Prato Nevoso and the Mondolè Ski area

The skiing

Prato Nevoso sits at 1,500 metres in the Maritime Alps, in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, within the municipality of Frabosa Sottana. It is not a standalone resort: it belongs to Mondolè Ski, the area that links it on skis to Artesina and Frabosa Soprana.

Together they add up to more than 130 kilometres of piste, served by 34 lifts between chairlifts, drag lifts and carpets. Prato Nevoso alone has around 50 km over 18 runs: nine blue, eight red and one black. That mix tells you a lot about the place. There is room to learn without stronger skiers running out of things to do.

The link towards Frabosa Soprana runs from the Prel-Malanotte chairlift, which starts in the very area where the apartment is.

The ski pass

A single pass covers all three Mondolè Ski resorts, with no supplement for moving between them. It is hands-free, so it stays in your pocket at the gates.

Prices and offers change every season, and the Christmas and New Year period is charged at high-season rates. It is worth checking the official lift company website shortly before you travel, because multi-day deals appear that make a real difference over a stay this long.

Ski schools and equipment hire

The Prel area, where the apartment is, is one of the meeting points for the children's ski schools. If you are travelling with children this is a quiet but real advantage: if your school meets here, you walk down in the morning instead of loading the gear into the car. Worth checking when you book the course.

For hire and servicing, Beppe Ski is a short walk away and handles skis, snowboards, equipment and clothing. Useful if you would rather not carry everything from home, or for a mid-stay wax and edge.

There is also a bar and a grocery shop nearby, so for day-to-day things you never have to drive down into the valley.

Getting there by car

The reference point is the A6 Torino-Savona motorway, Mondovì exit. From there you follow the SP12, SP5 and SP37 local roads, signposted first to Villanova Mondovì, then Frabosa Sottana, then Artesina and finally Prato Nevoso. It is roughly 25 kilometres of climbing from the toll booth.

In winter, snow chains or winter tyres are required on the final climb. Once you arrive, though, the car goes into the apartment's covered parking space and stays there for the whole stay: slopes, bar, shop and ski hire are all within walking distance.

When you are not skiing

Not everyone who comes to the mountains spends seven hours a day on skis, and over seventeen days there will be a day of bad weather. Prato Nevoso has an area given over to playing in the snow for younger children, and snowshoes are a simple way to get outdoors without using the lifts at all.

Down in the valley, Mondovì is worth a day. Its old town, Piazza, is reached by funicular and has nothing mountain-like about it, which is exactly what makes it a good change of pace. The Bossea caves, in the Corsaglia valley, are the classic wet-weather alternative.