Bardonecchia - slopes

Spread across two mountains on either side of Bardonecchia, the local slopes offer 100km of varied terrain for beginners and intermediates as well as some easily accessible off-piste for more advanced levels.

Campo Smith is the larger ski area and is linked by lift to two other base stations, Les Arnauds and Mezelet. The separate mountain of Jafferau is higher (reaching up to 2800m), with many of its slopes located above the tree-line. There’s also an Olympic half-pipe and an excellent terrain park.

Ski highlights for all levels

Beginners: get started on the sunny Campo Smith and Mezelet nursery slopes before progressing to the short blue from Pian del Sole and gentle blues on Jafferau.

Intermediates: plenty of varied terrain and several long blue and red runs on both mountains. Warm up on the lower, tree-lined slopes of Campo Smith before tackling the steeper slopes in the Vallon Cros area and moving across to Jafferau. 

Experts: challenging terrain is limited for experts, who will need good snow to make the most of the off-piste.

Off-piste

Found mostly off Punta della Mulattiera and Cresta Seba and in the trees on Campo Smith and off Jafferau. It’s worth hiring a guide for a day to show you the best spots. Thanks to its height, Jafferau typically gets the most powder although its exposed nature means you’re better off on Melezet in bad light days.

Ski schools and guides

Each of Bardonnechia’s four ski schools is based at Campo Smith. Spazio Neve (00 39 012 290 19 43) is the largest and has English-speaking instructors while the trendy, fun Nord Ovest (00 39 012 299 072) is popular with youngsters. Also try Scuola Sci Bardonecchia (00 39 012 299 9253) and Liberi Tutti (00 39 012 290 7700).

Lift system

Queues are a rarity, with the exception of ‘rush hour’ from 10am to 10.30am on weekends, when ski school starts at Campo Smith. Avoid the queue to buy a lift pass at the base of the slopes by buying one from the train station or the Bardonnechia ski office.

Snow reliability and snowmaking

Bardonnechia’s slopes aren’t very high, which means snow cover can be unreliable towards the end of the season. However, considerable investment has been made in artificial snowmaking, particularly on the Campo ski area where 50% of the tracks are covered by snowmaking machines.

Terrain park

The well-maintained snow park and Olympic half-pipe will keep riders and freestylers of all levels happy.