Santa Caterina is a compact, conventional village in the heart of the immense Stelvio National Park, Italy’s largest protected natural reserve. Santa Caterina is a quiet friendly village in the Valfurva Valley above Bormio. One of the attractions is that there is no winter through-traffic. In the last fifty years the resort has grown to offer all the modern ski resort conveniences, whilst still maintaining is original charm. Many of the hotels and other resort businesses are still under the same family ownership. The village offers a mixture of accommodation ranging from traditional chalets to hotels. Activities here include trekking, mountaineering, ski-touring, climbing and mountain biking. For a truly magical experience have a go at ice-skating at the open-air rink. A supervised mini-club, with a host of snow activities, takes care of children.

Santa Caterina has a vast knowledge of international racing and in 2005 was the venue for the Bormio Alpine World Championships. The village has been home to several ski racers, the most recent Deborah Compagnoni and also Italian downhill skier Pietro Vitalini. In 2005 the new Deborah Compagnoni slope was created for all the women’s alpine ski races at the World Championships.

Santa Caterina has been the environment for summer and winter mountain lovers. In winter the high altitude of the village and the surrounding ski area make it a snow sure destination. In summer it is a good base for skiing on Passo dello Stelvio and also summer ski touring in surrounding areas of Southern Switzerland, Austria and Alto Adige.

In the 19^th Century Santa Caterina was already well known as a spa location, due to the ferruginous (minerals and rocks) water springs. Even then there were trips to the Forni glacier above, mainland Europe’s largest glacier.

Santa Caterina Valfurva has 10 slopes, which total 22 kms of ski runs. 58% are perfectly suited to the intermediate level skier, with beginners and experts getting 21% each.

The resort has 5 draglifts and 2 chairlifts, the highest 2,726m and the lowest at 1,737m. Approximately 7,065 skiers per hour are ushered up the slopes in this resort, which has a terrific ski school and competent instructors on hand. 18km of cross-country routes complete the available ski area in the resort.

The resort gained fame as a ski resort in the 1950s and 60s when the first ski lifts were built. The Stelvio National Park is popular all year round as it contains the magnificent Ortles – Cevedale mountain range with peaks over 3,800 metres above sea level.

This is a natural heritage of remarkable significance and beauty, which contains over 1,800 types of flowers, 200 types of birds, deer, roebuck, mountain goats, ibexes, marmots, squirrels, stoats and foxes.

The season runs from December to April, with the best conditions considered to be from January to late March. The busiest times are around school holidays. Milan airport is 4 hours drive, or a five-hour train and bus transfer to Santa Caterina Valfurva.