Record numbers on the ski slopes, the aim is to repeat the 2018-19 season

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White peaks, slopes crowded with enthusiasts, record numbers. Thus the thought turns to the 2018-2019 season characterized by record attendances. Compared to the recent past, however, the weather conditions have changed with the thermometer struggling to return to the sub-zero average of the season. In Courmayeur there is full house, lots of people both on the slopes and in the village with sold out hotels, second homes and restaurants. There’s the feeling that it’s a kind of tourism that is almost like a stroll and that of true sportsmen. The latter have to deal with a snowpack that is affected by the heat: in recent days it has rained, partly ruining the fresh snow that fell between the end of November and in the San Ambrogio period. It’s better in La Thuile with a ski area at a higher altitude and over a much larger area. But even here the temperatures struggle to drop below zero.

In Livigno, the little Tibet of Italy so nicknamed due to the extreme weather conditions, the thermometer struggles to go below zero even at night. During the day the temperature remains around 3 degrees while at night it drops to -4 against the usual -15 -20. «The weather conditions are different from last season. -23 was reached in December and a perturbation is forecast for next week which will bring snow. We are not worried about the current temperatures – explains Marco Rocca, managing director of Mottolino, the Livigno ski area -. The attendance trend is close to that of 2018-19, given that it bodes well for the season and the booking trend is excellent. Our prospects are positive.” In the North-East in the Dolomiti Superski, the largest ski area in Italy which spreads over an area of ​​about 3,000 square kilometers in the Triveneto area, with most of the winter ski slopes of the Dolomites, for a total of 1,246 km of divided slopes in 12 different ski areas, there is great satisfaction. «The season is going very well, we are above the most optimistic forecasts with sales of daily and multi-day passes marking a +10% compared to 2019, the last record year before the pandemic – says Marco Pappalardo, marketing director of Dolomiti Superski -. The whole chain of the district is benefiting from it. Hotels, restaurants and shelters report a lot of movement with excellent levels of consumption. During the Christmas period there was a trend in consumption that does not suggest a particular attention to spending». In other words, sports enthusiasts treat themselves to breaks dedicated to the pleasures of the gourmet table and bubbles at high altitude. As for the after Epiphany, Pappalardo highlights the tendency to book last minute and for a shorter period than the traditional white week. «The stay tends to be 3 or 4 days for individual trips while tour operators are able to sell the whole week – continues Pappalardo -. In the district, arrivals are expected from Germany, Austria, Switzerland for those who organize their trip independently, while for arrivals organized by tour operators from the Czech Republic and Poland for a seven-day stay». In Cadore the queen of the Dolomites is almost sold out. «The season got off to a good start in early December and expectations were met during Christmas with a full house for the New Year’s Eve – says Roberta Alverà, Councilor for Tourism of Cortina d’Ampezzo -. Attendance remains at good levels with almost sold out until 7 January, a success after two critical years. The weather is good, the lifts are all open and the slopes have been prepared with considerable effort after a hot autumn».