Photo: © Turismo Madesimo.
With skiing up to almost 3000m, there’s plenty of it. And nearly all the slopes are east-facing, which makes for a long ski season. The bottom part of the mountain has some excellent fast-cruising terrain combined with beginner slopes, and there’s a modern lift system too.
Most notorious of all the skiing here is the Canalone run (not canelloni, as in the tube-shaped pasta, but Canalone which means ‘large couloir’). This is a 1000m vertical, ungroomed itinerary run served by a sole cable-car. It’s a run that should surely feature on the list of the top ten runs in Europe. You enter by crossing to the right for 30m in a diagonal slide, then you come out onto the steep slope. The run has not been prepared, but since it is north-facing it holds its snow until June.
Ski day and night
Madesimo is a great spot for night-skiing, with the slopes floodlit all the way down to the town from 6.30pm to 10.45pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as during school holidays. You can buy a night pass for 10€. In fact, Madesimo offers myriad types of ski pass – including a university students’ pass, an eco pass for four to five people, and passes for non-consecutive days.
MadePark is the growing snowpark divided into several areas. There’s the Easy Area – designed with beginners in mind – with a jump, rail and boxes. The Jib Area has kicker rails, boxes and all manner of temptations for the more experienced – such as a dozen flat boxes, rails, a staircase, rainbow box, plug and a line of kickers of between 4m and 6m in size. Further down towards the valley you’ll come across the Kickers Area where two large terraces have been created with a total of four jumps in sequence ranging from 10m to 17m. The resort also has 20km of cross-country trails.
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