The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
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.
1323m
Vertical
59
Runs
67.5 km
Piste
4m
Annual snow
The Terrain
59 runs across 67.5 km of piste
Passo San Pellegrino straddles the Trentino and Veneto border, with 67.5 kilometres of piste across 59 runs between 1,190 and 2,513 metres. The 1,323-metre vertical splits into two personalities: sunny, open slopes around the pass and tougher, north-facing terrain beneath Col Margherita. Grading runs 30% beginner, 57% intermediate and 13% advanced, with no expert category. Chairs and T-bars do most of the work, and a 100-person cable car carries skiers from the pass up to the summit. That mix means a varied day without much repetition, and it links with Falcade across the border on the Veneto side.
The big name is La Volata, a black run built to World Cup standard that hosted junior world championships, and it is worth a go for strong skiers wanting a genuine test. Col Margherita, a long red, drops towards the pass from the same summit. A dedicated Freeride Park caters for those wanting a taste of ungroomed snow, and the Sanpe Snowpark covers freestyle. The cable car cabins were designed by Pininfarina. Advanced intermediates and racing fans will enjoy it most, with Alpe Lusia nearby for more variety.
Terrain split
59
runs
59 runs across 4 grades
Beginner18 runs · 30%
Intermediate34 runs · 57%
Advanced8 runs · 13%
Expert0 runs · 0%
Time it right
When to visit Passo San Pellegrino
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.
Season 2026 - 2027
28 Nov 2026
Opens
4 Apr 2027
Closes
127
Days open
4 m
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Passo San Pellegrino, and where to stay
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.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Passo San Pellegrino, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
California Ski Resort Opening Dates 2026-27: Mammoth Leads, Tahoe Follows
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7 Oct 2026
Colorado Ski Resort Opening Dates 2026-27: A-Basin and Keystone Race to Be First
Arapahoe Basin, Keystone and Winter Park are all chasing an October start, though none has a firm date yet. The first dated openers are Breckenridge and Copper on Friday 6 November, then Vail on 13 November, with most of the rest bunched around US Thanksgiving. Hesperus did not open at all last season. A super El Niño offers hope but no guarantee, and forecasters say the southern mountains have the better odds.
5 Oct 2026
Dolomiti Superski 2026-27: Four New Gondolas, New Reservoirs and an €89 Peak Day Pass
Dolomiti Superski is spending around €100 million across its 12 areas before winter. Kronplatz gets a new 10-passenger gondola with a middle station, 3 Zinnen gets Helmissimo, and Val di Fassa swaps a chairlift for a gondola above Col Valvacin. New water-storage basins and upgraded snowmaking follow, and construction has started on the San Martino to Passo Rolle link. A peak adult day pass is €89.
4 Oct 2026
Utah Ski Resort Opening Dates 2026-27: Brian Head First, Eagle Point Out
Brian Head is targeting 6 November, though last year it aimed for 7 November and did not open until the 25th. Park City, Alta and Solitude are pencilled in for 20 November, Snowbird and Snowbasin for 27 November, and Deer Valley for 5 December. Eagle Point will stay closed after the Cottonwood Fire. A super El Niño is forecast, but the big snow is not expected until January.
4 Oct 2026
Hintertux Glacier Opens for 2026-27 With 12 Kilometres of Piste
Hintertux became Austria's second glacier to open for 2026-27 on Friday 2 October, after the Pitztal Glacier. Twelve kilometres of piste are running around the Olperer and Gefrorene Wand, served by one gondola and two drag lifts, with the Betterpark also open. Lifts officially run 8:15 am to 4:30 pm, but skiing stops at 2 pm for now.
4 Oct 2026
Vail Resorts Counts the Cost of a Thin Winter as Pass Sales Slide Further
A historically poor western winter cut Vail Resorts' annual net income from $280 million to $147.5 million and skier visits by 13.4 per cent. Now 2026-27 pass units are down 12 per cent as of 18 September, worse than the 10 per cent flagged in spring. Vail blames the weather and thinks some buyers are simply waiting, and it forecasts a rebound if the snow behaves.
3 Oct 2026
Arizona Snowbowl's $1 Lift Tickets Are Hard to Find, but $9 Days Are Not
Arizona Snowbowl advertised eight $1 lift ticket days this winter. Go looking and only three are showing - 10 March, 1 April and 10 April - so the rest may already have gone. The consolation is a calendar full of $9 days, including all but one day in April. Opening day is 20 November, weather permitting, and opening weekend is $19.
2 Oct 2026
Whitewater Brings Its Short Side Inbounds, With Six New Runs for 2026-27
For years, Whitewater's Short Side was where you ducked a rope and hoped for the best: unmapped, ungroomed and unpatrolled. This winter it's inbounds. Six new runs of glades and fall-line skiing add 190 acres (about 77 hectares), taking the resort past 1,400 acres in total. F2 Logging spent a month in the trees to make it happen, and opening day is pencilled in for 4 December. Bonanza now needs less snow to groom, too.
1 Oct 2026
Passo San Pellegrino Lift System
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.
19lifts across 8 types
1
Aerial Tram
1
Gondola
1
8-Person Chair
1
6-Person Chair
8
Quad Chairs
1
Double Chair
4
T-Bars
2
Surface Lifts
Passo San Pellegrino lift system
Passo San Pellegrino is served by 19 lifts, listed here by type. Check which lifts are turning against the live conditions before you plan your first laps - early lifts and high-speed chairs get you to the best snow fastest.
More Passo San Pellegrino intelligence: trail map, snow report, webcams, resort overview.