- Highlights
- Description
- Example Itinerary
- Included / Not Included
- Prerequisites
- Equipment Required
- Availability & Prices
- Book Now
- Reviews
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- Ski tour on Italy’s largest glacier
- Excellent huts with great hospitality and Italian food
- Hippopotamus Cannon 149G
- The area is an open air WW1 museum
Ski Touring Adamello Glacier
Highlights
Location : Ponte di Legno
Ratio : 1:5
Available during : Mar, Apr, May

Full Description
We are often asked which is the best way to explore the Adamello mountain range, whether on foot or with skis. Without a shadow of doubt skis enable you to traverse across this gigantic glacier more easily, both while ascending and descending.
As the glacier is so vast, travelling on skis is far easier than on foot. The snow covered mountains and the "Pian di Neve" (literally "snow plain") in its white vest are quite simply spectacular with its innumerable itineraries.
The Adamello Ski Tour is a magnificent journey into the very heart of the Adamello mountain range and its imposing glacier system (at 13 square km the largest in Italy). The tour begins at Passo del Tonale which gave the name to the magma rock which constitutes the backbone of this massif: Tonalite.
We are based in Ponte di Legno (1 hour drive from Madonna di Campiglio in the Brenta Dolomites) and have a cosy b&b in the centre of town. This is the ideal arrival and depature base. It is also the ideal base for day ski tours to the Brenta Dolomites, Adamello range and Stelvio national Park. We will be happy to create a tailor made ski touring trip for you.
Example Itinerary
It is for you and your guide to decide the exact makeup of your booking however, these itinerary days shown below are an example of how a booking for this activity could be structured.
Arrival day |
Transfer from your arrival airport to our b&b in Ponte di Legno. |
Day 1 - Ability and equipment check on the off-piste itineraries |
Off piste skiing and skills coaching at Passo del Tonale ski resort. This is an opportunity for some quality acclimatization and warm up runs, plus some essential skills training and refreshment before setting off on the hut to hut touring. We will spend the night at our b&b in Ponte di Legno |
Day 2 - Day tour |
Today we’ll enjoy a quality day tour, using some uplift through the resort to start the day. There are a number of different possibilities – Pisganino, Ficazza etc – so we’ll choose the best option for the group and current snow conditions. Uphill 500m. Downhill 2000m. 4-5 hours |
Day 3 - Start of hut to hut trip |
From Passo Tonale (1800m), we reach Passo Presena (2997m) with the gondola, before skiing down to Rifugio Mandrone (2500m). After a break to leave our overnight gear (and an espresso, of course) we then skin 400m up to Passo Tre Denti where we will do some more skills (boot packing, ice ace arrest, crevasse rescue) and enjoy a great ski back down to the hut before dinner. This hut has some of the best food in the Alps! ↑400 m ↓900 m – 4-5 hrs. |
Day 4 - World War One Cannon "Hippopotamus" |
Today we skin up to Cresta Croce (3300m) and visit the nearby First Word War cannon, called 149G or Hippopotamus – if the snow is firm, we may need crampons for the final section. From the ridge, we enjoy an exceptional panorama of the Adamello Glacier before skiing back down to the main glacier, where a short climb leads to the Rifugio Lobbia (3040m) where we spend the night. Uphill 1000m, downhill 400m. 5-6 hours |
Day 5 - Monte Adamello or Crozzon di Lares or Dosson di Genova |
Rifugio Lobbia is an Italian national landmark, was totally renovated in 2005 and is located in an amazing position right in the centre of the Adamello Glacier. There are several day tours we can do, depending on the weather/snow conditions and on the team’s fitness and motivation. ↑500-1100 m ↓500-1100 m – 5-8 hrs. |
Day 6 - Monte Venezia and Pisgana descent |
From the hut, we head out across the glacier and climb up to the Passo Valletta (3200m). If the conditions are good, we can summit Monte Venezia (3290m) that sits just above the col. We now have 13km and 1900m of north facing skiing all the way down the Pisgana valley to the bar! ↑600 m ↓2200 m – 5-6 hrs. |
Departure day |
Transfer from our b&b in Ponte di Legno to your departure airport or to another location. |
- Services of IFMGA Mountain Guide
- Liability insurance
- All food and drinks for clients and guides
- Travel, accident and cancellation insurance for clients
- Hut costs for clients and Guides
- Guides travel expences
- Cable cars and ski lifts for clients and guides
- Accommodation (more info)
- Transfers (more info)
- Ski touring equipment (more info)
What's Included
What's Not Included
Optional Extras
Prerequisites
You are a confident off-piste skier, used to ski on black runs and on all types of snow. You should be in good physical shape and be able to ski tour up hill for 3-4 hours at altitude. In this tour we will be touring and sleeping between 2000 and 3500m. This trip is ideal to learn skills such as boot packing, the use of crampons and an ice axe, crevasse rescue, avalanche awarness. It creates a good foundation for longer and more strenuous hut to hut ski touring trips. On all our programs splitboarders and telemarkers are welcome.
- Technical equipment (these items can be rented): ski touring skis, ski touring boots, climbing skins, ski crampons, poles, avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe, backpack, boot crampons, ice axe, harness, 2 screw gate carabineers, daisy chain or 120cm dyneema sling.
- Personal equipment: 1 litre thermos, provisions for during the day (energy bars, chocolate, dried fruit, sandwiches), first aid kit, sun glasses (protection factor 3 or 4), goggles, gore-tex jacket and overpants, windstopper vest, ski touring pants, fleece jacket, breathable base layers, lightweight gloves, thick gloves or mittens, wool hat, bandana, sun screen factor 50.
- For the hut: sleeping bag liner, change of socks, head torch, toothbrush & toothpaste, small towel, wet wipes
Equipment Required
Availability & Prices
This activity is available to be booked for any date/dates within the availablity periods shown below. Because we tailor your booking to suit your exact requirements you can book this activity for as many days as you like. The recommended duration for this activity is between 1 and 5 days. If your group size is more than 5 please contact us for a bespoke quote. Special prices for families and children: please contact us.
Period | Starting | Ending |
---|---|---|
Availability period | from : 02/03/2025 | to : 04/05/2025 |
Number of people | Price (€) |
---|---|
1 Pax | €350.00 per person per day |
2 Pax | €200.00 per person per day |
3 Pax | €150.00 per person per day |
4 Pax | €125.00 per person per day |
5 Pax | €100.00 per person per day |
Book Now
Enter your start date, end date and number of people and we will check availability and prices for you. The recommended duration for this activity is between 1 and 5 days. However, you can book as many days as suits your requirements. If your group size is more than 5 please contact us for a bespoke quote. Not quite ready to book? Send us any questions (click here for contact details).
Ski Touring Adamello Glacier Reviews
Splendid tour
"First of all I want to thank you and Max for the splendid three days. Thanks for looking after my little brother who was a bit tired. As usual we take a lot of great memories and feelings back home with us and... a bit more off-piste skiing experience and confidence.""
Frank