Snowboarding in Italy

If we had to choose Italy’s king of riding, Livigno would take the crown. Annual host of the international Nine Knights competition, this resort is no stranger to snowboarding excellence - it was here that British legend Billy Morgan landed the world’s first ever quad cork. Not that you need to throw your board round like Billy to have a good time… The pisted terrain consists of wide, fettucini style motorway runs – like the Degli Amanti blue for a smooth sweeping descent, or the ribbons of reds trailing down from the Vesta Blessaccia peak. And for help with sliding on them in style, Madness Snowboard School do brilliant group and private lessons. For more advanced riders, the pick of the bunch stream from the Carosello sector down to San Rocco. With two socking great snow parks (including a legendary jump over a Fiat G 91 fighter jet), oodles of freeride terrain and the Madness Snowboard School to guide you from strapping-in to 270-ing out, long may Livigno’s snowboard scene reign.

Some say these are the finest pistes in Italy – and you won’t catch us raising any objections. Ridiculously well groomed, cruisey blues ease into speedier reds everywhere you turn like our favourites, the Pinzolo ones, accessed by the long but gloriously scenic Pancugold Gondola. But it’s the blacks that really command attention: Spinale Diretissima dips in and out of the trees under the Spinale Express chair and has the potential for some nail-biting speeds. If you’d rather be spinning and sliding, the Ursus Park was pushing boundaries with its whopping EIGHT acres of freestyle terrain (including 40+ features) before most resorts had even heard of a rail. Learn or improve here under the wing of the Zebra Snowboard School, who’ve been turning rookie riders into seasoned sliders for over a decade.

Cervinia has a lot of cool claims, not least access to the highest snowpark in Europe – the Gravity Park at 3883m, where you can jib under the shadow of the Matterhorn (or Monte Cervino in Italiano). There’s another park at Plan Maison: 400m long and 100m wide, it’s crammed with an army of awesome rails and kickers. In the land of groomers, you’ll find some of the finest reds the Alps have to offer, the longest being the Ventina from Plateau Rosa all the way down to base (clocking up a thigh-testing 8km). For freeriders, staying in Cervinia’s a cheaper way to ski Zermatt’s legendary powder terrain – cross the border and the ungroomed wonders just go on and on. Heli-boardings a steal here too, with some awesome drops on the likes of Monte Rosa for an unbelievable time on the snow.

At the foot of Mont Blanc near Chamonix, Courmayeur’s positioning means oodles of freeride potential. The three itineraries from Cresta D’Arp might not be the most technically challenging, but they’re jolly good fun – especially with a guide to show you the best bits. Warm up with hell-for-leather piste ripping down a bounty of red runs; we love Checrouit followed by Dolonne for its length, speeds and forested finish. Beginners will find a pair of magic-carpet lifts at the base of the resort, so riding your first laps couldn’t be easier. There’s a snowpark, too, by the Aretu chair and it's equipped with rails, boxes and kickers for different abilities as well as a ginormous air bag.

First-timers, fully-fledged freeriders and all in between ride in perfect harmony in La Thuile. The main beginner area’s served by two chairlifts from the village (Suches and La Combe), and splits into a hefty selection of wide blue groomers that are tailor made for building confidence and technique. To up the ante, discover one of the Thuile treasures by heading back to the top of La Combe and veering onto the Nuova red run: This bad boy is a rolling, forest-lined 6.4km stretch where it’s impossible not to enjoy weaving between trees and popping over obstacles as a daily warm up for the terrain park by the Piloni lift. Sirdar Montagne et Freeride provide guides for open face descents and even heli-boarding’s an option – ask about the Rutor glacier tour which covers French and Italian terrain, and some of the best views of both.

High altitude and southern exposure give this spot its signature blend of snow-sure and sunny slopes. More and more resorts these days have dedicated snowboard schools, and 6punto9 keep Passo up with the trend. Their range of classes school newbies through linking first turns (the Cady Sit blue down to Tonale is one of our favourites for newbies), all the way through to shredding the awesome Adamello Freestyle Arena. Of course, if steep and fast is how you like it… we wouldn’t blame you for just lapping up the Paradiso downhill course all week.

Ride all day, and into the night in Kron - where four of the finest blue and red runs are floodlit after hours. Newbies can practice well out of harm’s way in the Safety Zone next to the wide & cruisey blue Olang 2, under the expert eye of Scoela Italiani’s snowboard specialists. Freestylers, meanwhile, can get as dangerous as they dare on the rails and booters at the snowpark (by the blue Belvedere piste) as well as the Jib Park (on the blue Korer run). Any fan of tree riding won’t know where to begin here, as almost every piste has wooded banks – we love darting in and out of the Furcia 12 red from the centre peak, which curves, swerves and will leave you with a grin the size and shape of a calzone.

Surrounded by colossal Dolomite peaks, Arabba is Christmas come early for experienced boarders. Spreads of reds slide down the mountains like spaghetti off the edge of a plate, keeping the terrain wide and endless. To start the week in style, put the picture-perfect Porta Vescovo peak trail from 2478m first on the agenda. Take the eastern descent from the summit and you have the option of tackling the dizzying black #21 midway, covering high powder bowls and taking you on a dramatic course back to the village. The local terrain is some of the most challenging in the region, a case in point: The famously difficult red Capanna Bill, with its 1500m vertical. The legendary Sella Ronda cuts through the area - a mighty circuit through 4 passes. It’s so long that statistically a few flats were bound to crop up, but the terrain surrounding them makes up for it (and as an added bonus, most of the surface lifts have recently been upgraded). Topping it all off is the dominating Marmolada peak which hogs the snow and propels snowboarders into a stomach-dropping plunge and through a series of carefully timed turns and thigh-burning jumps. Off the main Marmolada piste is the Arabba Snow Park at Plan Boe, kitted with some more unusual obstacles, like a Donkey Pipe rail and a polejam, for an afternoon of landing tricks in a laid-back shredding zone.

Sauze is cheap (suppers for €6), it’s lively (happy hours galore) and there’s A LOT to ride (400km in all, and that’s just the groomers…). The location is brilliant too. Being so close to Turin airport means you can often squeeze in an extra day’s riding if you have an early flight in or late one home. Plus you’re in the middle of the mighty Milky Way, so those wanting to clock up the miles can really roam – all the way over into Montgenevre in France if they want to. Wide cruisers are the signature slopes in this neck of the woods, and freeriders will find some awesome tree runs to storm down. There’s a small-ish park in the local area, but for the real McCoy, take a day trip to the Olympic features in nearby Bardonecchia (half an hour’s drive away).

Since hosting the boarding events in the 2006 Olympics, Bardo’s half-pipe and Snow Park at Melezet have been kept in mighty fine condition: The Wood section has eco obstacles that blend into the landscape, Grizzly’s Christmas come early for jibbers and Lynx takes you to higher altitudes and bigger features. There’s also a beginners park with gentler offerings for those looking to learn or practice; and a chill zone complete with video games, après ski and a shop. The bulk of the slopes are suited to beginners and intermediates – and they’re wide and very often empty. Take to the trails in the Colomion area for some brilliant treeline descents, or hit the freeride routes in Jafferau where slopes stream down from a heady 2807m.