Like Zermatt, but in Italy: how close can the Dolomites get?
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Zermatt is a hard habit to break, and Italy is closer than most people think: the lifts already run over the border. What Zermatt regulars love is a car free village at 1,620 metres under the most famous mountain in the world, and skiing that reaches 3,869 metres by our measure, at a top lift station it shares with Cervinia, joint highest of the 55 resorts we cover. It is snow sure on our measure with room to spare: 99 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, the joint third biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover.
The skiing is also kinder than its reputation. We measure 150.5 kilometres of piste around the village, seven tenths of it red, yet only 12 percent of it is steeper than one in four, the lowest share of any resort we cover. Its reds average 17.2 percent, gentler than both the Swiss average of 19.9 and the Italian average of 20.4 across the resorts we cover. And then there are the lunches.
The honest headline: none of our Italian picks is car free, and the highest of their top lifts is 841 metres below Zermatt's. On the highest piste we measure, the gap is 1,133. What Italy can give you is the scenery, the style, the food, and one valley whose pistes ski almost exactly like Zermatt's. Each pick is close on something different.
Cervinia is out on purpose. It shares Zermatt's lifts, in a cross border area marketed at 360 kilometres that we measure at 322, so it is the same mountain from the other side rather than a new one. If an Italian lunch under the Matterhorn is all you want, you can ski there from Zermatt on the International pass.
| Resort | Village | Top of the skiing, measured | Piste we measure around the village | Steeper than one in four | Piste at or above 1,800 m | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your benchmarkZermatt | 1,620 m | 3,869 m, top station shared with Cervinia | 150.5 km (the Matterhorn area: 322 km measured, 360 km marketed) | 12% | 99% | Year round on the glacier |
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | 1,224 m | 3,028 m, top of the lifts | 86 km | 25% | 67% | December to April |
| Val Gardena | 1,563 m | 2,731 m, top of the lifts | 145 km | 13% | 66% | December to April |
| Alta Badia | 1,568 m | 2,509 m | 124.5 km | 15% | 65% | December to April |
Cortina d'Ampezzo: the closest on style and scenery
- VillageVillage
- 1,224 m 396 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,939 m 960 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.
Our matching puts Cortina nearer to Zermatt than any other Italian resort we cover, and it is the only one of the three that is upmarket by our read. It is a real town, not a resort built for skiing: a pedestrian main street, proper shops, and pale Dolomite towers that do for the skyline what the Matterhorn does for Zermatt's. Lunch is treated as an event. It hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and the 2026 Games, and it carries itself like it.
It also reaches the highest of the picks. The top of its lifts is 3,028 metres by our measure, the second highest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, and the highest piste we measure there is 2,724, still above either of the other picks. It is snow sure on our measure: 67 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres. The longest single piste we measure there is a 6.9 kilometre red that drops 1,000 metres.
The trade is the size and the shape. The town sits at 1,224 metres, 396 below Zermatt's village. We measure 86 kilometres of piste around the town, a little over half of Zermatt's, and Cortina's sectors are not all joined: getting between Tofana, Faloria and Cristallo usually means the bus or a car.
It is steeper, too. A quarter of Cortina's piste is steeper than one in four, against Zermatt's 12 percent, and its reds average 21.9 percent against 17.2. The gentle share is level, 36 percent against 35, so the easy ground is there; it is the reds that bite harder. There are 9.2 kilometres of marked itinerary, the second most of the Italian resorts we cover, though well short of Zermatt's 23.1.
Val Gardena: the closest on the skiing
- VillageVillage
- 1,563 m 57 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,518 m 1,381 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 about Zermatt is the skiing itself, the long, wide reds that never quite frighten anyone, Val Gardena is the near twin. We measure 145 kilometres of piste around the valley, about 5 short of Zermatt's, and the village is at 1,563 metres, 57 lower.
The mountain has the same temperament. Thirteen percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the lowest share of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and the second lowest of all 55, after Zermatt. Its reds average 17.3 percent against Zermatt's 17.2, the gentlest of the Italian resorts we cover. Forty percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint highest share of the Italian resorts we cover, level with Alta Badia. Underfoot, this is Zermatt's feel.
It also plugs into something bigger. Val Gardena's own sector is 175 kilometres, and it sits on the Sella Ronda, so from a base there around 500 kilometres is reachable by lift, a figure we sum from our own measurements and treat as approximate. The 1,200 kilometres on the Dolomiti Superski pass is twelve areas, only four of them joined by lift: a pass, not a ski area.
What you give up is the height and the polish. The top of its lifts is 2,731 metres by our measure, 1,138 below Zermatt's top, and the highest piste we measure there is 2,480. It is snow sure on our measure, but with less in hand: 66 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, against 99, and the call rests on the top of the lifts, as the piste stops just under the 2,500 metres our test asks for. Our read on it is scenic and traditional, a classic Dolomite valley known for its woodcarving, not a place for a glamorous week. And if Zermatt's itineraries are your thing, there are only 2.6 kilometres marked here. On black there is more: 16.4 kilometres, the third most of the Italian resorts we cover.
Alta Badia: the closest on the long lunch
- VillageVillage
- 1,568 m 52 m lower
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,778 m 1,121 m lower
Alta Badia: 125 km of piste we measure. 76 km blue and easier 61%41 km red 33%8 km black 6%
Lunch is part of the point of Zermatt. Alta Badia is the Italian answer: our one line on it is gentle Dolomite cruising and world class mountain food, and it has Michelin starred kitchens and a gourmet ski safari, a day spent skiing from one mountain restaurant to the next. It shares the Sella Ronda with Val Gardena, so the two valleys ski as one network.
The skiing is gentle and generous. We measure 76.4 kilometres of blue and easier piste, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and more than double Zermatt's 32.7. Forty percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, and only 15 percent is steeper than one in four. The village sits at 1,568 metres, 52 below Zermatt's.
The trade is height. Alta Badia's skiing tops out at 2,509 metres by our measure, well below Cortina's and about level with the highest piste at Val Gardena, and it is snow sure on our measure by a narrower margin: 65 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres. There are 7.5 kilometres of black. It is warm, welcoming and built for families by our read, not upmarket, and a strong skier will find it gentle.
Zermatt is a place before it is a ski area: the view at the end of the street, the town, the long lunch and the sense of occasion. Cortina is the only pick that gives you all of that, in Italian, with skiing that reaches higher than either of the other picks. Go knowing the skiing is smaller, the reds are steeper and the sectors take a bus to join up. If the long, easy reds are what you would miss most, Val Gardena: the gentlest reds and the smallest steep share of the Italian resorts we cover, both a whisker from Zermatt's.