News / 23.08.2016

Winter is (s)now!

In Livigno the snow season starts very early in the year and ends very late. You can ski and practice all winter sports from autumn till May.

Aquagranda Active You, the leisure, sport, relaxation and wellness center with the most advanced high altitude training and remise en forme facilities, offers important novelties for the new season.

There is no shortage of great holiday opportunities, with week offers such as Skipass Free and Family Week Kids Go Free.

A taste of the winter season is scheduled for Friday 26 August 2016, when a real snow ski track will be prepared for the historic cross-country race, the Trofeo delle Contrade. Champions such as Dorothea Wierer and Federico Pellegrino will take part in the event.

October, when the larches start turning yellow, is when the snow starts falling and the desire to ski gets stronger. Traditionally, in Livigno autumn is dedicated to cross-country skiing and is the time when many national teams start training, taking advantage of the ideal altitude for intensive work sessions. Livigno’s 1816 meters are perfect for this.

From this year, not just cross-country skiers, but also biathlon athletes will find the ideal training structures, thanks to the new arena with state of the art electronic targets, perfect for preparation ahead of competitions.

Livigno’s interest in biathlon, derives also from the close connection with world champion Dorothea Wierer, who last year officially became the ambassadress of Livigno around the world. From mid-October, a cross-country ski ring will be available in the town’s central plateau where professional athletes will be able to train next to enthusiasts in search of early snow. All will be possible thanks to artificial snow making equipment, placed along 8 km of the total 30 km cross-country track, and to the snow that fell in spring (1000 cubic meters) and was stored under a geothermal cover in order to be used again in the autumn.

This is part of the “snowfarming” technique that Livigno has adopted to make sure it is ready to welcome the first cross-country skiers in October. The winter season starts in October and keeps improving until the end of November when traditionally all ski-lifts stations open. In Livigno the dominant theme during the winter season is sport: from alpine skiing to telemark, from snowboarding to freeride, from cross-country to biathlon, from snowshoeing to fat bikes, from ski mountaineering to paragliding, from ice skating to horseback excursions and walks along groomed tracks.

The first important winter sporting event will take place on 3 December 2016. Thousands of cross-country skiers will stand at the starting line of the first race of the international season: Sgambeda, now part of the prestigious Visma Ski Classics circuit that includes 13 classics across the world, including Vasaloppet and Marcialonga.

La Sgambeda takes place just a week before the traditional Immacolata long weekend and coincides with the “Skipass Free” promotional period; an offer available between 26 November and 24 December 2016, and then again at the end of the season, between 15 April and 1 May 2017.

The promotion is designed for anyone determined not to miss the chance to ski and enjoy a winter holiday at low prices before the Christmas period. During the Skipass Free promotional period, ski passes are free for guests staying in partner hotels (for 4 nights) or apartments (for 7 nights). For more info: https://www.livigno.eu/skipass-free

In Livigno the Christmas atmosphere is at its best when the Christmas markets start and a village of little wooden houses appears around the square of the Church of Santa Maria Nascente, at the entrance of the pedestrian area, open throughout the Advent period, until 24 December. In addition to the markets, lots of other initiatives take place in Livigno’s most suggestive corners of town, with music and Christmas carols, chocolate, mulled wine, crepes, hot pancakes and surprises for children.

On New Year’s Eve, Livigno lights up thanks to the traditional torchlight parade on skies, performed by ski instructors and guests, and fireworks.

On the day of the Epiphany, the 6 of January, in Livigno people great each other by saying: "Bondì Ghibinet” and children on sledges go around town in search of sweets and treats. It is a popular tradition across Valtellina that symbolises the arrival of the Three Wise Men who brought gifts to Baby Jesus and the word Ghibinet is probably a mangling of the German word "Gaben-nacht", which means “night of presents”. Anyone who doesn’t reply immediately "Bondì Ghibinet!" to the greeting should “pay” by offering a little present.

January in Livigno is the month dedicated to snowboarding and freeriding. The most skilled under-16 snowboarders arrive at the Little Tibet to take part in the World Rookie Fest (14-19 January 2017) to show their talent at international level in order to take part in more important competitions.

As for freeride, Livigno is one of the locations that has focused more on this specialty, improving and investing in dedicated facilities

Every year, more and more freeriders from across the world in search of the perfect track choose Livigno as their destination. The Freeride Project, the only one of its kind in Italy, started in Livigno a few years back. It is based on a local daily avalanche information service on the stability of the snowpack, which integrates the avalanche bulletins released by ARPA in Bormio and the Swiss Avalanche Centre SLF .

The new service keeps freeriders updated every morning about the local snow conditions thanks to the news published on Livigno’s official website (www.livigno.eu), and displayed on the boards and monitors at the ski-lift stations, across town, and sent via newsletter to all operators, and also available through the dedicated App.

