After a slightly stuttered start to the season, ski resorts are now back to (almost) full swing.
The slopes of Passo Tonale in Italy were ready and calling as I returned to skiing with Crystal Ski after an, ahem, extended break.
Located in the Dolomites, the snow-sure resort at 1,883 metres is popular with families and beginners with miles of rolling blue slopes which made it the perfect spot to rediscover my love of skiing after more than a decade away from the slopes.
The resort
Passe Tonale is a purpose-built resort, with the majority of the hotels, bars and shops along one road, which sits at the bottom of a row of ski runs. It is therefore easy to find your way around with everything within an easy walking distance of around 3km.
The small town centre is quaint and charming with traditional Alpine-style buildings housing hotels, restaurants and quaint gift shops, including a fabulous chocolate shop complete with chocolate fountain and handmade gelato which should not be missed.
Passe Tonale straddles the mountain pass that links the Trentino and Lombardy regions of Italy, and at more than 1,800 metres is high enough for great snow conditions all winter usually until the end of April.
The town is linked to neighbouring Ponte Di Legno - a larger town with a more traditional European focused layout around a main square - by ski runs, road and by gondola.
The Skiing
With 100km of mainly intermediate and easy runs, including a row of half a dozen shorter runs right in front of the town centre, Passe Tonale is an ideal resort for families and beginners, or those finding their ski legs again after a break like me.
In total there are nine easy blue runs, 25 intermediate red runs and seven black runs in the resort. With long, rolling and scenic blue runs, including a glacier blue run, there were more than enough easy slopes to fill several days of skiing before I felt confident enough to try out a red run.
With half a dozen slopes ending in front of the town centre the slopes didn’t ever feel crowded, even at the end of the day rush to get off the slopes. There were also no queues at any of the chairlifts at all while I was there in the last week of January.
After a couple of hours with a ski school instructor, I was ready to make my own way and found the resort really easy to navigate using the piste map in the Crystal ski explorer app.
A five minute walk from the main ski area is the gondola to the glacier ski area at 3,000 metres. For non-skiers it costs €22 for a return trip to the top via two different gondolas and is well worth it for the views alone.
At the top of the glacier is a long blue run, two red runs, three restaurants and gondola stops, with a black run which joins a red run linking to the more challenging Ponte Di Legno skiing area.
As a returning skier, with far from expert skills, the runs offered the perfect balance of scenic and enjoyable easy routes, with options to challenge and improve for intermediate skiers.
Hotel Style
I stayed at The Grand Hotel Paradiso which oozes chic, with a modern neutral colour palette and huge floor to ceiling windows to take in the uninterrupted mountain landscape which surrounds the hotel.
Set slightly away from the main strip of hotels, the stylish hotel is on the side of town closest to the gondolas (less than a five minute walk), and has ski-in and -out access at the top of a flight of stairs outside the hotel.
The neutral, unstated classy decor continues into the huge bedrooms, which have floor to ceiling windows with balconies to enjoy the stunning sunset views.
The hotel boasts a boutique spa area in the basement with a pool, steam rooms and sauna which was delightful after a long day on the slopes. And in-keeping with the family-friendly resort the hotel has kids-clubs and games room
Food and drink
Prices at Passe Tonale were far more reasonable than in other ski resorts I have visited, with substantial lunches at mountainside restaurants costing between €10 and €15 including a drink.
Of the half dozen bars and restaurants at the foot of the slopes in the town centre, La Baracca is the pick of the bunch. The glass-fronted restaurant has amazing views across the slopes, especially the sunny day we visited, and offers table service for just a few euros more per dish than the more typical self-service restaurants nearby.
The Grand Hotel Paradiso offered a large buffet breakfast - perfect to set you up for a full day’s skiing - and an extensive evening buffet. Away from the hotel La Torretta Cucina Pizza is an excellent choice for traditional Trentinto food - think Italian meets Germanic gastronomy, with meat stews, dumplings, polenta, pasta and antipasti jostling for space on an expansive menu. For an extra special treat we sampled a four course Trentino tasting menu in a 12th Century former monastery at the Hotel La Mirandola, which was spectacular.
Although the Apres ski is still not as lively as pre-pandemic due to covid restrictions, there are still a number of bars at the bottom of the slopes pumping out loud music and large Aperol Spritz to happy skiers. The Italian skier's reward of choice is a bombardino drink made with Advocaat or eggnog mixed with rum or brandy served warm and I can vouch for its popularity
It’s worth noting that all bars and restaurants require you to scan your covid ‘green pass’ upon entry. An NHS covid pass confirming that you have had one dose of the vaccine (either a booster jab, first or second jab) within the past six months, is valid as a green pass in Italy.
Activities
Looking for an Apres-ski activity away from the bars? I can highly recommend night snowmobiling. A guided tour takes you speeding up the slopes in the main ski areas, along the tree-lined route to Ponte Di Legno before a speedy ascent back to the town centre and is great fun.
Selected Passe Tonale ski passes include one day of skiing in another resort within the region and after a couple of days in the resort we headed out on a ski away day to Madonna di Campiglio. After a 50 minute drive we arrived at the resort’s main gondola station and were able to spend an entire day cruising down wide, tree-lined blue runs on both sides of the resort, which was a real highlight of the trip.
Book a holiday
Crystal Ski Holidays (020 8610 3123) offers a seven-night half-board holiday at the four-star Hotel Grand Paradiso from £642 per person when booked online (based on two sharing) including flights from Manchester to Verona and transfers (price given is for departure on 26th March 2022).
Direct flights available from all major UK airports.
Prices quoted are correct to the packages at the time of Crystal Ski Holidays issuing on 07/02/22. Prices provided are subject to change and have limited availability. Terms and conditions apply.
