Skiing in Abruzzo – snow report
The most popular ski resorts, the updated snow report and useful information on how to find lifts or book accommodation for your winter holiday
The cable car
From Fonte Cerreto to Campo Imperatore
The Gran Sasso twin-cable cable car leaves Fonte Cerreto 1,125 m and arrives at Campo Imperatore 2,130 m, climbing about a thousand metres along 3,173 metres of cable. It runs in summer and winter; in autumn it closes for maintenance, often until the ski lifts reopen (information on ilgransasso.it).
There is ample parking next to the valley station; the park’s lower trails towards Assergi also start from here.
Winter
Skiing at Campo Imperatore
From the cable car top station 2,130 m chairlifts climb towards the Fontari and the Scindarella about 2,200 m: panoramic slopes facing Corno Grande, among the highest in the Apennines.
Off-piste
Valle Fredda, from the Scindarella to Fonte Cerreto
It is the best-known off-piste descent on the L’Aquila side. You start from the top of the Scindarella chairlift about 2,200 m, ski down towards the Fossa di Paganica, where the old abandoned lifts still stand, and follow the whole Valle Fredda down to Fonte Cerreto 1,125 m: over a thousand metres of descent in wild terrain, far from the pistes.
Safety: this is an ungroomed, uncontrolled off-piste route. You need experience, a transceiver, shovel and probe, and to read the avalanche bulletin; if you do not know the area, go with a mountain guide.
Off-piste
The Valloni, from the cable car top station to the base
The second classic descent starts from the cable car top station at Campo Imperatore 2,130 m and heads down roughly along the cable car line, through the so-called Valloni (the «Tre Valloni»), to the Fonte Cerreto station 1,125 m.
Note: the Valloni face south: the sun melts the snow early and the descent often cannot be skied all the way down. Always check snow cover and avalanche risk before you go.
Summer
Trekking on the L’Aquila side
The cable car takes you to Campo Imperatore in a few minutes, the starting point of the Gran Sasso’s classic trails.
- Corno Grande by the normal route 2,912 m
- Gran Sasso trek: Montecristo
- From Castel del Monte to the Campo Imperatore plain
- Fonte Vetica, Desiati bivouac and Monte Camicia
- Three-day trek on the Gran Sasso
- Gran Sasso hiking guide
- High-altitude mountain huts
- At the foot of the Gran Sasso: Paganica and Pescomaggiore
- The villages of the Gran Sasso
- The Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park
Access
Getting there
- By car: about 20 minutes by motorway from L’Aquila; Fonte Cerreto is above Assergi, a few minutes from the A24 motorway.
- Without a car: from the Collemaggio bus terminal, AMA city line M6 reaches the cable car base via Paganica and Assergi (see Abruzzo without a car).