From November to May, the Watchword for Livigno Is Just One: Snow

The dominant theme is sports: from alpine skiing to telemark, from snowboarding to freeride, from cross country skiing to snowshoeing, from fat bikes to mountaineering skiing, from paragliding to ice skating, from horseback riding to relaxing walking on groomed tracks, who chooses Livigno has only spoiled for choice to keep fit and have fun in the snow.

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Already in October the first flakes begin to fall on the plateau of Livigno, which is located at 1,816 meters above sea level, in a unique landscape, where nature has played a fundamental role in defining mountain scenes that confuse the normal logic. At 3,000 meters in Livigno you can still find vast grasslands, while not far away, on the border with the Stelvio National Park, stand at the same altitude, towering rocky peaks. This has got to Livigno the nickname Little Tibet for the analogy with the Himalayan plateau.

Cross Country Skiing

Autumn and early winter, from October to December, are dedicated to cross country skiing. In recent seasons, Livigno has improved a lot this sector, with the installation of artificial snow machines on the competitive part of the cross country trail (about 8 km out of 30 total) and with the creation of the Nordic Ski Center, in the heart of the resort.

From November, the National Teams from all over the world choose Livigno for the first training on snow, not in glacier, and they remain there until La Sgambeda race, the cross country skiing marathon of Little Tibet.

Since last year, La Sgambeda became part of the prestigious international circuit Ski Classics, which includes the 9 classic races around the world including the Vasaloppet and Marcialonga.

La Sgambeda opens the doors to the traditional Feast of the Immaculate and is situated in the promotional period Skipass Free, which is scheduled from the 28th November to the 19th December 2015 and which will repeat at the end of the season, from the 9th April to the 1st May 2016. It is an advantageous proposal that will meet the needs of those who do not want to miss the opportunity to ski and to have a winter holiday at an incredible price. In these periods, in fact, guests will get their ski passes for free if they will overnight in a partner hotel for 4 nights or in a partner apartment for 7 nights.

Freeski and freeride

Once the Christmas holidays are ended, January in Livigno is the month dedicated to snowboarding and freeriding.

The highlight of the Freeride Project of Livigno has been the local daily information service about the stability of the snowpack, which integrate the avalanche bulletin released by the Regional ARPA in Bormio and the one released by the SLF Swiss Avalanche Centre. This project was an innovation that allowed the skiers to be always updated every morning about local snow conditions through the news issued from the website of Tourist Board of Livigno, then also displayed on numberless monitors at the lifts stations, on monitors situated all along the town, also send through newsletter service to all the hotels, apartments and shops of Livigno, and through a new dedicated app on the smartphones. A weekly meeting by the Alpine Guides was also activated, in order to train the skiers about the using of rescue equipment: avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe.

PHOTOS: Skimountaineering Livigno, Monte Breva (3104 m)

And for non-skiers, the Freeride Project has created two paths specially reserved for snowshoe tours and mountaineering skiing with groomed tracks accessible to all. January ends with the promotion Family Week Kids Go Free dedicated to families with children from the 23rd to the 30th January 2016 that will be repeated in Spring, from the 19th to 26th March 2016. This is an offer that allows you to have tangible economic benefits, designed for families with children under the age of 12 years. It provides a free holiday for children under 12 accompanied by two paying adults, and a discount of 50% for each additional child under 12 years of age, and the discount will be apply on the overnight in partner hotels and apartments (in this case, the discount is 15%), on equipment hire, ski passes and ski school.

Let's take a practical example: in a family of two adults and two children under the age of 12, the overnight, the ski pass, the ski school and the rental will be free for the youngest son, discounted by 50% for the second child (15% if you stay in the apartment) and full price for two adults. 

Carnival

The main events that typically occurs during February is Carnival which in Livigno is celebrated with allegorical floats, parades and traditional games and entertainment on snow and ice. For the occasion, the locals challenge to defend the flags of the town districts: Rane, Spazzon, Truzz and Trepall. To win the Carnival Trophy they must be the most talented in skill games, the most creative during the parade and in preparing the floats. Carnival in Livigno is very popular among the local community that offers the tourists a special atmosphere of music, colors and good mood. To enjoy your stay in Livigno by Carnival nights there are many themed parties in the pubs and clubs of Livigno.

Ski Holidays

The best time to ski in in March when the days get longer and you can stay under the sun a few more hours, maybe on the terrace of a mountain refuge tasting local specialties. For the little guests are available more than 150 ski instructor, ski camps and many facilities such as the kindergarten (where here is also the chance to have lunch) and many playgrounds on the snow.

VIDEO Mottolino Livigno ski:

Slopes and Ski Lifts

The ski area of Livigno offers 115 km of perfectly tended slopes (from 1800 to 2900 meters above sea level) suited to all difficulty levels 12 black runs, 37 red and 29 blue slopes which are served by 6 gondolas (Carosello 3000 I and II; Mottolino, Livigno Centro Tagliede I and II; Cassana), 14 chair lifts and 11 ski lifts. 80% of the skiing area, which is divided between Carosello 3000, Mottolino Fun Mountain and other small lifts, is covered by snowmaking system, guaranteed by 110 snow cannons. Furthermore in Livigno there are two Snowparks (one at the Mottolino Fun Mountain and the one at Carosello 3000) which were many time awarded in Italy and abroad for their facilities and the events that are hosted. For the little ones are available several playgrounds and a kindergarten on the snow.

For all guests are at disposal 150 ski, snowboarding, crosscountry and telemark instructors.

The big news of the season 2015/16 is the new 6-seater chairlift Vallaccia in the ski area Mottolino Fun Mountain, which will expand by 30% the skiing surface of the slope. The new chairlift will place its bottom station at 2079m asl to reach 2717m asl, for a total length of 1848 m and a vertical rise of 638m with a capacity of 2800 people per hour. The cross-country tracks are 30 km long starting from the town center up to the area Forcola Alpe Vago. The technical track "Marianna Longa" is covered using an artificial snow making system for about 10 km.

Shopping, Livigno by Night, Aprés-ski

Prepare yourself to indulge in shopping thanks to the duty-free area of Livigno, in which there is every kind shops along the town’s street. The most popular shops are perfumeries, duty free shops, hi-tech, jewelers, fashion boutiques and of course sports shops. After shopping, Livigno offers you a nightlife which is famous in the Alps. It starts with the traditional après-ski, strictly with boots on, and ends in one of the many pubs where also live music is often played. Thanks to this party atmosphere Livigno has become one of the most appreciated resort by young people and by those looking for entertainment during the winter holiday.

Livigno Card Winter

Livigno Card Winter gathers all the local activities such as leisure, sport, cultural, gastronomic activities offered from week to week. The Livigno Card Winter is thus precious for your holiday both in winter and in summer (Summer version) and is available directly at the participating hotels and apartments or at the tourist board of Livigno. For the winter season 2015/16 in Livigno Card Winter are going to be included activities such as paragliding flights, snowmobiling and quad on snow, driving courses on ice, Snow fun parks for children, ski races and lessons, food and wine tours, snowshoeing, Nordic walking, fat bike tours and much more….

INFO: Livigno

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