Plan de Corones - Kronplatz: Ski area guide

The ‘panettone’ of the Alps

Drive east along the Puster Valley and sooner or later you will look up at an unusually shaped mountain: an almost perfect dome rising on its own above Brunico, with no buttresses or sharp ridges. Locals call it the ‘panettone’, after the dome-shaped Christmas cake.

The nickname sums up both the shape and the philosophy of Kronplatz (Plan de Corones), the ‘crown plateau’. You can ski it all the way to the summit, and the runs spread out from the top like the spokes of a wheel towards the valleys around it. This layout is no accident. It is the result of decades of planning that turned the mountain into one of the most efficient and most visited ski areas in the Alps.

The view from the summit

The summit of Kronplatz, at 2,275 metres, has one of the most complete 360° panoramas in the eastern Alps.

• North: the peaks and glaciers of the Zillertal and Ötztal Alps.
• South: the Fanes, Sella and Tofane groups draw the unmistakable skyline of the UNESCO Dolomites.
• East: the Puster Valley opens out towards Austria.
• West: the view reaches the peaks of the Sciliar Nature Park.

The mountain’s orientation also helps the snow. The north-facing slopes above Brunico and Riscone keep soft snow longer than the south-facing ones, so the runs stay in consistently good condition from December to April.

120 km for every level

The 120 km of runs are spread across four main sides of the mountain, Brunico, Riscone, San Vigilio di Marebbe and Valdaora, each with its own valley station.

The ski area suits every level. Medium-gradient red and blue runs cover most of the mountain, while a few black runs, especially on the Riscone side, are a real technical challenge. For families with small children, the Kinder Skiworld area near the summit has dedicated runs with gentle gradients and support for new skiers.

MMM Corones and architecture inside the mountain

On the summit of Kronplatz stands one of the most extraordinary buildings in the Alps: MMM Corones, the fifth museum in the Messner Mountain Museum network devoted to world mountaineering.

Designed by the Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid shortly before her death in 2016, the museum is set into the mountain itself, almost entirely underground, with glass openings that frame the surrounding peaks like living paintings. You can reach it easily by gondola from Riscone, so it is open to non-skiers too.

A few steps from MMM Corones is the LUMEN Museum, the only museum in the world devoted entirely to mountain photography. Permanent and temporary exhibitions trace how the image of the Alps has evolved from the 19th century to the present day.

Getting there

Brunico, the main gateway to the ski area, is a few minutes from the Puster Valley exit on the A22 motorway. From Innsbruck the drive takes about an hour and a half. From Bolzano it is about 80 km of motorway, about fifty minutes in total.

If you are travelling without a car, the Puster Valley railway serves Brunico, and dedicated shuttle buses link the station with the gondola car parks.