Like Gstaad, but in Italy: the same kind of week, higher up
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Nobody books Gstaad for the numbers, which is rather the point. You go for a car light village of timber chalets, an unhurried morning on the snow, a long lunch and an evening that is grown up rather than loud. We tag it upmarket, quiet and family. The skiing is spread across around nine sectors on one 200 kilometre pass, most reached by train or bus, and around the village we measure 128 kilometres of piste, 57 percent of it blue and easier.
The figures also show its one real weakness. The village sits at 1,050 metres, the skiing tops out at 2,149 metres by our measure, and only 15 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, the smallest share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover.
None of the three Italian resorts our matching puts closest is tagged upmarket, quiet and family at once: Madonna di Campiglio has the wealth and the families, Cortina d'Ampezzo the style, Bormio the calm. But all three sit higher, with far more skiing above 1,800 metres, and Madonna carries the most of the week across.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Ski area | Piste we measure around the village | Blue and easier | Steeper than one in four | Piste at or above 1,800 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkGstaad | 1,050 m | 2,149 m | Gstaad Mountain Rides, 200 km on one pass, around nine sectors, not linked | 128 km | 73 km | 25% | 15% |
| Madonna di Campiglio | 1,550 m | 2,496 m | Skiarea Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta, 155 km, all linked | 115 km | 54 km | 18% | 61% |
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | 1,224 m | 3,028 m, a lift top | Dolomiti Superski pass; its own area is not classified in our data | 86 km | 38 km | 25% | 67% |
| Bormio | 1,225 m | 3,001 m | Alta Valtellina, four separate valleys on one pass; its own mountain is 50 km | 53 km | 12 km | 32% | 76% |
On that ruler, one finding runs Italy's way. Our guide calls Gstaad's skiing gentle, and in feel it is, tree lined and unhurried. Measured, its blues are the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, averaging 17.8 percent against an Italian blue's 14.4, and only 20 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, 53rd of the 55 resorts we cover. Every Italian pick here is kinder at the easy end.
Madonna di Campiglio: the closest on the family week
- VillageVillage
- 1,550 m 500 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,580 m 420 m lower
Madonna di Campiglio: 115 km of piste we measure. 54 km blue and easier 47%44 km red 38%17 km black 15%
Madonna di Campiglio is upmarket and family by our read, the two Gstaad tags a family booking cares about. It keeps the cars out of the middle too: the centre is pedestrian, made for wandering and an early evening aperitivo, and it has been smart since the Hapsburg era, when central Europe's aristocracy came for the air.
The skiing is close in size and far better joined. We measure 115 kilometres around the village, about nine tenths of Gstaad's 128, and 17 kilometres of black, a kilometre short of Gstaad's and the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The difference is the map: Skiarea Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta is 155 kilometres with all three sectors linked by lift, out to Pinzolo and Folgarida Marilleva. The bus and train legs of a Gstaad day disappear.
It is gentler, too. Thirty-six percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 20, and the blues average 12.9 percent against 17.8. Add grooming our guide calls immaculate, and a grandparent or a nervous child will find it an easier mountain than home.
And it is higher. The village is at 1,550 metres, 500 above Gstaad's, the skiing reaches 2,496 metres by our measure, 347 higher, and 61 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres. That top is just short of the 2,500 metres we want before calling a resort snow sure, so we make no promise.
What you give up is the hush. Our read is smart and sociable, with a hum in the centre on busy weeks. There are 54 kilometres of blue and easier against 73, and less for a strong skier: 18 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 25.
Cortina d'Ampezzo: the closest on the town and the view
- VillageVillage
- 1,224 m 174 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,939 m 61 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.
If what you love about Gstaad is the place more than the piste, the discreet shops, the long lunch with a view, a non skier with a full diary, Cortina d'Ampezzo is the Italian version. It is a historic town rather than a purpose built resort, upmarket, stylish and scenic by our read, and best for Dolomites scenery, style and long lunches. The Corso Italia is lined with boutiques, lunch at a rifugio is the event of the day, and the pale Dolomite towers do what the Saanenland does, only louder.
The mountain works like Gstaad's. Tofana, Faloria and Cristallo are separate areas, linked by the ski bus or a car, a rhythm a Gstaad regular already knows. The Dolomiti Superski pass spans twelve areas, only four joined by lift, so it is a pass, not one ski area. Cortina's own area figure is not classified in our data; around the town we measure 86 kilometres, about two thirds of Gstaad's.
Underfoot it is the nearest of the three: a quarter of the piste is steeper than one in four at both, though Cortina has nearly twice Gstaad's share of gentle ground, 36 percent against 20. And it is snow sure on our measure: 67 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, with lifts to 3,028 metres, above the highest piste we measure, 879 above Gstaad's top and the second highest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover.
What you give up is the quiet and some room. We tag Cortina neither quiet nor family, people watching on the Corso is close to a sport, and there are 38 kilometres of blue and easier against 73. Our matching puts it level with Bormio as the closest Italian resort to Gstaad, and for a couple who want a town as much as a mountain, it is.
Bormio: the closest on the quiet
- VillageVillage
- 1,225 m 175 m higher
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,012 m 12 m higher
Bormio: 53 km of piste we measure. 12 km blue and easier 23%36 km red 68%4.7 km black 9%
Bormio is the only one of the three we tag quiet. Our read is historic and relaxed, a spa town with a famous top to bottom run, best for long runs, its thermal spa and racing. For a Gstaad regular whose afternoons belong to a long soak, that is a natural fit.
Its map is the most like Gstaad's: the Alta Valtellina pass covers 200 to 230 kilometres across four separate valleys, Bormio's own mountain is 50 kilometres on 12 lifts, and everything else needs transport. In return it has more of its skiing up high than either of the others: 76 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 3,001 metres, 852 above Gstaad's top.
The catch is the skiing, and it is a big one for a Gstaad family. We measure 53 kilometres around the village and 68 percent of it is red. Its 12 kilometres of blue and easier is the least of the 55 resorts we cover, 32 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, and the blacks average 35.7 percent, the second steepest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. It is a quiet week for confident skiers, not for small children or a grandparent finding their legs.
What Gstaad gives a family, before the shops or the scenery, is a calm, smart village and a mountain everyone can ski. Madonna di Campiglio does both: upmarket and family, a pedestrian centre, nearly Gstaad's piste and black, kinder blues, all of it linked, and four times the share of piste above 1,800 metres. Go knowing it is sociable rather than hushed, with less easy mileage. If you are two and the town is the holiday, Cortina d'Ampezzo.