Alpe di Siusi in Winter: Cross-Country Skiing, Winter Walks and Sledging

Getting up in winter: cable car, car and bus

The cable car leaves from Siusi and reaches Compatsch in 15 minutes. In the 2026/27 season it runs from 5 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, every day from 8am to 6pm, and it also carries skis, sledges, snowshoes, dogs and pushchairs. In winter 2025/26 a return ticket cost 30 euros for an adult and 18 for young people born between 2008 and 2017, while children born from 2018 onwards rode free. Prices for the coming winter have not been published yet.

At the valley station the large open-air car park is free, with no parking from 10pm to 6.30am. There are also two paid garages: the Walderer garage, 2 euros an hour and 8 a day, and the one under the station, 2.50 euros an hour and 12 a day.

By car, the summer rule applies. While the cable car is running, the road from Siusi to Compatsch is closed to private traffic from 9am to 5pm: you drive up before or after, and you can drive down at any time. Since 29 June 2026 the two car parks at the top, P1 Spitzbühl at 15 euros a day and P2 Compatsch at 30, can only be used with an online booking, made no more than six days ahead. The official page presents the booking as a general rule, with no exception for winter, and 2026/27 is the first winter it applies to: check it again before you set off.

Without a car there are shuttle buses 1, 2, 3/3A and 5/15, which run from Siusi, Fiè and Castelrotto to the valley station. A ski pass is not a bus ticket: you need a South Tyrol public transport ticket, the Combi Card, the Nordic Pass or the Guest Pass, which your accommodation in Castelrotto, Siusi, Fiè or Tires gives you as part of the price of your stay. If you would rather not take the cable car, there is the Seiser Alm Express, line 10, which usually starts from Castelrotto and costs the same as the cable car, 30 euros return.

On the plateau you get around on the Almbus, line 11, between Compatsch and Saltria: 4 euros a ride, 7 return. From Saltria, line 12, which only runs in winter, goes down to Monte Pana in Val Gardena for 5 euros. Neither ski passes nor the Guest Pass are valid on the Almbus.

• Cable car: 5 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, 8am to 6pm, 15 minutes from Siusi to Compatsch
• Return ticket in winter 2025/26: 30 euros adults, 18 euros born between 2008 and 2017, free from 2018
• The cable car is included in the Alpe di Siusi/Val Gardena and Dolomiti Superski ski passes
• Combi Card for sledging, walking and snowshoeing, Nordic Pass for cross-country skiing: both cover the cable car, shuttle buses and Almbus
• Road closed to private cars from 9am to 5pm while the cable car runs, driving down always allowed
• Car parks at the top only with a booking: P1 Spitzbühl 15 euros, P2 Compatsch 30 euros a day

Cross-country skiing: 80 kilometres between 1,800 and 2,200 metres

The Alpe di Siusi has 80 kilometres of cross-country trails between 1,800 and 2,200 metres, groomed with double or quadruple tracks for classic and skating. The official site specifies that you ski on natural snow only. The trails are open every day from 8.30am to 5pm, and using them outside those hours is forbidden.

Almost everything starts from the Ritsch cross-country centre. From Compatsch you reach it on the Compatsch-Ritsch-Compatsch trail, 5.4 km in all and also meant as a warm-up, or on the Almbus 11. Two areas, Hartl and Joch, can only be reached on cross-country skis in winter: no downhill runs or footpaths go there.

The trail ticket costs 10 euros a day, 52 for seven consecutive days and 125 for the season: these are the prices published in September 2026, with no year given. The cable car is not included. Under-14s ski for free, and you can also buy the ticket from the inspector on the trail. The same ticket covers the Val Gardena trails, which are linked to those on the Alpe, and the whole area is part of the Dolomiti NordicSki circuit.

The official site lists shops that hire out cross-country skis in Siusi, in Castelrotto and on the Alpe itself, and two ski schools with cross-country lessons based on the plateau. On the trails you may not walk or bring dogs, sledges, pushchairs or bikes. Other places in the Dolomites for cross-country skiing and sledging are on the cross-country and sledging page.

• Ritsch: 1.4 km, almost flat, the easiest
• Ritsch practice trail: 2.1 km, +30 m, for beginners
• Möser: 5.5 km, +88 m, easy
• Wolfsbühl (Col del Lupo): 8.9 km, +154 m, easy, with one short, hard climb
• Saltria: 6.5 km, +74 m, intermediate, the lowest on the Alpe
• Hartl: 12 km, +150 m, intermediate
• Panorama: 11.3 km, +308 m, difficult
• Joch (Giogo): 15.4 km, +350 m, difficult, the longest and hardest
• Saltria-Monte Pana link: 3.9 km, for experienced skiers only; otherwise take line 12

Walking on snow: 60 kilometres of groomed paths

For walking, the Alpe has 60 kilometres of groomed winter paths. You need sturdy winter footwear and warm clothes, not snowshoes. Some of these paths are classed as safe from avalanches. Stay on the marked ones: walking on the cross-country trails and the ski runs is forbidden.

The gentlest route goes to the Sanon hut: from Compatsch towards Ritsch, across the meadows to the hut, which looks straight at the Sassolungo and the Sassopiatto, and on the way back a short climb to the Tuene hut before returning to Compatsch. It is 8.1 km with 160 metres of ascent, and you can shorten it by taking the Almbus to Ritsch.

The Hans and Paula Steger trail, the one the official site puts first, starts at St Francis church in Compatsch and follows path 30. In winter the route sheet takes it as far as the Laranzer Schwaige hut and back the same way, 10.2 km. Along the route, information boards cover the geology, plants, wildlife and legends of the Alpe.

