LIVIGNO, Italy — This ski town in the Alps is packed to the brim for the Olympics’ freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions.
People from Livigno’s two competition venues — the Snow Park across from the town’s center and the Aerials & Moguls Park at the border — have been spilling into downtown. Locals and visitors are enjoying Livigno’s shopping and dining when not at the Olympic venues.
The best-kept secret during the Games might sound familiar to Park City residents. These fans don’t tell tales of a phenomenal pasta dish they had at a Livigno ristorante or pizzeria, or the latest Olympic merchandise they were able to grab at the official store. They talk about the phenomenal skiing.
Livigno has two resorts flanking the town: Mottolino Fun Mountain and Carosello 3000, which, even together, are much smaller than Park City Mountain.
Rachel Oakes-Ash, an Australian journalist who lived in Park City for three years before COVID, said at Livigno’s moguls competitions that the quietness of the local ski resorts reminded her of skiing during Sundance. She’s been making the most of her time in town, catching early morning runs and then heading off to get her reporting done.
“It’s been great,” said Oakes-Ash. “The skiing here has been freaking awesome.”
She said she hadn’t anticipated the lovely, wide groomed runs with stunning views of the Alps.
“I think we have a lot more snow here than Park City does,” she said, noting the record low snowpack across the West. “Livigno is turning it on. It’s rocking.”
Oakes-Ash said she hasn’t stood in a single lift line since she’s skied in Livigno.
Her ringing endorsement was all I needed to drag Park Record photographer David Jackson out on the mountain early Friday morning with me, not that I needed much of a push. This, too, is the reporting our editors back home said they sought from us.
“There is a quiet moment. Many people are not coming because the information on coming here is not so clear,” ski shop owner Luca Bormelene said. “If they come, they can find the slopes without many people, very big and prepared to perfection.”
February is the best time every season to ski in Livigno, he said. He likes to ski Carosello 3000 in the morning because it’s sun-facing, then Mottolino in the afternoons once Carosello gets too much sun.
“We hope this (Olympics) coming can bring people for another season, maybe next year,” Bormelene said. “February, March, until the end of April is very good snow. We opened the season at the end of November.”
He let out a big chuckle when he learned the cost of ski passes and rental equipment in Park City.
Oakes-Ash couldn’t have described the runs in Livigno any better: wide, perfectly groomed. My favorite part: the ungroomed powder off to the side of each run, which skiers in Livigno seemed unwilling to touch.
Jackson and I bumped into other Aussies and some Americans right away, all loving the skiing and the atmosphere. Right as you stepped off the gondola up the mountain, you were greeted by a DJ playing upbeat tunes and a resort employee handing you a steaming hot cup of lemon tea. As someone who isn’t a big tea drinker, I would say if it had been hot chocolate, it would have been the perfect start to the day. Nonetheless, the gesture spoke volumes about the resort.
“Beautiful mountain atmosphere, just so incredible,” said Floridian Julie Johnson, in town to support her daughter, Amy Wotovich, who runs Back the Team, a nonprofit that arranges for Olympians to mentor aspiring Olympians. “The people have been so sweet.”
Johnson compared Livigno’s skiing and friendly atmosphere to Switzerland, one of her favorite places. She insisted the skiing is “way better” in Livigno and the Alps than in the Rockies.
“More affordable for a family to come ski over here versus Vail or probably Park City,” Johnson added. “Unfortunately, this is our only day skiing because we have lots of tickets to watch the Olympic events. But if I were to do it again, I would probably integrate more skiing days.”
The pristine skiing and vibrant atmosphere continued over to the chairlifts, all speedy bubble chairs, and the lodges, with ample outdoor seating, where music continued to play. While it wasn’t quite time for a lunch stop, I just had to take a peek at what was being offered inside. Relatively unsurprisingly, a man was inside carving meat for sandwiches.
While I didn’t get nearly as many runs in at Carosello as I would have liked, I could see why Livigno’s skiing qualified as the best-kept secret in town. It’s hard to beat a sprawling, high-rising, well-groomed mountain at under $100 a day.
“The hill is amazing, so much skiing,” said Katie Barnett from Sydney, Australia, who came for the Games with her son Zeke and other friends. “Australia’s hills are not as high or broad, and we don’t have the same level of snow. … My partner and daughter are at home, and I just wish they were here. I’m planning to bring them back.”
