Cortina, Italy

Cortina D’Ampezzo is one of Italy’s premier ski resorts. Situated just 2 hours' drive north of Venice, Cortina is a popular weekend destination - try to avoid weekends here if at all possible. During the Christmas and New Year holidays it is overrun with the most fabulous of Italian glitterati. When visited in early March however, Cortina was a charming and friendly, if slightly dull, old-school European mountain-village-turned-ski-resort. And a ski resort it certainly is, as you won’t find many other snowboarders on the mountain.

The main problem with Cortina is the time spent on the lifts compared to the actual time spent riding. There was a new 6-man, high-speed lift installed for the 2006 season, which carries an extra 1200 riders per hour and speeds things up significantly. The best part of riding here (after the scenery) are the uncluttered slopes – get up to the top early and you can have the slopes to yourselves. The early morning view from the top to the east down the Ampezzo Valley is incredible – worth the visit in itself.

Cortina is definitely not the motorway skiing of the big French resorts, but it can be fun, with well-groomed slopes to suit all levels of rider.

New for season

2005/6: Skiarea Cristallo: 4-seater chairlift replaces old double chairlift. Skiarea Tofana 6-seater chairlift replaces the two old chairlifts "Col Taron" and "Piè Merlo"

Hotel search

Choose from over 73,000 hotels at great prices.
Where: Cortina Or  other:
Arrive:  
Depart:

Resort Statistics

Resort Type:  Alpine
Winter: Dec to April
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 51
Cable cars: 6
Chair lifts: 29
Drag lifts: 16
Max people per hour: 60,000
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 52
Total ride area: 87miles (140km)
Longest run: 5.6miles (9km)

Top lift: 2932m
Vertical drop: 1882m
First lift: 1050m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 33%
Red runs: 62%
Black runs: 5%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes: 
Local area:
1 Day pass 37 euros
6 Days 187 euros
Dolomite Superpass
1 Day pass 40 euros
6 Days 202 euros

Lift times:8.30am to 4.30pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 4m
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 90%

Facilities

Snowboard Schools: private from 36 euros/hr
6 morning lessons from 300 euros

Night Riding: No

Other activities

Heliboarding: Not available
Snowmobiles: Not available

Further information

www.dolomitisuperski.com/cortina
Email:cortina@dolomiti.org

Please install Flash and turn on Javascript.

Summary
Okay but dull village

MONEY WISE: Expensive, with deals to be found outside of main holiday periods.

Terrain & parks

HALFPIPE: Yes - 1
TERRAIN PARK: Yes - 1
BACKCOUNTRY/OFF-PISTE:A bit
TREE RUNS:A few

Please install Flash and turn on Javascript.

Image Gallery
snowboarding
Resort News

World Snow Update - 9th December 9Dec09
>> more news on Cortina ...
Piste Map

Click to expand | PDF