From Saltria, which you reach on the Almbus, two routes with more climbing set off: one to the Zallinger refuge on path 9, where the way back is also a sledge run, and the Piz loop, which climbs towards the Hotel Sonne and returns on path 30.

Two warnings from the official site. After heavy snowfall or swings in temperature, the paths may not be groomed straight away. And check the opening hours of the huts along the routes before you set off.

• Compatsch-Sanon hut and back: 8.1 km, +160 m, 2 hours 13
• Hans and Paula Steger trail to the Laranzer Schwaige and back: 10.2 km, +299 m, 2 hours 55
• Bullaccia (Puflatsch) loop from Compatsch: 9 km, +406 m, 2 hours 43; the first climb can be done on the Telemix lift
• Saltria-Zallinger refuge and back: 8.9 km, +382 m, 2 hours 40
• Saltria-Piz-Saltria: 8.4 km, +344 m, 2 hours 31
• Compatsch-Mont Seuc-Sanon hut and back: 12.8 km, +351 m, 3 hours 37; from Mont Seuc the cable car goes down to Val Gardena
• Compatsch-Molignon refuge, back from Saltria on the Almbus: 15 km, +524 m, 4 hours 24

Sledging: four runs on the plateau

The official route sheets list four sledge runs on the Alpe di Siusi. Three have a lift to the start, the fourth you walk up. A helmet is compulsory for everyone: since 2025 Italian law requires it, where before it applied only to under-18s. Sledging on ski runs is forbidden.

The longest is the Zallinger, 4.7 km with a 294-metre drop, which runs from the Zallinger refuge down to Saltria in many bends, partly through the woods. To reach the start, walk up from Saltria past the Hotel Tirler, or take the Florian chairlift and walk about 700 metres downhill. The route sheet warns that the run is closed on Saturdays. Last season a single ride on the Florian cost 14 euros, or 12 for children aged 8 to 15.

The Molignon run is 4.4 km long with a 315-metre drop. From Saltria you walk up through the woods to the Molignon refuge, on a track that is both path and run, and from there you sledge back down towards Saltria.

The Bullaccia (Puflatsch) run is 1.8 km long with a 236-metre drop. You go up on the Telemix Puflatsch lift, 5 euros a ride, or on foot, and you finish at the lift's valley station, 500 metres uphill from Compatsch. Icaro-Monte Piz is the one the route sheet suggests for families: 1.7 km and 140 metres, from the Hotel Icaro to the valley station of the Monte Piz chairlift, which takes you back up for 9 euros. There too you can walk back up.

Sledges can be hired at the huts, at the cable car valley station and at rental shops in the area. In Compatsch, opposite the church, there is a small sledge park with a short run and a slope, open at all hours: last season it hosted free lessons three days a week between January and March. Off the plateau there is also the Hofer Alpl run, at Umes above Fiè.

• Zallinger: 4.7 km, 294 m drop; Florian chairlift or on foot from Saltria; closed on Saturdays
• Molignon: 4.4 km, 315 m; walk up from Saltria
• Bullaccia (Puflatsch): 1.8 km, 236 m; Telemix lift or on foot
• Icaro-Monte Piz: 1.7 km, 140 m; Monte Piz chairlift or on foot

Snowshoes and horse-drawn sleighs

There is no separate snowshoe network on the Alpe: you use the groomed winter paths, which are open to snowshoes too. The dedicated network, 50 kilometres of it, lies lower down, around Tires al Catinaccio. If you lack experience, local guides run accompanied outings every week, and one of them is on the Alpe di Siusi.

Away from groomed paths, in high mountain terrain, you need safety equipment. What to bring and how to read the risk is in our snowshoeing guide; other areas are on the snowshoeing page.

The horse-drawn sleighs leave from Compatsch, a few metres from the top station of the cable car. You cannot book ahead: if a sleigh is free, you agree the length and destination with the owner. The municipality sets guide prices by ordinance, and if the route or duration changes, so does the bill.

• Half an hour: 50 euros
• One hour: 75 euros
• To Ritsch: 65 euros
• To Joch: 80 euros
• To the Sanon hut or the Rauchhütte: 85 euros
• To Saltria or to the Mont Seuc cable car for Ortisei: 150 euros

Snow, avalanches and closed refuges

Before you go out, check the Euregio avalanche bulletin at avalanche.report, which the Alpe's own site also points to. Only some of the winter paths are classed as safe from avalanches. The general rules, from equipment to calling for help, are on the mountain safety page. The emergency number is 112, and helping anyone who has an accident is compulsory.

The two refuges above the plateau are closed in winter. The Rifugio Bolzano, on the Sciliar, opens in 2026 from 6 June to 11 October. The Rifugio Alpe di Tires from 28 May to 18 October. In winter your stops are the huts and hotels on the plateau.

With a dog: on a lead on the paths, never on the cross-country trails, and on the cable car with a lead, a muzzle and a ticket, 3 euros a ride and 6 return.

November to December, when the cable car is closed

The cable car ends its summer season on 2 November and reopens on 5 December 2026. In the weeks in between, the road to Compatsch is open to cars all day, and the P2 car park costs 15 euros instead of 30.

If you are not driving, there is line 179, a public bus from Siusi and Castelrotto to Compatsch and Saltria that only runs while the cable car is closed. It goes up three times in the morning and three in the afternoon, and it is free with the Guest Pass.

Cross-country skiing has no opening date: the trails rely on natural snow only, and the ones open on any given day are marked on the interactive map on the official site.