La Villa - Piz La Ila gondola

The La Villa - Piz La Ila gondola, built by Doppelmayr in 2015, is one of the most modern and smoothest-running lifts in Alta Badia, the Ladin ski area in the upper Val Badia, in the heart of the South Tyrolean Dolomites.

With a capacity of 2,600 people an hour and latest-generation cabins, it transformed access to the La Villa side of the valley and did away with the queues that once built up at this key junction of the Sella Ronda.

The valley station is in the village of La Villa (Stern), a genuine place where Ladin life still follows its traditional rhythms despite international success as a resort.

Alta Badia: skiing and fine food

Alta Badia is part of Dolomiti Superski, but there is much more to it than the number of slopes. The valley is widely recognised as one of the best places in the world to eat on the mountain. An unlikely concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants, gourmet mountain huts and alpine farms with creative cooking has made it a food destination without equal in the Alps.

The well-known Skiarea Alta Badia - Dolomiti stands out for its very high standards across the board, from slope grooming to hospitality, from snowmaking to signage. The mountain restaurants serve traditional Ladin dishes reinterpreted by internationally renowned chefs, with carefully chosen South Tyrolean wines and an attention to detail you rarely find at this altitude.

The Gran Risa

The Piz La Ila side is best known as home to the Gran Risa, the most famous alpine skiing World Cup run in Italy. It is a giant slalom slope like no other: local fans know it bend by bend and banner by banner, and on race days the atmosphere is like an open-air stadium.

Once the race gates are taken down, the Gran Risa is open to everyone. It is demanding but manageable for good skiers, with sustained steep sections alternating with long, scenic glides down towards the valley.

Gateway to the Sella Ronda

The link with the Sella Ronda is what makes this lift so strategically important. From Piz La Ila you ski down towards Corvara, and from there the loop around the Sella massif takes shape in its classic form.

Going anticlockwise from the La Villa gondola, you reach in turn the Gardena Pass, Val Gardena, the Sella Pass, Val di Fassa and finally return to Alta Badia via the Campolongo Pass. The full tour takes a whole day and offers a variety of scenery, slopes and mountain huts that represents the very best of European skiing.

Piz La Ila in summer

In summer the Piz La Ila side becomes a paradise for hikers and mountain bikers. Trails from the top station cross beautiful Ladin high pastures, with traditional alpine farms where you can taste locally made fresh cheese, speck and yoghurt.

Alta Badia’s farming traditions are still alive, and summer tourism fits respectfully alongside this centuries-old farming economy. The gondola also runs in summer, with shorter hours, so the plateau at the top is within reach of less experienced walkers and families with small children.