Like Adelboden, but in Italy: the family week, the tradition next door
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Adelboden is a warm place to spend a family week. Our read of it is traditional and warm, a classic chalet village linked to Lenk, and tradition, families and the World Cup are on our list of what it does best. We tag it traditional and family.
The skiing is built for a mixed family. Thirty eight percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth largest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, and 25 percent is steeper than one in four, the joint third largest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover. From the village you can ski 85 kilometres without transport, Lenk included. The pass covers 188, across five sectors that are not all joined. The weak point is height: 55 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, but the skiing stops at 2,356 metres by our measurement, so on our measure it is not snow sure.
The honest headline: none of the 10 Italian resorts we cover is both traditional and family on our tags. Italy splits the two between valleys on the same circuit: Alta Badia is the family resort, Val Gardena the traditional one, and the Sella Ronda joins them. Madonna di Campiglio, our matching's closest Italian resort, keeps the family tag and the size. All three sit higher than Adelboden, and all three join up more skiing than its 85.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing | Ski area | Piste we measure around the village | Blue and easier | Gentler than 15% | Steeper than one in four | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkAdelboden | 1,350 m | 2,356 m, measured | 85 km from the village, Lenk included | 115 km | 52 km | 38% | 25% | 55% |
| Alta Badia | 1,568 m | 2,509 m, measured | 130 km own sector, on the Dolomiti Superski pass | 124.5 km | 76 km | 40% | 15% | 65% |
| Madonna di Campiglio | 1,550 m | 2,496 m, measured | 155 km, all lift linked | 115 km | 54 km | 36% | 18% | 61% |
| Val Gardena | 1,563 m | 2,731 m, a lift top; highest piste 2,480 m | 175 km own sector, on the Dolomiti Superski pass | 145 km | 42 km | 40% | 13% | 66% |
Steepness is measured from the gradient, averaged per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch. Swiss and Italian reds are close: across the resorts we cover, they average 19.9 and 20.4 percent.
Alta Badia: the closest on the family week and the feel underfoot
- VillageVillage
- 1,568 m 218 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,778 m 416 m higher
Alta Badia: 125 km of piste we measure. 76 km blue and easier 61%41 km red 33%8 km black 6%
Alta Badia keeps the family week. It is a family resort on our tags, with families on its list, and our read is warm and welcoming, gentle Dolomite cruising and world class mountain food. The warmth carries over, and our guide supplies the tradition the tags leave out: the valley is Ladin, with its own language, cooking and customs, and Colfosco is the quieter, more traditional village. The World Cup comes too. Our guide names the Gran Risa above La Villa as a World Cup giant slalom slope.
Underfoot it skis like Adelboden. Its blues average 14.4 percent and its reds 21.7, against your 14.5 and 21.3, within half a point at both. Forty percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint fourth largest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and there are 76 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, against your 52. We measure 124.5 kilometres around it, about 10 more than around Adelboden, and its own sector is 130.
It also fixes the weak point. The village is at 1,568 metres, 218 above yours, and 65 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 2,509 by our measurement, 153 higher than Adelboden's top. On our measure Alta Badia is snow sure.
The trade is the hard end. There are 7.5 kilometres of black against your 12.9, and 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 25. The confident parent who liked Adelboden's bite will find it gentle, and the traditional label is our guide's, not our tags'.
Madonna di Campiglio: the closest on size and the linked area
- VillageVillage
- 1,550 m 200 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,580 m 218 m higher
Madonna di Campiglio: 115 km of piste we measure. 54 km blue and easier 47%44 km red 38%17 km black 15%
Our matching puts Madonna closer to Adelboden than any other Italian resort we cover, and on size it is close. We measure 115 kilometres around each, with 54 of blue and easier against your 52, and 36 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 38. It is a family resort on our tags, with families on its list.
What it adds is reach. All three of its sectors are lift linked, into 155 kilometres, against the 85 from Adelboden's door. There is more black, too, 17.3 kilometres, the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The village is at 1,550 metres, 200 above yours, and the skiing reaches 2,496 metres by our measurement, 140 higher. Sixty one percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres; the top is close enough to our snow sure line that we have not called it either way.
The trade is the village. Our read is smart and sociable, elegant skiing beneath the Brenta Dolomites, with style and grooming on its list, and we tag it upmarket rather than traditional: polish rather than a chalet village. Only 18 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 25.
Val Gardena: the closest on tradition
- VillageVillage
- 1,563 m 213 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,518 m 156 m higher
Val Gardena: 145 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 29%87 km red 60%16 km black 11%
Val Gardena is the Italian pick we tag traditional. Our read is scenic and traditional, a classic Dolomite valley on the Sella Ronda, with the scenery and its woodcarving on its list. Its blacks average 26.1 percent, the same as Adelboden's, and there are 16.4 kilometres of them against your 12.9.
It is a bigger and gentler mountain. Its own sector is 175 kilometres and we measure 145 around the valley, about 31 more than around Adelboden. Only 13 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, and only one of the 55 resorts we cover has a smaller share. Its reds average 17.3 percent, the gentlest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, which matters, because 60 percent of the piste is marked red and only 29 percent, 42 kilometres, is blue and easier. The map looks harder than the slope.
The tops need care. Its 2,731 metres is the top of a lift, and the highest piste we measure starts at 2,480, so it is snow sure on our measure only on that lift top. The village is at 1,563 metres, 213 above yours. The trade is the family label: we do not tag it family. A family staying in Alta Badia can ski here on the same circuit.
No Italian resort we cover is both traditional and family on our tags, so something has to give, and Alta Badia gives the least: family on our tags, warm by our read, a Ladin valley with its own traditions and a World Cup slope by our guide, blues and reds that ski like yours, and snow sure on our measure. Go knowing there is less black and less steep ground. If the traditional valley matters more than the family label, Val Gardena is on the same circuit. If you want the same size of mountain, all of it linked, Madonna di Campiglio.