Mountain Layout—Skiing

Here is a larger, more detailed map.

Here is an interactive Madonna di Campiglio trail map.

One of the best parts of skiing here is that the majority of the folk come for nature and relaxation rather than for all-out skiing. Another plus—the town has aggressively built new lifts. This translates into very few places where skiers will have to wait at lifts. In fact, even when the town seems packed, the slopes can seem deserted with a few slow-lift exceptions.

This is also one of the best-groomed group of trails in Italy. Here the clientele demands pool-table smooth slopes that help them look beautiful when they slip down the trails. During our last visit, we were lucky enough to have about eight inches of snow in the early morning. This allowed us to have the resort almost to ourselves until the afternoon when most of the powder was skied off.

The skiing areas surround the town. For lift purposes it can be divided into four areas: 5 Laghi, Pradalago, Grosté and Spinale. Pradalago and Grosté are the easiest. Spinale and 5 Laghi have more challenging terrain. Little at Madonna will scare away any competent intermediate.

The most development over the past few years has been in the Pradalago region of the resort where wide cruising trails predominate. This sector is now served by a gondola from town and a new quad lift rising from Fortini, near Campo Carlo Magno.

As always, one way to approach a resort is to follow the sun. This means starting your day taking the 5 Laghi cablecar (if the resort is crowded this cablecar can be a bottleneck—it carries only 465 skiers an hour) or taking the Miramonti chairlift (also slow). Once up the mountain, you’ll find a handful of intermediate and decent expert runs are served by a high-speed quad. They will provide a good start to the day and you will find any early morning sun. This area has about 1,600 feet of working vertical with great pitch. A looping intermediate run called Trampolino will take you over to the Pradalago section or to the base of the Fortini chair.

Pradalago has some good upper intermediate and advanced ungroomed terrain dropping down the the mountainside facing 5 Laghi. On the other side of the ridge a series of lifts yo-yos skiers to the connection point with Folgarida. A drop down the Pradalago Diretta then Zeledria brings skiers to the base of the F

ortini chair or the new quad chairlift that brings them back to the top of the Pradalago section.
From Fortini, skiers and boarders can also head to the other side of the valley by taking the Grosté gondola that rises about 2,500 feet in two stages to the top of the Passo Grosté. Here, high above treeline, the mountaintop visuals are spectacular and skiing is easy. Six lifts keep skiers above treeline on the wide-open slopes. Snowboarders will enjoy the Ursus Snow Park in the Grosté Area. It has a halfpipe, quarterpipe and a boardercross area for boarders of all levels.

The drop into the village from this area is very flat along the Poza Vecia trail. To avoid lots of pushing, take the Boch chairlift then drop down the Nube D’Oro trail and then Fortini or Spinale Diretta to get back to town. The Spinale runs that are linked to Grosté by the Boch chairlift offer more challenge than Grosté. The expert Spinale Direttissima trail is the toughest in the area.

Most of the original village hotels are at the base of the slopes, making them convenient both for lunch breaks and quitting time.

Madonna di Campiglio is linked with two other smaller ski areas, Folgarida and Marilleva. The Folgarida and Marilleva areas add another 25 lifts and 50 km. of prepared slopes to the overall region.
The highest lift-accessible point is Grosté at 8,235 feet.

Madonna has most of its slopes covered with snowmaking.

Snowboarding is allowed everywhere in Madonna di Campiglio. The resort has a terrain park with a bordercross layout with two jumps as well as a quarterpipe. Last year this was the site of the Snowboard World Championships.

Mountain rating
The area is good for beginners and intermediates. There is a lot of mountain perfectly suited for learning from top to bottom and intermediates will feel like experts with some challenge. Overall, let’s call this ego-boosting terrain for everyone. While the 3 Tre, Amazzonia and Spinale runs will give experts some good exercise, the area deserves an overall rating of mellow. Experts ski off-trail (the lift system doesn’t really support off-trail skiing—you’ll end up climbing a lot) or go ski mountaineering, but there really isn’t enough expert or advanced skiing to make a trip worthwhile.