
Aprica: 50km slopes, Europe's longest night skiing run (5.5km), 1,162-2,270m elevation. Lombardy family resort 160km from Milan.
Aprica delivers 50 kilometres of varied skiing across a natural balcony overlooking Valtellina, with terrain spanning from 1,200 to 2,270 metres elevation. The resort combines a family-friendly atmosphere with excellent learning facilities and challenging expert runs, including the famous Pista Stelvio with its sustained 45-degree pitch over 3 kilometres.
Modern snowmaking infrastructure covers 90% of all marked runs, ensuring reliable conditions throughout winter. Aprica's wide, open slopes above the tree line contrast with beautiful forest descents, creating diverse skiing experiences across four distinct sectors: Palabione, Magnolta, Baradello, and Campetti.
Aprica spreads 20 runs across 50 km of piste of terrain. It leans beginner at 54%, with 11 beginner runs to find your feet and 3 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Aprica's winter season typically runs from early December through mid-April, with optimal snow conditions from January through March. The resort's favourable microclimate, created by its protected valley position, contributes to consistent conditions and approximately 4 metres of natural snowfall annually.
Comprehensive snowmaking systems ensure reliable coverage from opening day, with operations beginning on Palabione's north-facing slopes before expanding across all sectors by Christmas week. March delivers excellent spring skiing with firm morning conditions and comfortable temperatures, while special night skiing operations on Wednesdays and Saturdays extend the skiing day throughout the season.
Positioned 175 kilometres northeast of Milan at the strategic Valtellina and Val Camonica junction, Aprica occupies a natural mountain pass at 1,181 metres elevation. The compact resort village features traditional Alpine architecture with hotels and apartments predominantly offering ski-in/ski-out convenience. Unlike purpose-built resorts, Aprica evolved organically from an historic mountain community, maintaining authentic charm while developing modern visitor facilities.
The surrounding region boasts remarkable biodiversity with extensive protected forests, accessible via winter hiking trails and snowshoe routes that complement the skiing experience. Convenient road connections via the SS39 and proximity to Tirano's railway station make Aprica easily accessible despite its mountain setting.
Hotels and lodges near Aprica, powered by Stay22.

Arosa's Hörnli sector is getting its biggest overhaul in decades. The 1986 gondola and 1994 chairlift linking toward Lenzerheide are both being replaced, with capacity up, tower count down and a new base station lower on the hill. At roughly CHF 67 million, it is the largest single investment Arosa Bergbahnen has ever made - and the target opening has already slipped a year, to December 2028. Here is what is changing, and why the timeline moved.

Sundance Mountain Resort's back mountain is finally getting a proper lift. The Electric Horseman Express opens for 2026-27, unlocking a new bowl next to Bishop's Bowl and three expert gladed chutes across roughly 105 fresh acres - on top of the Storyteller ridge run that debuted in preview form last season. It's Sundance's biggest expansion since 1985, and it turns a three-lift slog into a single six-minute ride to Bearclaw Summit.

Finland's Levi and Ruka open for the 2026-27 season on October 2, more than seven weeks before most of Europe sees a lift turn. Neither resort is waiting on autumn snowfall - both are skiing on snow buried since last spring, insulated through the Finnish summer and dug back out for opening day. It is not a shortcut. It is a decades-old system now spreading from the Arctic Circle to Idaho, Utah, Vermont and Colorado. Here is how snow farming actually works, and why it is catching on.

Silvretta Montafon is replacing its ageing Freda chairlift - but not with something new. The resort is having a 1999 four-seater chairlift, retired from Sölden, dismantled, shipped to Vorarlberg and rebuilt with new electronics, cable and clamps. It has to be running before March 2027, when Silvretta Montafon hosts the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships - the biggest winter sports event Vorarlberg has staged. Here's how a reused lift ends up cheaper.

Nassfeld is putting €13 million into a new 6-seater chairlift, the Tressdorfer Almbahn, connecting Sonnleitn with the Tressdorfer Alm from December 2026. It replaces three ageing drag lifts and will run through summer too, from June 2027, moving up to 2,500 people an hour on the roughly three-minute ride. It's the latest step in Carinthia's largest ski resort building out a genuine year-round offering, following last year's Gartnerkofelbahn gondola.

Italy's Stelvio Glacier has pulled the plug on summer skiing from August 15. It was the last lift-served ski option left standing in continental Europe, and now there's none. Operator SIFAS pointed to persistent heat, storms, and a snowpack that simply wasn't refreezing overnight anymore. The cable car keeps running. Whether skiing comes back later this summer depends on the weather turning - and right now, nobody's promising anything.

Firefighters saved every base building at Maverick Mountain, Montana, but the resort's sole chairlift didn't survive the Sand Creek Fire. Owners Erik and Kristi Borge say the lift is "most likely" out for the 2026/27 season after flames tore through the mountain on August 8. The wildfire has since grown past 27,700 acres with zero percent containment. It's a gutting result for the tiny, one-lift operation near Dillon - though the lodge, groomers and equipment all made it through untouched.

Fairmont is bringing its second Japanese property to Niseko, and this one's got history. The 165-room resort will rise on the site of the stalled La Plume project, which collapsed into bankruptcy in 2025 before J-Will Partners bought the site for redevelopment. Set between Mount Yotei and Mount Annupuri, it's slated for an early 2028 opening - putting it in play for the 2027/28 season. Expect two restaurants, a spa, onsen bathing, and a kids' club, a short drive from Niseko Village and Hirafu.
The Aprica lift system comprises 22 modern installations strategically positioned to maximise skiing flow and minimise queueing. The network's backbone includes the high-capacity Palabione gondola, efficiently delivering skiers from the village centre to the resort's highest point at 2,270 metres.
Recent upgrades have introduced six-person detachable chairlifts with weather protection hoods on key routes, enhancing comfort and uphill capacity. The lift system's design enables excellent progression for improving skiers, with graduated terrain difficulty accessible via strategically placed lifts that connect all sectors while maintaining distinct atmospheres in each area.
More Aprica intelligence: trail map, snow report, webcams, resort overview.