Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Skiing for 15 years and visited resorts in:
🇦🇺 Australia (6) • 🇺🇸 USA (15) • 🇯🇵 Japan (5) • 🇪🇺 Europe (10)
Passo San Pellegrino sits at 1,918m on the border between Trentino and Veneto, linking the Val di Fassa to the Falcade valley in a ski area that spans 1,190m to 2,513m across 67.5km of pistes. The terrain is split between the wide, sunny slopes of the pass itself - set against the Monzoni mountain range and framed by views to the Marmolada, Civetta, Pelmo and the Pale di San Martino group - and the demanding north-facing terrain dropping from Col Margherita above.
The area's defining feature is La Volata, a 2,500m black run inaugurated in 2017 and built to meet FIS Alpine World Cup standards. Starting at 2,510m just below the Col Margherita cable car arrival station, it drops 600m vertical with gradients of up to 47% on a north-facing line that maintains compact, grippy snow through the speed events season. La Volata hosted the 2019 FIS Alpine Skiing Junior World Championships and the 2021 Women's World Cup, and returned to the World Cup calendar in March 2026 with a women's downhill and super-G double event.
The ski area is part of the Dolomiti Superski network, and a combined pass covering both San Pellegrino and the adjacent Alpe Lusia area gives access to 100km of pistes across 23 lifts. The two areas are linked by a high-frequency ski bus running every few minutes between the two base stations, with Falcade on the Veneto side also integrated into the same pass.
Two snowparks - the Sanpe Snowpark at San Pellegrino and a second at Alpe Lusia - serve freestylers alongside a dedicated Freeride Park for off-piste touring. A 37km cross-country trail network at the pass and a further 10-12km circuit near Falcade village are covered under the same area infrastructure.
Total Runs
59
Total Area
67.5km
41.9 miles
Nineteen lifts serve the San Pellegrino ski area between 1,190m and 2,513m, comprising one aerial tramway, one gondola, one eight-seat chairlift, eight quad chairlifts, one six-seat chairlift, one double chairlift, two surface lifts and four T-bars. The network covers both the Trentino and Veneto faces of the pass, with the Col Margherita cable car serving as the centrepiece installation and the only mechanised access to the summit and La Volata course.
The Col Margherita cable car is a two-cabin aerial tramway carrying 100 passengers per cabin, ascending from the pass at 1,918m to the Col Margherita station at 2,513m. Notably, the cabins were designed by Pininfarina - the Turin design house best known for Ferrari bodywork - making this one of the more architecturally distinctive lift installations in the Dolomites. The cable car serves as both the public ski access to the summit terrain and the race infrastructure start point for World Cup events.
The Cima Uomo quad chairlift, departing from around 1,900m and reaching 2,246m, accesses the central sector of the ski area on the San Pellegrino side and carries the main panoramic webcam position overlooking the pass and La Volata finish area. The Falcade side is accessed via the Molino Le Buse gondola from the village base, connecting the valley floor at 1,190m to the mid-mountain terrain.
Snowmaking covers the full network of marked pistes across the ski area, with the system described by the resort as modern and fully planned to maintain consistent cover from opening through to the April close. The north-facing exposure of the Col Margherita sector means natural snow quality on La Volata and surrounding terrain holds well through the speed racing window in late February and early March.
Total Lifts
19
Lift Types
8
Passo San Pellegrino operates from late November through to early April, with the 2025-26 season running from 30 November 2025 to 6 April 2026. The season extends into early spring with reliable conditions supported by full snowmaking coverage across the pisted area and the high-altitude terrain above 2,000m holding natural snow well into March.
Annual snowfall averages 3.5 metres across the ski area. The north-facing Col Margherita sector performs particularly well through the core winter months, with the compact snow surface that makes La La Volata suitable for FIS speed racing also delivering excellent piste conditions for recreational skiers. The sunnier slopes on the Trentino side of the pass benefit from good morning light and afternoon warmth that makes late-season skiing from late February onward particularly appealing.
The 2025-26 season included the Women's Alpine Ski World Cup downhill and super-G at La Volata in early March 2026, following previous World Cup hosting in 2021. The area is part of the Val di Fassa Piste Azzurre racing programme and has hosted the Italian national alpine team for training over multiple seasons, reflecting the quality and consistency of the race terrain.
The extended pass network under the Dolomiti Superski umbrella gives season visitors significant range - a Dolomiti Superski pass opens up 1,200km of pistes across 12 interconnected areas, making Passo San Pellegrino a practical base for exploring the broader Dolomites network without returning to the same terrain each day.
Current Season
2025 - 2026
Opening Day
11/30/2025
Closing Day
4/6/2026
Days Open
128
Passo San Pellegrino sits 13km from Moena in the Val di Fassa, reached via State Road 346 from the Ronchi junction in the valley. From Moena the drive takes around 15 minutes in normal conditions. Falcade, on the Veneto side, is accessed on the same road descending from the pass through the Biois valley. The pass sits at the boundary between the provinces of Trento and Belluno, making it one of the few ski areas in the region that straddles two administrative regions.
The primary motorway approach from the north is via the A22 Brenner motorway, exiting at Egna-Ora and following the SS48 through Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa to Moena - approximately 45km from the motorway exit. From the south, the Belluno approach via the A27 motorway connects through the Agordo valley and Falcade on the Veneto side of the pass.
Nearest airports are Bolzano to the north-west, around 60km, and Verona Villafranca to the south, around 160km via the A22. Innsbruck Airport in Austria is around 120km north across the Brenner. Rail access runs to Trento or Bolzano, from where the Trentino Trasporti and SAD bus services provide daily direct connections to Moena. From Falcade, connections run via Belluno on the Veneto rail network.
Moena is the main services hub for the area on the Trentino side, with a full range of accommodation, restaurants and shops within the Val di Fassa. Falcade provides a quieter, more self-contained base on the Veneto side with direct gondola access to the ski area from the village centre.