This winter season, the service will be improved and more focused on each single location of the area, with the objective of providing freeriders with precise information and allow them to choose the best locations each morning.

Additionally, weekly meetings organized by the Alpine Guides, train skiers on the use of emergency equipment: avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe.

And for non-skiers, the Freeride Project has dedicated two groomed snowshoe trails, accessible to all.

From 21 till 28 January 2017, Livigno hosts the historic Interbourse, an event that has been bringing together people from the international financial community in different skiing resorts since 1969. A week of networking and skiing attended by participants from different financial areas: approximately 400 bankers, private equity professionals, portfolio managers, traders, analysts, brokers, international traders... this year Livigno takes over from the previous edition held in La Plagne (France) and will offer a programme specifically designed for the occasion.

January ends with the promotion “Family Week Kids Go Free” dedicated to families with children, from 28 January till 4 February 2017, which will be available again in spring, from 25 March till 1 April 2017. The promotion, designed for families with children under the age of 12 offers great savings. The first child under the age of 12, accompanied by two paying adults, stays for free, while each additional child under 12 receives 50% discount in participating hotels and 15% in apartments, including equipment hire, ski pass and ski school. For example: for a family with two children under the age of 12, accommodation, ski pass, ski school and equipment hire are for free for the first child, while the second child will receive 50% discount (15% if staying in an apartment); the parents will pay the full rate.

The Carnival period is also the time for skiing holidays, when days start getting longer it’s great to enjoy the sun for a few extra hours, maybe on the terrace of a resort with the opportunity to try Valtellina’s specialties, such as bresaola and bombardino, the popular local winter drink. In addition to the 150 ski instructors in the area, young visitors will have a choice of ski schools and training camps such as the kindergarten (with the opportunity to include lunch) and snow playgrounds.

During this period the 115 km of ski slopes in the area, the snow parks, kindergartens in the snow, the boardercross, the 30 km of cross-country track, the heliski service, and the snowshoe excursions are just some of the best options available to those who choose to spend their holidays in Livigno.

After a day on the slopes it’s time to relax at Aquagranda Active You, the highest sports and wellness center in Europe, and the best place to release the tension in the muscles after skiing.

Aquagranda Active You, is ideal for fitness programmers and altitude preparation and training, taking advantage of the benefits of Livigno’s 1816 metres of altitude.

Shopping is yet another popular activity in Livigno, thanks to its large duty-free area that stretches for approximately 10 km. Shops of all types, including perfumeries, duty-free, hi-tech, jewelers shops, boutiques and of course tax-free sport equipment stores.

The après-ski is also one of Livigno’s specialties. Music, dancing, a drink with friends are the best ways to end a day spent enjoying the snow. Evening entertainment includes pubs and clubs where you can enjoy music, dance and meet new people. Its night life is what makes Livigno one of the most popular resorts among young visitors and anyone looking for entertainment during a holiday on the snow.

In Livigno spring is white, you can ski through April and until the beginning of May; this is also when you can take advantage of the “Skipass Free” promotion, from15 April to 1 May 2017.

FACILITIES AND SLOPES

Livigno’s ski area includes 115 km of alpine ski slopes (from 1800 to 2900 metres of altitude) for a total of 12 black slopes, 37 red and 27 blue, served by 6 cable ways (Carosello 3000 I and II; Mottolino, Livigno Centro Tagliede I and II; Cassana), 14 chairlifts and 11 ski lifts. The ski area, including Carosello 3000, Mottolino Fun Mountain and the small ski lifts close to the town, is covered by 110 snow cannons, which in turn cover 80% of the slopes. The two snow parks (one at Mottolino Fun Mountain and one at Carosello 3000), have received multiple awards in a number of trade fairs in the sector, both in Italy and abroad, thanks to their state of the art structures and equipment and for the events they host.

Young visitors can have fun in a number of snow playgrounds located all around Livigno and a kindergarten that offers nursery services on the show for the whole day. No less than 150 instructors are available for skiing, snowboarding, cross-country and telemark lessons.

The cross-country tracks are 30 km long and start from the centre of town and reach the areas of Forcola and Alpe Vago. The competition track “Marianna Longa” is covered using an artificial snow making system for approximately 10 km.

Livigno also has several freeride entry check points off the beaten track with avalanche transceivers located at the entrance of Val Federia and Vallaccia, at the top of Costaccia, Corosello 3000 and Monte della Neve and at the start of the Colombina al Mottolino. There are 10 information screens located at the main ski lift stations and across town. Overall, there are 2 Freeride Approaching areas, one at Mottolino Fun Mountain and one at Carosello 3000 and, considering the size of the area covered by the Municipality of Livigno – 200 km2 – one can easily say that half of it is suitable for freeriding and ski mountaineering.

