Limone Piemonte
skiing close to French Riviera...
versione Italiana qui
I am very fond of Limone Piemonte. Here is
where I started skiing seriously very many years ago (argh!). Very popular among
Ligurians, it is a beautiful area that has seen radical changes in recent
years. The old skilifts have given way to new chairlifts and also the access
from the village (a real problem in the past) has been enhanced thanks to a
modern cable car. Unfortunately, the slopes have been reduced (the whole
"historic" Cros area has been closed), and the management of the ski
area continues to reserve almost permanently at least three runs for the Ski
Clubs’ training (too many, I think, especially in proportion to the total).
Positive notes: the village. It's very
nice, probably the most beautiful in the Alps of Piedmont and well equipped.
The town center has been safeguarded from the awful buildings of the ‘70s. A
lovely main street invites you to relax during the après ski with a walk
keeping up with the most mainstream locations.
It’s one of the very few Alpine resorts
that can be reached directly by train.
And the snow: with rare exceptions
(unfortunately the season 2011/2012 was one of them), Limone Piemonte, as well
as all the towns in the province of Cuneo, has very good snow conditions
throughout the winter.
Ski area
Connecting three areas that were once
independent, the Riserva Bianca is an area that pretends to have 80 km of slopes (but I would say that they
are no more than 60) and, as I’ve mentioned, is made up by about fifteen modern
lifts with excellent opening times. On the other side of the coin, this
“modernity” has led to very crowded slopes, especially on weekends (avoid such days,
if you can!).
Unfortunately, the low altitude of the
slopes makes its presence felt: in spite of the exceptional snow mentioned
above, you will find perfect snow just during a hard winter (ideally from
mid-December to mid-February).
Even today, the names of the original three
areas mark the three parts of the district.
Sole (runs
that can be reached from the village through the new cable car), Col di
Tenda (the central part of the ski area) and Limonetto (the most
peripheral area, now served only by a two-seater chairlift, which have replaced
the previous lifts).
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| Ski area... my favourite runs in purple |
Here are my favorite tracks:
Olimpica (15th
and 16th on the Skimap): one of the longest and varied tracks of the ski area. It
extends from the 2000 meters of Mount Alpetta down to the 1000 meters of the
village. It starts with an initial slight slope and then goes down the long
wall below the chair. The beautiful and amusing central part is characterized
by a series of large bumps but, unfortunately, it is often closed for races and
training. The last section presents a challenging wall before falling gradually
down to the final plan.
Cabanaira
(27th): under chairlift bearing the same name, it starts with a challenging
initial wall. In the middle you have two choices. This is a beautiful track,
but it is negatively affected by the beautiful sun exposure (especially the
last part ... careful with the ice plates or the very hard snow). Enjoy it
early in the morning.
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| Cabanaira run starts here... Col di Tenda is over there... |
Macchetto (31st):
the track that hosted Italian championships and Snowboard World Cup
competitions, it has almost always a good-quality snow. The first part, in the
woods, facing north, is a long black track with a constant inclination. At the
end, instead of following the path up to Col di Tenda, take the track on the
left that goes down to Limonetto: enjoy this red part of the run, perfect and
often deserted.
Skipasses
UPDATE 2014
In the nortwest Alps scenario the ski pass price is quite cheap (€33 for the day). However, there are several ways to get discounts
(eg., buying online or using benefits like the one shown in the Tips section).
Skitrotter Tips
- Do you have an Ikea Family card?
No, I am not trying to convince you to give a Swedish look to your living room:
with this card you will have a discount of up to €7 on the day pass (and, in
these days, it not bad ...) throughout the season. The card is free (info on
www.ikea.com);
- If you have to pay the full price for
your day, consider that there are several points of sale along the state
road that leads to Limone (a list is available on the website www.riservabianca.it).
Bye bye queues at the ticket counter ...!
- Finding a place for your car could be a
mirage during weekends: paying 0.60 cents for each hour of parking, you can
park at the lifts departures in Limone Piemonte and Limonetto, where there are
two new underground parking facilities. If you do not want to get up at dawn,
it's money well worth spent, believe me!
- Escape from crowded slopes and explore
(safely, I recommend) one of the many freeride paths of the area. The beautiful
valley of S. Giovanni departs 50 meters above the Pian del Leone Pancani
chairlift arrival station and takes you to the village.
- Liguria is just around the corner: taste the fantastic focaccias of the small bakery opposite the church of the main street (you'll recognize it by the three steps).
Limone Piemonte, Cuneo,
Piedmont, Italy.
By car: motorway to Cuneo Est, then 45
minutes by state road to destination.
From western Liguria and French Riviera,
state road No. 20 (SS 20 Col di Tenda) to the destination.
Airports:
Cuneo Levaldigi (47 km)
Nice Cote d'Azur Airport (110 km)
Turin Caselle (153 km)
Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa
More Info
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