Among the many tourist destinations in Italys' Alps, Bormio is one of the most desirable and popular. Bormio offers a wide variety of hotels and residences all equipped and very responsive to the needs of more diverse clientele, and for those in search of physical and mental relaxation, Bormio offers baths already known at the time of the ancient Romans. Starting from Bormio can easily be reached other cool locations such as Livigno, Santa Caterina, the Stelvio National Park (where you can ski during the summer), the towers of Fraele, Forni glacier, and many others; Switzerland ... read more>>
Immersed in an enchanting valley between the Stelvio National Park and the Engadine, Livigno is able to meet the needs of most demanding: snow, sports, events, shopping, nature, outdoor walks, folklore, everything by one and the magical reality. The success of Livigno is determined by an inseparable combination of nature and sport that makes the "Little Tibet" of Livigno the perfect blend of relaxation and dynamic, thanks to a perfect microclimate ensures abundant snowfall during the winter season and perfect snow from runways November to May. In summer the climate in Livigno is pleasantly ... read more>>
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Santa Caterina Valfurva lies in the basin that opens between Mount Tresero, extreme southern extension of the Ortles-Cevedale, and Confinale, mountain from which the eye can see an uninterrupted series of mountain peaks. The case of Santa Caterina Valfurva are close to each other, gathered in a picturesque alternation of wood and stone roofs, while the slopes around the town are covered by a dense forest of conifers. Santa Caterina Valfurva retains many examples of rural architecture, with buildings made entirely of wood dating from the sixteenth century and more recent realization ... read more>>
Valdidentro, four villages, Premadio, Pedenosso, Isolaccia, Semogo scattered between 1250 and 1500 mt. share the road that leads from Bormio to Livigno. Valdidentro, a territory dominated by the white snow of the glacier of perennial Cima Piazzi which contrasts with the clear blue sky and the underlying centuries-old green woods with its pine and fir trees framing the Stelvio National Park. Valdidentro, a valley rich in history, it was crossed by the Imperial Way wich linked the Dukedom of Milan and the Republic of Venice to Engadine and the north of the Alps. The valley has also deep-seated traditions .... read more>>
Summer skiing is a thrilling adventure, a dynamic experience, an ideal opportunity to refine your art on the skis in preparation for an outstanding performance on the winter slopes. In the paradise of summer skiing, you can watch World champion train or throw yourself into full-time sport. Before a breathtaking panorama, one of the most glorious of the Alps, you can learn the secrets of other sports on the great glaciers of Stelvio: expert trainers teach archery, mountain biking and spinning, or accompany trekkers on thrilling ezcursions at high altitude along routes full of relics from the First World War ... read more>>
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Skiing at Livigno
Immersed in an enchanting valley between the Stelvio National Park and the Engadine, Livigno is capable of satisfying the needs of the most demanding tourist: snow, sport, important events, shopping, nature, walks in the open air and folklore too, all in one unique and magical reality.
Its success is determined by an inseparable binomial between nature and sport that makes the Small Tibet of Lombardy the perfect synthesis between relaxation and dynamism, thanks to a perfect microclimate that assure heavy snowfall during the entire winter season and perfectly snow-covered slopes from November to May. During the summer the climate is pleasently mild with air that remains fresh and crisp for the whole season.
It is an ideal climate then for practising any type of sporting discipline whether its summer or winter. Despite the development of accomodation and the skiing facilities, Livigno has still managed, over the years, to conserve the typical environmental, natural, cultural and architectural characteristics of the Alpine culture wich make Livigno and its valley the best in the World.
During the winter Livigno, with its 74 slopes covering a total of 115 kilometres divided between the resorts of Mottolino and Carosello 3000, is ready to host an average of 9 thousand people a day. Recently the resort has renewed the majority of its draglifts with six-seate covered chair lifts that have automatic hitching. They allow for a combined hourly capacity of all the installation of more than 47.000 people per hour consequently making queues for the reascent inexistent.
Livigno, as well as for skiing, is the undisputed homeland of the most modern disciplines associated with the snow i.e. telemark and snowboarding, in this last case thanks above all to Snowpark, one of the biggest in Italy, that offers to all lovers of the "board" fixed structures for halfpipe, jump and one of the best slopes available for boardercross.
But there's more; for the more daring, Livigno accompanies us into the new "alternative" trends. The protagonist is Freeride, the art of off-piste downhill skiing, to wich Livigno, as well as guaranteeing highly-trained Alpine guides, adds teaching sessions relevant to the use of ARVA, to basic nivology and the study of the stability of snow-covered mountainsides.
Also for the 2009/2010 winter season there will be all the big events: from the traditional Skieda and Sgambeda, by now of international fame, to the Special Events, like the Ice Party, an end of season event with a high-altitude concert. Livigno offer more than 250 shops that benefit from the advantages of belonging to a duty-free area so there is the possibility of buying any type of merchandise at reasonable prices.
Skiing history
Skiing has a very long history: Man used skis to move across the snow before the wheel was invented. Archaeologists have found primitive drawings, depicting stylised men with skis on their feet, in the Rodoy cave (Norway). these pictures date back up to 3000 years ago, just like the fragments of boards found in some localities in Scandinavia and Siberia. Skiing was started initially because of the need to transport goods easily in the mountains during the winter months, and it took many years for it to evolve into a competitive sport.
