Madonna di Campiglio

A snowHead

Anyone been to Madonna di Campiglio? I know it's pretty and chic etc but am concerned tha the skiing might lack a challenge. I like to do a few blacks and some easy off-piste but not sure if this is possible. Any tips/advice Puzzled

A snowHead

Skiied in Folgarida, which is liftlinked. wee din;t actually get over to Madonna, so this maynot be very applicable but I can;t say that the terrain in Folgarida was particularly challenging, although it was enjoyable.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Why didn't you get over to M di C? Were you only there a short time?

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we were there for a week, in March a couple of years ago- we had a package deal from equity which included ski school each day. we just decided to save a bit of money and not bother to get the extra pass, just stay on the folgarida side.

Mrs NBT's been, but before we met.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Okay. Cheers. Reading up on it, there may be a few testing runs that I can slot in!

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I have been there 3 times in a run and loved the place. Its best if you get the lift pass for the whole are which includes Folgarida. There are some very testing runs from the Groste area. If you can i would stay in the Europa Hotel as its right in the centre next to the Piazza Righi and only about 5-10mins walk to the ski lifts.
If you want to go off piste skiing head to the top of the Groste area which has the best and deepest snow.

If you go to this website you will find all the info you need.
http://www.campiglio.com/

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I went in January 2002. There was no snow - or rather, no REAL snow. They'd made some, but having created some ribbons of white within a predominantly brown landscape, then decided not to run the snowmakers any more (which I found surprising, considering the temperatures were well below zero, and conditions ideal for snowmaking).

Consequently, I was less than enthralled by the sking, which was not testing. It's possible that when they DO get some snow, that you might get something more challenging: the run up under the main gondola ("Spinale Diretta") looked like it might be a lot of fun, if it were covered with snow, instead of unemployed snowblowers.

I wasn't too impressed by the standard of the skiers on the hill, either. for the most part it seemed packed out with beginners and low intermediates, one of whom collided with Mrs. A, giving her a black eye and a scar she carries to this day. (B*gg*r didn't even apologise, either). Of course, with conditions as poor as they were, I imagine that most of the good skiers in the area had upped and crossed the border to Austria, whose snow-covered mountains could be distantly glimpsed from the top. (It was VERY clear).

OK, so I don't rate the skiing. However, there are compensations. The scenery is pretty spectacular (see above about distant views), the food is good, and the natives (except for the one who clocked Mrs A) generally friendly.

The main gondola station has lockers at the base, which can be rented by the day or by the week. Very handy for keeping/leaving your gear in, so that you don't have to tromp around town in your ski boots, lugging your skis over your shoulder and poking passers-by in the eye.

After all it is free

do you know that the ferrari team ski there? Yes every year. yes michael and the other slower one... PM me if you want details.

Folgarida is more interesting skiing. But in MDC they have a conveyor-belt-bridge. Not much night life but loads of beautiful italien middle age female back bottom though !

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i did not type 'back bottom' I typed 'arde' but not an 'd' an 's' !!!

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kezzy1966, you've been censored by the automatic profanity filter. If you want to check out iffy words, press preview to see what happens wink

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Yes - 3 times and going on Sunday for Christmas! Snow is looking pretty good. Skiing is not challenging, it's the whole atmosphere (and the terrific hotel I stay in) that I like.

The reason they don't run the snow making all the time is that water supplies are an issue. If they have had a dryish summer then the reservoirs are not full and they have to ration the amount they use for snowmaking.

The run under Spinale is indeed fun - but it's only been open on one of my trips.

Went to Madonna in Feb half term. There was too much snow!! I really enjoyed the skiing as there was a lot of variety and the scenery is fantastic! My only grumble is that there is quite a lot of walking to get to the lifts in the morning as all three are a fair way away from each other, however once up you can ski all the way around the area. I didn't get over to Folgarida as the day I had planned to go the weather was bad. There was also a horrible red run down to the access lift that I reckon is best done early in the morning (if you are a wimp like me). We stayed in a really fantastic hotel - The Chalet Hermitage. Although it is a long way out from the centre they run an incredibly reliable shuttle service. Overall accommodation in the resort can be a bit pricey- we DIY'd and got a much better deal. Alitalia flights to Milan around £80-100, hired a car (journey took about 3 hours) and booked the hotel direct over the internet. I would happily recommend this resort for timid intermediates as there are some lovely runs and even in half term many of the slopes were very quiet.

You know it makes sense.

Buongiorno,

We are 4 friends from Finland planning to go to Madonna di Campiglio for holidays in the beginning of March (28.2-09.03) and we are looking for a simple place to stay over night. For example "monolocale" or "bilocale" or a hotel room.

Could you please suggest us some places/hotels that offer bed and breakfast, or a studio that we could rent (2-3 stars are enough)? We are going there in order to ski so the location should be somewhere close to the skiing hills.

I wish that you could help us to find a suitable place for our stay in Madonna. Thanks for your help in Advance, none of us speaks Italian, so we really appreciate all the help we can get. =)

Have a nice day!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

We had a long weekend there two seasons ago and it was my first ski trip, hence I have rose tinted specs about this place. I loved it. The hotel was great and the food was superb, the waiters were great fun and it was called Hotel Milano. Obviously I cannot comment on how challenging the runs are but I guess they can't be too tough because on our last day I was able to do the whole circuit with my friends (experienced skiers) although it did not include any black runs for me but most of the reds. Lots of tumbles mind but it was great! As mentioned above , a bit of a fag walking to the lift first thing. The scenery is fantastic. Not sure there is a whole weeks worth though. I would never say no to a return. Need to make your own amusement of an evening, the slopes are really quiet during the week.

