Freeride & ski touring check in Livigno

Livigno - Italian freeride and ski touring highlight in a unique mountain setting

Due to its geographical location, even the journey to Livigno in the winter months is a very scenic experience: coming from the north, you pass through the dead-straight, single-lane, seemingly endless tunnel before crossing the border into Italy directly at the reservoir and getting your first glimpse of the beautiful high valley. After another 15 minutes' drive, you find yourself in the center of the charming Italian village which is surrounded by mountains on both sides and you get the feeling that the ski lifts start directly from the center of the village.

This assumption turns out to be not so wrong in principle: On the western side of Livigno, the Carosello 3000 ski area with around 75 kilometers of groomed slopes, while the Mottolino Fun Mountain ski area with 25 kilometers of slopes is located on the eastern side of the village. Both ski areas therefore offer 100 km of slopes including some freeride variants. The incredible freeride potential of this area becomes particularly clear when you realize that distances in the north-south direction can be perfectly covered by public transport, making it easy and inexpensive to get to the starting point (or back to the valley station) at any time.

The descent towards the pass road followed over extensive, appealing ski touring terrain, on which we skied perfectly back to the starting point of the tour. Once there, we passed the time until the transport arrived with another coffee before enjoying all kinds of cheese specialties that the valley has to offer for lunch at the Latteria di Livigno. This was followed by a revitalizing end to the day at Aquagranda Livigno to recharge our batteries for the following day. A dream of a day!

The next day started - like every day during our stay - with a morning meeting and coffee at the Outdoor Center Livigno. There, we chose Monte Campaccio (3004 m) for today's ski tour, which, after a short abseil, offers a fantastic north-west descent back to the Carosello 3000 ski area. Both the ascent from the ski area and the abseiling point were completed quickly due to the good snow conditions, followed by an enjoyable descent back to the ski area.

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The subsequent lunch at La Calcheira and the traditional cheese fondue dinner at the Alpino Restaurant were also delicious. To get to dinner, we went on a night ski tour in the Mottolino Fun Mountain area, from where you could get a great view of Livigno at night. The ascent can be shortened by the open pass road, but due to the upcoming substantial dinner, we decided to take on a few more meters in altitude.

A long but fun night and an early morning followed after a wet and cheerful descent to Mikey's Pub, which to everyone's delight had fewer meters of ascent than the previous days. Together with our guide, we let off steam in the freeride variants and the Federia side valley before enjoying some free time in Livigno after lunch at La Stuvetta. In the evening, the program included night skiing in the Carosello 3000 area, which was a real treat thanks to the perfectly groomed slopes - even for me with 110mm under my legs and a slope-averse attitude.

And yes, of course the culinary delights don't fall by the wayside either: a coffee here, delicious pastries there, fondue or simply a pizza - you should stay active in Livigno, otherwise you could be in for a rude awakening on the scales....

On behalf of PowderGuide, I would like to thank the Livigno tourist organization (Martina & Michela) and all the guides (Mario, Alberto, Emanuele, Luca, Davide, Paolo and Fabiano) for the great time we had together!

This will certainly not be my last visit to Livigno.

A presto e saluti!