Snow warning: «The national snow cover is reduced by 61%». The “synthetic” winter on the ski slopes. And ski pass prices are rising. But Cortina (and the Olympics) are safe

The winter of the Northeast is a white paradox: the slopes are crowded and the ski resorts show higher attendances than last season, but theNatural snow remains the big absenteereplaced by a massive climate engineering operation. Between Veneto, Trentino and Alto Adige the landscape is a mosaic of contrasts: perfectly prepared white stripes that cut through still brown woods and meadows. The “splash” on Christmas Eve provided relief that was more aesthetic than technical, leaving the installers with the burden of a season that literally stands on the cannons.

At 2200 meters 50 cm of snow
The data of Cima Foundation they are merciless: the snow deficit at a national level is close il 61%. In the Dolomites, the sum of accumulations at 2,200 meters stops at approximately 50 centimetres; a value that Marco Grigolettopresident of Anef Veneto, the association that brings together cableway companies, bluntly defines it as “a bit poor”. In this scenario, the viral image of the helicopter carrying giant bags of snow over Trentino Monte Bondone to cover the black holes of the routes has become the chilling symbol of extreme resistance to climate change.

From Civetta to the Val di Fiemme, the area is closed for kilometres
«In Veneto we are around 90% of slopes open – explains Grigoletto -. There are still some routes missing because we have given priority to interval connections. Now we ski almost exclusively on programmed snow up to 2,000 metres.” If the peaks are stingy, the stations at lower altitudes have experienced mixed fortunes: paradoxically, in the latest disturbance “from below”, Nevegal and Monte Avena collected 30 centimeters of fresh air, while Arabba stopped at seven.

In the vast Dolomiti Superski carousel, however, the suffering is visible leopard spot: less than half of the area is operational at Civetta with only 35 kilometers out of 72, while the connections at the Three Peaks (80 su 115), in Val di Fiemme (75 out of 120) andAlpe Lusia-San Pellegrinowhere almost 40 kilometers of tracks are missing. «Fortunately the temperatures are dropping and there is no longer the thermal inversion of ten days ago, which made it impossible to shoot – confesses Grigoletto -. If we have cold windows, we are calm: our snowmaking systems, also financed by the Veneto Region, are cutting edge”.

But how much does it cost to ski in this “synthetic winter”?
Very. The daily ski pass for the Dolomiti Superski carousel has reached a record high 86 euros in high season. Throughout the Northeast i increases, between 3% and 5%are justified by the adjustment of the energy costs necessary to operate the cannons night and day.

It is the price of a guarantee: that of skiing even when the sky remains clear. For families, the relief valve remains the “SuperFamily” format, which allows the cost of a single entry to be reduced to around 35-40 euros through the purchase of prepaid packages.

While Veneto and a large part of Alto Adige proceed at full capacity, Trentino experiments with drastic solutions against theovertourism. The limited number made its debut in Madonna di Campiglio: 14,000 skiers at most during peak hours. «We’ll see how the Campiglio experiment goes – comments his Venetian colleague Grigoletto -. For now in Superski there is no intention of closing the taps; if anything we will think about pay-as-you-go ski passes or time slots.”

Cortina ready for the Olympics
The horizon, however, is already projected towards the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics. If Cortina d’Ampezzo travels at full speed with 90 kilometers open out of 120the effect of the Games is creating a curious international confusion. «We receive many calls from Americans and tourists from the East who struggle to understand where exactly the races are located – reveals the president of the Anef plant engineers -. It will be interesting to understand how the flows will move when Cortina is closed off for competitions: we will probably see a massive influx of skiers into the surrounding areas.”

Despite the “fogs” that sent the World Cup into a tailspin and the drought that gripped December until the eve of it, the sector does not give in to pessimism. «The season is positive and the results satisfy us – concludes Grigoletto -, but it is clear that we hope for more copious snow. For now, the dry cold is enough to do our duty and guarantee the show.”

January 1, 2026

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