Alta Badia Skiing
This section refers mainly to the skiing in the Badia valley above the villages of La Villa and Pedraces - Badia (the area above the gondola from La Villa is covered on the San Cassiano - Campolongo skiing page).
Skiers heading over to La Villa will probably arrive via the black or red run from the top of the Piz La Villa gondola or the easier blue from the neighbouring valley. The route lower down the valley is anyway on the other side of the main Badia road.
If it is working, there is the small connecting Doninz chairlift which provides enough altitude to ski to the base of the longer Gardenazza chairlift. Otherwise it is a short walk through La Villa to the bottom of the chairlift.
From here there is a red run down to the Pradüc chairlift - one of the horizontal connecting chairs in both directions that the Alta Badia ski area seems to specialise in. After a scenic slow ride along the valley floor this will deposit skiers at the base of the Santa Croce chairlift, which can be followed by the shorter La Crüsc chairlift up to the refuge under the nearby rockfaces of the Alpe di Fanes.
This whole area has an extremely attractive "out-of-the-way" feel to it and, while the skiing is not to extensive, it is nonetheless a collection of pleasant red runs with some beautiful scenery.
The return to La Villa is once again via the Pradüc chairlift and up the newer Sponata chairlift. From the top it is possible to ski into La Villa and cross the road to the bottom of the Piz La Ila gondola.
