Where to Ski And Snowboard -

New snow, and a new cable car in Val di Sole

19th March 2012, by Chris Gill

Definitely not taken on Sunday, when visibility at the top of the Peio 3000 cable car was about 3000cm. Photo: Doppelmayr

For the last night of my current tour of duty we moved from Campiglio a few miles to Passo Tonale, at the 1900m summit of the road pass that joins Trentino to the east to Lombardia to the west. This is an excellent, snowsure small resort, with the distinction of being the cheapest significant resort in the Alps (according to our annual price survey). Its appeal was broadened a few years ago by a piste/gondola link with the lower, steeper, wooded slopes of Ponte di Legno (1250m).

There is now another reason for confident intermediate skiers to consider Passo Tonale as a base. A short bus-ride east into Trentino, the tiny resort of Peio (or Pejo) last season opened an impressive cable-car going from its mid-mountain outpost of Tarlenta (2000m) up to 3000m, with a red run down. What’s impressive is not only the vertical of 1000m (does anyone know a bigger skiable vertical on a single stage cable car in the Alps?) but also the technology. The 100-person cabins ride on widely spaced twin cables – a Doppelmayr invention known as a Funifor – which makes the lift able to operate in all but the strongest winds.

I would bet a tanner to a quid that the suspiciously round top height of 3000m is an exaggeration, but we’ll let that pass. In so far as we could tell in the very poor viz of Sunday afternoon, the red run down is certainly long, and well worth an expedition. We encountered all kinds of snow conditions – the run does get quite a bit of sun, especially on the lower parts (also served by a chair lift). Another red goes on down from Tarlenta to the resort village of Peio Fonti for a total vertical of 1600m. After an excellent lunch at the charmingly woody Scoiattolo restaurant at Tarlenta – and then bombardinos and grappa infused with nuts and cones from the local cembri (arolla pine) trees up at Doss dei Cembri – we bailed out and rode the gondola down.

Sunday’s poor viz developed into a bit of a snowstorm overnight, and on Monday morning we had 5 inches of snow on the car. With heavy snowfall continuing, it was obviously time to head away from the open slopes of Passo Tonale and down to the wooded slopes of Ponte di Legno. With the expert guidance of maestro Achille and the enthusiastic support of Val di Sole press relations director Alberto, we successfully explored most of the main slopes before a delicious lunch at the cosy mid-mountain Valbione restaurant. The snow was heavy, but great fun as long as you got your act together, got your skis on their edges and didn’t hope to skid the turns.

As we drove down towards Bergamo and an overnight stay before my early flight home on Tuesday, the skies cleared completely. Judging by the Ski Club site, Monday’s modest snowfall has been quite widely shared, but there isn’t much more in the offing. I have my fingers crossed for the southern French Alps, where I’ll be going a week from now.

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