A snowHead

NY family here, planning a trip for half-term. Was reading through the Madonna section of "Where to Ski & Snowboard '15" and feel like I have a pretty good handle on the place. But I have a few questions:

-Where's the ski school pickup/dropoff location?
-Is it better to find lodging closer to Spinale or the Cinque Laghi/Pradalago side?
-Is the car free area only around Piazza Righi?
-Does anyone have recent experience with Cerena Relax hotel, Hotel Gianna or Alpen Suite Hotel?

Thanks!

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Sad to see the reference early in this thread to Schumacher, from a time before to his accident.

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Yea, I am glad that they gave his name to the steep bit at the bottem of the spinale,

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Thanks for the helpful responses. Can anyone recommend an English speaking ski school?

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Is the nightlife not too good in MDC ????

After all it is free

I think 2014 was the last time we were there. Can't tell you too much about the centre of MDC as we stayed in Pinzolo. We rented a lovely, roomy holiday home. Forget French shoe-box apartments, This was a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, large lounge and kitchen diner affair. As someone has mentioned, the access to skiing from here is via gondola. You cannot ski back down to Pinzolo directly. We drove to the carpark further up the valley and began our ski days there. Proper little town (village really) that happens to have access to some skiing.

Worth getting the area lift pass. The gondola ride from Pinzola over to MDC seems to take forever (eat your packed lunch) and must have cost millions of euros. BTW, in Pinzolo, there's a reasonably steep run down to the upper car park (Audi something or other) that ends at a small cafe/coffee shop and gondola. Right at the top of the Pinzolo area there's a great family run refugio. Super food. Coffee/cake shops seem to morph into bars in the evening. Most days we stopped for apres beers and Aperols (compulsory) at a Bar tucked away at the garage near the lift station. the longer we stayed, the more tapas type food they sent over.

At the oposite end end of the area is Folgarida and Marilleva (sp?). Again some decent runs and good restos. We stayed in Folgarida years back with Waynes' outfit (Remember him?) But wouldn't recommend staying there. It's basically a strip of hotels, a couple of bars and shops in a mountain cul-de-sac.

Enjoyed skiing around the MDC area. Both sides of the valley easily accessed with fantastic views as you gain elevation. And the coffees are cheap regardless of how swanky the refuge/restaurant looks.
ps, it was UK half term when we were there and we didn't have to queue for long anywhere other than near the valley road crossing in MDC.

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Best hot chocolate in the world! Went for first time in 2020 and absolutely loved it - perfect for intermediates but a few challenging blacks.
Town is full of lovely shops and a huge supermarket plus some good bars. Highly recommend.

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Thanks for the feedback folks. Does 840 EUR seem like a reasonable price for roundtrip transfers from Malpensa?

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never done it, but have you looked at this ?
https://www.flyskishuttle.com/

You know it makes sense.

I thought it sounded a lot but it is a long way. Day of week and time of day will also be big factor.

On the above site you can get transfers for eur 50pp each way if the timings are right

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Flyski Shuttle doesn't work for us. Assuming I'm reading their time table correctly, the schedule is pretty minimal and non existent if you're not doing Saturday to Saturday. Going with the rental car option and don't feel great about it.

A snowHead

What's wrong with renting a car?

A snowHead

Nothing against renting a car generally. But, this will be a 4 hour drive after a 9 hour overnight flight from NY. We have also missed a flight back to the US driving from Lugano in the summer due to vehicle GPS with improper settings. That mistake cost us about $4k. So it's very debatable whether "saving" a few hundred Euros is worth it. But alas, my wife wants to rent the car, so we'll rent the car.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Guys, I'm looking at MdC for 3rd week of March. Would this be a sensible time to go? The snow record/history seems to hold up and they have seem to have plenty of snow making facilities.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We’ve been in mid March and the snow was fine, bit slushy later on in the day lower down.

However, they have had very little snow this year and when we were there recently we were told that some of the dedicated reservoirs are almost dry. If that happens there will be no snow making so you need to factor that in.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

That's good to hear. I presume you get the superskirama pass giving you access to Tonale/Legno, it's only a few euros more. Is it worth the trip over, we'll have the car.

It seems you can only buy this type of pass from the Folgarida outlet:

https://folgaridamarilleva.skiperformance.com/en/winter/store#/en/winter/buy

It's around 250 Euros for 6 days

After all it is free

If it’s windy in Madonna the slopes may close so you could pop over to Passo Tonale (we did that once). Otherwise it’s a bit of a poor relation, not a pretty town, not as pretty slopes. Alternatively if you’re high mileage skiers and like variety MdC isn’t massive so you might fancy a change by the end of the week.

I should say we had a nice weeks holiday in PT when I was an early intermediate. My wife is a good skier and got a bit bored.

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Anyone used Sunweb before? They’ve got some great deals for MdC, which include the ski passes.
It seems like they give you a bit of a discount on the accommodation and they’re pricing their ski pass at £149 for 6 days in late March (Dolomiti di Brenta area, not skirama)

Help!!

Madonna di Campiglio

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