There are two Ski mountaineering tracks and two snowshoe tracks, plus the groomed trail in the Monte Vago area.

A new biathlon arena will open, with state of the art electronic targets, ideal for professional training and for the growing number of enthusiasts of this discipline.

LIVIGNO CARD WINTER

Livigno Card Winter includes all the activities available to visitors in the area each week: from entertainment and sport, to culture and gastronomy.

Therefore, Livigno Card Winter is precious for your holidays both in winter and in summer (in its Summer version) and is available at participating hotels and apartments or directly at the Tourist Office. For the 2016/17 winter season, the Livigno Card Winter includes a wide range of different activities, such as tandem paragliding, quad and snowmobile excursions, safe driving on ice courses, snow play grounds for children, ski lift and lunch in a refuge, skiing lessons and competitions, food and wine tasting tours, snowshoe walks, Nordic walking, fat bike excursions and sledging.


AQUAGRANDA ACTIVE YOU

Altitude training improves athletic performance by acting on the oxygen transport mechanisms. Training at high altitude is particularly indicated for sports that require intense and constant aerobic activity. Located at 1816 meters of altitude, Livigno is ideal for this type of training and has become one of the most popular destinations for athletes and sports federations from across the world.

Aside altitude, Livigno can offer teams and individual athletes a wide range of services: modern and constantly improving sporting facilities and dedicated structures able to satisfy all sports needs and requirements.

Aquagranda Active You center has given a tangible contribution in this direction, providing a 25-metre swimming pool(plans are in place for a 50-metre swimming pool) and soon an athletics track with a grass football pitch in the centre will be added to the sporting facilities available.

Plans are in place to build a new spinning room and dedicate an area of the gym to TRX Suspension Trainer.

Children entertainment is guaranteed in the Slide&Fun area, with water games such as the magic castle, in which 3 new slides of different difficulty levels will be implemented; the slides will go out and come back into the main structure and will reach aheight of 12 m and a total length of 100 m each. Led lighting will provide special effects and the monitors at the bottom of the slides will show the time of each descent, for exciting challenges down to the last second.

New additions include two relaxation rooms, one featuring full-length windows that open onto the external area of the solarium; the second soundproof with suspended loungers to offer total peace and relaxation far from external noises. Thanks to the direct access to the Bar&Bistrot, refurbished in alpine style and featuring a sun terrace, guests will be able to enjoy food and drinks without leaving the area. The external area will offer a number of additional services provided by the structure.

Adults will appreciate the renovated Wellness&Relax area, in a style inspired by the typical architecture of Livigno’s valley, where stone, wood, glass and fire are the predominant elements. It will feature a large relaxation pool with loungers and hydro-massage benches, spacious relaxation rooms with comfortable seating, a salt water pool, a relaxing salt room, a bio-sauna with a temperature of 55° and 50% humidity, a Finnish sauna with a temperature of 100°, a 35 m2 Turkish bath also used for Aufguss treatments with a sauna master, aromatic showers, a cold well and an ice waterfall to increase the benefits of the sauna and activate circulation. There are 4 massage cabins for the various beauty treatments with options for couple massages. Next season’s novelty will also include whey bath pools, a real health elixir. Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained; it contains amino acids, minerals, vitamins and proteins. This precious liquid is used in the beauty industry as the base for many body, face and haircare products and is recommended for anyone with dry or stressed skin.

The salt room will be completely renovated with one wall made of retro-illuminated pink Himalayan salt bricks, with hanging seats designed for total relaxation.

A kinderheim with babysitter in the reception area will take care and entertain children while parents relax or practice sports

TEAM LIVIGNO

Livigno’s ambassadors are athletes, some of them locals, that practice a number of different disciplines: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, freeski and freeride, mountain bike. They proudly represent Livigno by taking part in competitions and sporting events all around the world.

Members of Team Livigno include:

Dorothea Wierer (biathlon), Jole Galli (alpine skiing), Roberto Nani (alpine skiing), Maurizio Bormolini (Snowboarding)Nicolas e Thomas Bormolini (cross-country skiing), Simone Urbani (cross-country skiing), Thomas Bormolini (biathlon),Saverio Zini (biathlon), Paolo Rodigari (biathlon), Ian Rocca (freeride), Luca Minigher (freeride), Tobia Silvestri (freeride),Yuri Silvestri (freeride), Giuliano Bordoni (freeride), Bruno Mottini (freeride) and Mattia Longa (mountain bike). For them, Livigno’s mountains and slopes, as well as Aquagranda Active You, are an important point of reference for training and achieving the best possible results.

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