Last winter, a new ski resort opened up in Italy. The catch? It has zero lifts.
Tristan Kenedy from the Financial Times reports that Homeland has revitalized a remote community near the border of Switzerland and Italy. Located in Montespluga, Homeland is billed as Europe’s first lift-free ski resort, with eleven uphill routes, and 9000 acres of wide open skiable terrain. With this ski resort being two and a half hours from Milan, there’s potential to build something special here.
The owners were inspired by the now-closed Bluebird Backcountry ski area in Colorado. What’s different from this failed concept though is that they don’t charge money to use the trails. The prices for rentals are affordable: €55 (roughly $58) for all-new skis, boots, and skins, and €60 (around $63) for avalanche gear. They also offer €100 lessons (around $106) for novice ski tourers.
Like other parts of Europe, the number of ski resorts in Italy is beginning to decline. A 2023 report from Legambiente, which is the country’s top environmental NGO, found that 400 ski lifts in the country are abandoned. For the current and future areas that feature abandoned lifts, an alternative is ski-touring.
This new ski resort is a big boon for the town of Montespluga. Back in the 1950s and 60s, the town was home to four hotels and a ski lift. Over time, the ski lift and most of the hotels closed, and the town was practically abandoned during the winter. With this backcountry ski resort, the town’s trajectory has been altered.
Kikka Gramigna, a tourist who frequents the area, described to Tristan Kenedy of the Financial Times the effect the new ski resort has had on the community:
“They’re bringing life back to the village, there are people coming from Germany, from Austria, from all over. And their fire, their passion, it’s great.”
For a general idea about the skiing experience, the video below from
Alessandro Morolla is practically a cinematic experience. The video is in Italian, but there are English captions that make it easy to comprehend.
Image/Video Credits: Samuele Confortola (Featured & Header Image), Martina Mainetti, Alessandro Morolla
