It is unsurprising that a ski resort just off a major autostrade (highway/motorway/interstate et al.) attracts a crowd on a weekend. And so it was at the Campo Smith base at Bardonecchia when we arrived to find a heaving Saturday crowd of mainly family groups on the beginner terrain. The reason for Bardonecchia’s popularity, particularly on weekends, is it ease of access from the large metropolitan city of Turin. Direct trains and the autostrade allows efficient access & so many Turin residents own holiday apartments in Bardonecchia. Loads of British skiers reside here through the winter as well. Despite this, all is not lost to a sea of humanity. Despite the weekend crowd, starting early on a Sunday morning for my first turns, we did not wait for a lift once. And that was the theme for the rest of the stay. What more could one ask for when the price of a lift pass is an utterly, ridiculously low €37? Yep, I’ll say it again. A full adult day lift pass cost €37.
You can pick yourself up off the floor now & keep reading……..
Split into two very separate & different zones, the Bardonecchia ski area covers all bases. Colomion-Melezet sector is a north-facing piste skiers paradise of tree-lined runs streaming into three different base areas. The Jafferau sector has more varied terrain on its sunny slopes, with a higher altitude and broad off-piste.
Colomion Melezet is deep in shade for much of the day in mid-winter. The sun finally pops up after 1130ish to cast some light & warmth across the hill, then disappears at the base areas by 3pm. Campo Smith gets more afternoon sun than Melezet, making for a better outdoor après ski location. The Jafferau sector sees more sun, and earlier.
We enjoyed the tear-inducing fast piste trails of Colomion Melezet. They offer fall line groomer sliding the equal of anywhere in the world. On weekends, as the resort wakens from its mid-week slumber, places like the Sellette Chair near Chalet Chesal gets incredibly busy at 1030ish, with hordes of young ski-racers & their parents descending upon it. We simply skied across to the middle of the resort where there were exactly ZERO people. Go figure! Nice though.
There are three punishing surface lifts in the higher altitudes of the Colomion-Melezet sector. The central Clos J-bar is particularly nasty. Piste 4 Roccette, the area’s only black, is worth of the journey though. Similarly, the lengthy Colomion lift ends blessedly at a delightful mountain hut and accesses the hill’s best piste all the way down to Campo Smith - a full 800m vertical. Snowboarders need to be wary on the all the upper mountain surface lifts and beginners should simply stay away.
Whilst on the subject of beginners, Bardonecchia really does challenge them. Away from the flattish novice learn-to-ski areas, the line between a beginner blue and an intermediate red are blurry indeed at this resort.
Despite having some excellent, sheltered north aspect on-piste trails, we were nonetheless underwhelmed by Bardonecchia, until we caught the bus across to Jafferau. True powder-hounds potential exists there. Significantly higher than Colomion-Melezet, it has above-treeline alpine plus deliciously spaced trees and pitch for a full off-piste top to bottom in the right conditions. Jafferau also has favoloso picnic spots and a ski-in ski-out hotel at the top of the gondola. Space is at a premium at the gondola top though. Would hate to see it on a busy powder day. The term bedlam comes to mind. Wind also appears to play havoc with the upper terrain as well. The pistes are professionally managed but off-piste in the highest zones of the Ban chair and Jafferau J-bar lift carry a few sharks under the snow surface depending on which way the snow has blown. Tread warily. The blue Gran Pista and Primevera (more so) are surprisingly fun and fast returns to the gondola top station.
We were sucked in by the Bardonecchia trail map! Much like Aprica, to look at the Bardonecchia trail map in the Colomion-Melezet sector, one could be mistaken for thinking the forest between the runs would be great for tree-skiing. In fact, aside from the highest parts of the sector, the trees are thick and mostly impenetrable, even in the deepest snowpack. The upper zone above 1950m has some tree skiing potential, but in general the off-piste in Colomion Melezet is seriously limited. Skinners may reap a ready harvest on the sunny backside though, accessed via any of the top three surface tows (terrain from Cresta Seba being the pick of it). There are beautiful open bowls with old larch interspersed. Inbounds, the Seba tow (the highest in the sector at 2263m) has some playful gullies off the cat track skiers right of the lift. A shortish bootpack up the ridge to skiers’ left toward Punta della Mulattiera opens up the best of the freeride terrain with some open bowls, trees & short chutes. This area is destined to become lift accessed in the coming years (don't be sucked in by Google maps - the lifts are not there yet).
Getting around Bardonecchia is a synch with the free local buses. Buses go every 20min between Jafferau and Campo Smith on the Line 2 bus. The bus stop at Campo Smith base is a short walk across the car park on the main road across the river bridge. Same for Melezet.
Car parking in the Colomion Melezet sector is free and plentiful on all but the busiest days. The middle sector at Les Arnauds has no base facilities other than the chairlift, so is almost totally bereft of cars. Would not be surprised to see the odd tumbleweed rolling through! Parking at Jafferau is more limited & can extend a long way down the roadside on weekends. Unless early, take the bus instead.
Après ski is best mid-mountain in Colomion as the sun resides there the longest. A ski or download to Campo Smith can see it continue at the often lively Harald’s Bar. Otherwise in the centre of town at the lower end of the shopping strip, try Medail for a mix of good tunes, brews, cocktails & simple tasty street food. Opens at 6pm.
Not the prettiest town in Italy, Bardonecchia does have some fabulous elements. It is surrounded by mountains with the Via Lattea & French Haute Maurienne Vanoise close by. It has a direct rail to Paris, Lyon, Turin & Milan. It has real shops, real bars & real people living there – not just a manufactured resort crowd. It has some cool history, including castle ruins on a highpoint above town. And it has glorious church bells that ring on the half hour through the day echoing across the valley & almost, but not quite, drowning out the music from the afternoon après ski sessions at Harald’s bar in Campo Smith.
Visit Bardonecchia if after a cost effective, easy access, Italian ski experience in combination with the Via Lattea or French Haute Maurienne resorts like La Norma. You may find yourself quite alone on weekdays, but some of the best ski experiences in the world happen on cold, lonely, midweek January days!
You can see our thoughts on the pros and cons on the Bardonecchia overview page and also see our European ski resort ratings regarding how we score it compared to other skiing areas.