Skiing competitions with sporting connotations only began to be mentioned during the second half of the Nineteenth Century in Norway. Alpine skiing however, was a much more recent development, starting at around the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
In the old Norwegian language, the word "skid" means "covered with skin". People actually used sealskin or reindeer skin to prevent the boards that were being used as early "skis" from sliding backwards when they had to go uphill. There is also another possible origin to the word, wich is also Scandinavian: "Ski" actually means a piece of wood taken from the most seasoned part of the tree trunk, wich was then used for skis.
In some areas there it was the custom to use two boards of different lenghts. The shorter ski was used for the pushing movement and the longer one ensured a proper sliding movement was achieved. Those who used skis of the same lenght pushed themselves forwards using a stick or a lance, which eventually became useful ski poles.
Just like many other sporting disciplines, skiing has also passed through a military period during its evolution into its modern form. Norwegians in the 17^ century organised competitions aimed at training their young soldiers. The specialties obviously had a military leaning: rifle shooting at speed ( a forerunner of the biathlon), and the freestyle downhill competition, a cross country race that was attempted with a rucksack and bayonet.
The first non-military race was also held in Norway: King Harald was defeated by one of his warriors during a skiing challenge. Skiing in the modern sense of the word was first talked of only during the second half of the nineteenth Century: in 1860 the King of Norway again gave a cup as a prize for a race held in Oslo, whereas the discipline spread to the rest of Europe after this. There is a curious anecdote regarding the introduction of skiing to Italy: in 1897, on his return from one of his journeys, the engineer Adolf Kind, a Swiss businessman, brought an old model of a ski made of ash to turin. It is said that the people who saw Kind coming down the Bardonecchia slopes, red in the face and with a flowing white beard rippling out behind him in the wind, ran away terrified, shrieking: "The devil! The devil!".
Bormio To St. Moritz Distance
 | Bormio SO, Italy |
 | 1. | Head northwest on Via Alberti toward Via Castello | go 456 ft total 456 ft |
 | 2. | Turn right at Via Buon Consiglio | go 0.1 mi total 0.2 mi |
 | 3. | Slight left at Via San Francesco | go 495 ft total 0.3 mi |
| 4. | Turn right at Via Monte Braulio About 1 min | go 0.3 mi total 0.6 mi |
 | 5. | Turn left to stay on Via Monte Braulio | go 26 ft total 0.6 mi |
 | 6. | Turn left at SS38/ About 1 min | go 0.1 mi total 0.8 mi |
| 7. | Turn left to stay on SS38/ | go 121 ft total 0.8 mi |
| 8. | Turn right at Via per Premadio About 1 min | go 0.4 mi total 1.2 mi |
| 9. | Continue on Via Sant Gallo About 1 min | go 0.7 mi total 1.9 mi |
| 10. | Turn left to stay on Via Sant Gallo | go 128 ft total 1.9 mi |
 | 11. | Turn right to stay on Via Sant Gallo | go 95 ft total 2.0 mi |
| 12. | Turn left at Via Belvedere About 1 min | go 0.5 mi total 2.4 mi |
| 13. | Slight left at Via alle Fornaci/ Continue to follow SS301 Go through 1 roundabout About 6 mins | go 2.9 mi total 5.3 mi |
| 14. | Turn right at Via Livigno/ Continue to follow SS301 About 8 mins | go 4.8 mi total 10.1 mi |
| 15. | Turn right to stay on SS301 About 16 mins | go 10.4 mi total 20.5 mi |
| 16. | Turn right at SS301/ Continue to follow SS301 Go through 1 roundabout About 5 mins | go 2.3 mi total 22.9 mi |
| 17. | Turn left at Via Florin/ Continue to follow SS301 Entering Switzerland About 11 mins | go 7.1 mi total 30.0 mi |
 | 18. | Continue on Unknown road About 4 mins | go 2.4 mi total 32.4 mi |
| 19. | Turn right at Route 29 About 18 mins | go 13.2 mi total 45.6 mi |
| 20. | At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Route 27/ Continue to follow Route 27 About 4 mins | go 2.1 mi total 47.7 mi |
| 21. | At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Via Serlas About 1 min | go 0.2 mi total 47.9 mi |
| 22. | Turn left to stay on Via Serlas About 1 min | go 0.4 mi total 48.3 mi |
 | Saint Moritz, Switzerland |
Bormio To Gavia Pass Distance
| Bormio SO, Italy |
| 1. | Head east on Via Stefano Morcelli toward Via Don Giovanni Bosco | go 381 ft total 381 ft |
| 2. | Turn right to stay on Via Stefano Morcelli | go 39 ft total 420 ft |
| 3. | Turn left at Via Ezio Vanoni/ Continue to follow SS300 About 17 mins | go 9.7 mi total 9.8 mi |
| 4. | Turn right at Via Plagheira/ Continue to follow SS300 About 2 mins | go 0.9 mi total 10.7 mi |
| 5. | Turn left to stay on SS300 About 8 mins | go 4.8 mi total 15.6 mi |
| Gavia Pass, 23030 Valfurva SO, Italy |
