Skiing & Mountain Sports

 The area to the north and west of the town, around Pecetto and beyond, provides a large skiing area, with pistes suitable for beginners, as well as more challenging pistes for experienced skiers.

As a ski resort the venue is well equipped during the season, with two ski schools, hire shops and so on. There are two cross-country runs that pass between the old houses of Pecetto and Isella and into the woods, before entering a small valley called Quarazza.

There are excellent opportunities for snowboarding both on and off-piste, taking in the slopes of Monte Moro or the Belvedere area of Monte Rosa. There is also a specially reserved area on Monte Moro for free-stylers.

Other sporting activities

Other sporting activities available include horse riding, mountain biking, paragliding and snowboarding. There are also  tennis courts and a fully equipped sports centre for football. For several seasons, Italy's Seria A soccer team AC Torino chose Macugnaga as a pre-season training base camp.

Macugnaga is an all-year round resort, though to call it a 'resort' seems wrong. It does have all the trappings many would expect and need - hotels, restaurants, ski schools and several pistes for varying skill levels, shops and night life, but it retains a genuine charm and homely feel. Apart, perhaps, from some of the items in the gift shops, there is little about Macugnaga that makes you feel you've entered a world created for tourists.

They cater for tourists, sure, and do it pretty well, but essentially this is just a small Italian Alpine town providing a living for local workers and making the most of its wonderful natural surroundings.