steep dome or the gentle valley
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Kronplatz and Val Gardena are both in the Italian Dolomites, both run from December to April, and you can fly to Innsbruck for either. They are on the same lift pass, Dolomiti Superski, so the pass is not the question.
But Dolomiti Superski is a pass, not a ski area: 1,200 kilometres across twelve areas, only four of them joined by lift. Val Gardena is a classic Dolomite valley on the Sella Ronda. Kronplatz is a perfectly groomed dome above the Puster valley, and nothing in our data joins it to the Sella Ronda by lift. So you are choosing a mountain as well as a village, and on the measured gradient these two sit at opposite ends of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The question is how steep your group wants its week, and how far it wants to roam. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Kronplatz | Val Gardena |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,200 m | 1,563 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,266 m | 2,731 m at the top of a lift; highest piste 2,480 m |
| Ski area | Quoted at 119 km, not measured by us | 175 km of its own; about 500 km in reach by lift from a Sella Ronda base |
| Lift pass | Dolomiti Superski, 1,200 km across twelve areas, only four joined by lift | The same pass |
| Piste we measure around the village | 77 km | 145 km |
| Blue and easier | 36 km, 47% of the piste | 42 km, 29% of the piste |
| Red | 26 km, 34% of the piste | 86.5 km, 60% of the piste |
| Black | 14.1 km, 18% of the piste | 16.4 km, 11% of the piste |
| Marked off piste itinerary | None in our data | 2.6 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 43% | 13% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 16% | 40% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 51% | 66% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Innsbruck or Venice | Innsbruck or Verona |
Read the colour rows, then the steepness rows. Val Gardena's map is 60 percent red and Kronplatz's 47 percent blue and easier, yet 43 percent of Kronplatz's piste is steeper than one in four, against 13 percent of Val Gardena's.
Size: Val Gardena, by any count
Kronplatz's 119 kilometres is quoted, not measured by us, and we cannot say whether it is the mountain's own skiing or something wider. Measured from the run geometry ourselves, we make it 77 kilometres of graded piste around the village. Around Val Gardena we measure 145, 68 more and the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and its own sector is 175.
Then the link. From a base on the Sella Ronda, around 500 kilometres is reachable by lift without a bus. That is our own approximate sum of measured kilometres across the linked areas, not a figure Dolomiti Superski publishes. Kronplatz is one mountain, and you ski it as one.
Around the village, Val Gardena also has more kilometres of every grade, and 2.6 of marked itinerary where Kronplatz has none in our data.
Altitude: Val Gardena is higher, but read its top with care
Val Gardena's village is at 1,563 metres, 363 above Kronplatz's 1,200, the lowest village of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The lowest piste we measure is at 1,218 metres in Val Gardena and 942 at Kronplatz. Sixty six percent of Val Gardena's piste is at or above 1,800 metres, against 51 percent at Kronplatz, and half of it is above 1,925 metres, against 1,807.
The top needs a sentence of its own. Val Gardena's skiing reaches 2,731 metres by our measurement, but that is the top of a lift: the highest piste we measure starts at 2,480. Kronplatz's 2,266 is a piste top, and the lowest top of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. On the piste, Val Gardena goes 214 metres higher.
Our snow sure test asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500. Val Gardena is snow sure on our measure, with 66 percent of its piste above 1,800 metres, up to the 2,731 metre lift top, though its highest piste falls just short of that 2,500 line. Kronplatz is not: 51 percent clears the half, but its skiing tops out at 2,266. Nobody can promise snow, but Val Gardena has more of its skiing high.
The skiing: Kronplatz has the bite, Val Gardena the miles
Both grade the Italian way, so the colours compare fairly here, and they still mislead. Measure the slope instead. These are average gradients 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. Kronplatz's blues average 20.2 percent, the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Val Gardena's reds average 17.3, the gentlest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, against 20.4 for a typical Italian red. A Kronplatz blue measures steeper than a Val Gardena red.
36 km blue and easier 47%26 km red 34%14 km black 18%
42 km blue and easier 29%87 km red 60%16 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Val Gardena 2.6 km.
The shares agree. Kronplatz's 43 percent steeper than one in four is the joint second biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover; at Val Gardena it is 13 percent, and only one of the 55 resorts we cover has less. Forty percent of Val Gardena's piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth biggest share of the 55 we cover. At Kronplatz it is 16 percent, the smallest share of the 55 resorts we cover.
Val Gardena has more black, but Kronplatz's is steeper, averaging 30.2 percent against 26.1, the gentlest blacks of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The longest run we measure at Kronplatz, Ried, is a 4.1 kilometre red with 647 metres of vertical. Val Gardena's longest is a 3.9 kilometre red with 395.
Who each one actually suits
Val Gardena suits mixed groups, and intermediates who want to cover ground. The Sella Ronda is first on its list of what it does best, then scenery and woodcarving, and our read is scenic and traditional. Gentle reds by the mile let a newly confident skier travel, and the stronger ones get more black and some marked itinerary. Fly to Innsbruck or Verona.
Kronplatz suits a group that likes its piste groomed, quick and steep, and a family whose children are past the nervous stage. It is modern and efficient, the one of the two we tag for families, with grooming, families and museums on its list. Fly to Innsbruck or Venice.
The bit nobody tells you
Kronplatz carries our family tag and Val Gardena does not. Yet on the measured gradient, Val Gardena is the kinder mountain for an improver just off the nursery slope, because its reds average gentler than Kronplatz's blues. Kronplatz has grooming on its list beside families, and it suits a family that already skis well. For a second week on skis, the gradient matters more than the colour on the map, and the gradient favours Val Gardena.
So, which one
everyone in the group skis confidently and wants steep, groomed piste, you like one compact mountain to call your own, or a family of good skiers wants something modern and efficient, with museums for the day off.
you want the bigger week, with the Sella Ronda and around 500 kilometres in reach by lift, gentle reds for the less confident, more of the skiing high, and a traditional valley with the Dolomites around it.
It gives more skiing to more of the group: 145 kilometres measured around the village against 77, more of it above 1,800 metres, and a mountain that is kind to improvers. The pass covers Kronplatz too, if a strong skier wants a day on it. Kronplatz is the right answer when the whole group wants pitch, and knows it.