Like Grindelwald, but in Italy: the view changes, the gentle skiing does not
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
You love Grindelwald, and you want to know what Italy has in the same mould. The village sits at 1,034 metres under the north face of the Eiger, and the skiing spreads across sectors joined by trains and gondolas rather than one lift network: 150 kilometres is reachable from Grindelwald's own lifts, out of 211 on the Jungfrau Ski Region pass. Around the village we measure 132 kilometres of piste, and it is kind. Forty-two percent of it is gentler than 15 percent, the third biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and only 15 percent is steeper than one in four.
The honest headline: Italy cannot give you the Eiger, and nothing we hold on the Italian picks suggests it can give you the trains. What it can give you is the same gentle skiing, almost to the decimal, under a different set of famous rocks, from a village that sits higher. Our matching puts Alta Badia, Val Gardena and Cortina d'Ampezzo closest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. Val Gardena carries the most across.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Gentler than 15% | Steeper than one in four | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkGrindelwald | 1,034 m | 2,496 m | 132 km | 42% | 15% | 59% |
| Val Gardena | 1,563 m | 2,731 m (lift top) | 145 km | 40% | 13% | 66% |
| Alta Badia | 1,568 m | 2,509 m | 124.5 km | 40% | 15% | 65% |
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | 1,224 m | 3,028 m (lift top) | 85.5 km | 36% | 25% | 67% |
The last column matters. All three Italian picks are snow sure on our measure, which asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500 metres or higher. Grindelwald clears the first test with 59 percent, but its skiing tops out at 2,496 metres by our measure, too close to the second line to call on the numbers alone.
Val Gardena: the closest on how the skiing feels
- VillageVillage
- 1,563 m 529 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,518 m 452 m lower
Val Gardena: 145 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 29%87 km red 60%16 km black 11%
If what you love is the way Grindelwald skis, long, kind and rarely frightening, Val Gardena is close to a copy. Its blues average 12.8 percent against Grindelwald's 13.5, its reds 17.3 against 18.3, its blacks 26.1 against 25.3. Grindelwald's reds are the fifth gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover. Val Gardena's are the third gentlest, well under that Italian average red of 20.4. Only 13 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the smallest share of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and 40 percent is gentler than 15 percent, joint fourth of the 55, one place behind Grindelwald.
There is more of it, too. We measure 145 kilometres of piste around the village against 132, with 16.4 kilometres of black against 19.1. Val Gardena's own sector is 175 kilometres, and it sits on the Sella Ronda, where around 500 kilometres is reachable by lift from a base on the circuit, an approximate figure. The 1,200 kilometres on the Dolomiti Superski pass covers twelve areas, only four of them joined by lift, so treat that as a pass rather than a ski area. The village is at 1,563 metres, 529 above Grindelwald's, and it is snow sure on our measure: 66 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to a lift top of 2,731, though the highest piste we measure is at 2,480.
What you give up, apart from the Eiger and the trains, is blue. Six in every ten kilometres here is red, 86.5 in all, which leaves 42 kilometres of blue and easier against Grindelwald's 55. Those reds are gentler than Grindelwald's, so a confident improver will be fine, but a true beginner has less room. Our read on Val Gardena is scenic and traditional, a valley known for its woodcarving, not one we class as a family resort. It is the same week for a group that already skis.
Alta Badia: the closest on the family week
- VillageVillage
- 1,568 m 534 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,778 m 192 m lower
Alta Badia: 125 km of piste we measure. 76 km blue and easier 61%41 km red 33%8 km black 6%
Our matching puts Alta Badia nearer to Grindelwald than any other Italian resort we cover, and it is the pick for the part of Grindelwald that works so well for families. Fifteen percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, exactly Grindelwald's share, and 40 percent is gentler than 15 percent. It has 76.4 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and 21 more than Grindelwald. The blues average 14.4 percent, a shade steeper than Grindelwald's 13.5.
It is Val Gardena's neighbour on the Sella Ronda, on the same lifts, so between those two the real choice is which valley to sleep in. Alta Badia is five Ladin speaking villages rather than one: Corvara the busiest, San Cassiano the most refined, La Villa and Colfosco quieter. It is best known for its food, from dumplings in mountain huts to serious dinners in the villages, and the evenings are relaxed in the way Grindelwald's are. It is snow sure on our measure: 65 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,509, and the village sits at 1,568.
What you give up is the strong skier's half of the week. There are 7.5 kilometres of black against 19.1, and the reds average 21.7 percent against Grindelwald's 18.3, so the step up from blue is bigger here. The skiing tops out at 2,509 metres by our measure, barely above Grindelwald's top. For a family with small children it is the better of the two Dolomite valleys. For a mixed group with a couple of keen skiers in it, Val Gardena.
Cortina d'Ampezzo: the closest on the town and the view
- VillageVillage
- 1,224 m 190 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,939 m 31 m lower
Cortina d'Ampezzo: 86 km of piste we measure. 38 km blue and easier 45%38 km red 45%9 km black 11%
Plus 9 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Cortina is the pick if what you love is the place as much as the skiing. Its village, at 1,224 metres, is the nearest of the three to Grindelwald's height. It is a real town, with a pedestrian main street and proper shops, so a non skier has as much to do as they would in Grindelwald. Our read on it is stylish and scenic, the one to choose for Dolomite scenery and long lunches. It hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and the Games again in 2026.
The skiing is spread out in a way you will recognise. Tofana, Faloria and Cristallo are separate areas, reached from one another by bus or car, much as Grindelwald's sectors are joined by trains and gondolas. And it goes higher: 3,028 metres by our measure, the second highest top of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and 532 above Grindelwald's, though that is a lift top above the highest piste we measure, at 2,724. It is snow sure on our measure, with 67 percent of the piste we measure above 1,800 metres.
Then the numbers part company. Cortina is a steeper, smaller mountain. A quarter of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 15 percent, the reds average 21.9 percent and the blacks 32.5. We measure 85.5 kilometres of piste, about two thirds of Grindelwald's, with 38 kilometres of blue and easier. There is more marked off piste itinerary, 9.2 kilometres against 3.3, and the feel is upmarket rather than traditional. It is the Grindelwald holiday, not the Grindelwald skiing.
Take away the Eiger and the trains, which none of the three replaces, and what Grindelwald gives you is gentle skiing with enough of it to fill a week. Val Gardena measures almost the same on the gradient, has more piste around the village and nearly as much black, and puts you more than 500 metres higher, with snow we can call sure. Go knowing there is less blue and the view is Dolomite rather than Eiger. If the children are small or most of the group are beginners, stay in Alta Badia instead: same lifts, more blue.