Movimënt

The first steps toward winter tourism, and the foundations of what would later become the Skicarosello Corvara Consortium, were taken during a challenging historical moment. It was 1946 and Europe was rebuilding after the war. In the Dolomite valleys, where tourism was still mainly a summer activity, uncertainty and hardship were part of everyday life.

As often happens in times of crisis, however, the desire to start again sparked creativity, courage and vision. After years of sacrifice, the local community looked to the future with renewed optimism, turning bold ideas into concrete action.

One of the key figures of this new beginning was Erich Kostner, a true pioneer of mountain lift systems. With ingenuity and ambition, he built Italy’s first single-seat chairlift, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the Skicarosello Corvara Consortium.

In fact, as early as 1938, Corvara already had a surface lift connecting the valley floor to the top of Col Alt, allowing the first ski enthusiasts to reach the slopes. Destroyed during the war, the lift was rebuilt in 1946, an ambitious and visionary move that marked the beginning of winter tourism in Alta Badia and played a decisive role in the development of mountain tourism.

With courage, and more than a touch of boldness, Erich Kostner signed the contract for the construction of a new lift system. The result was Italy’s first chairlift: a single-seat lift with wooden pylons anchored to iron plates salvaged from decommissioned war tanks. Despite the technical challenges, the lift was officially tested by the Italian Ministry of Transport on December 24, 1947 and entered service, carrying skiers from Corvara to Col Alt.

The success was immediate. Over the following years, the ski area expanded with new lifts toward Crëp de Munt and Pralongià. Later on, La Villa and San Cassiano were connected to Corvara via the plateau between Piz La Ila and Piz Sorega, followed by access to the Sella Group and Campolongo Pass. This marked the birth of the now-famous Skicarosello Alta Badia.

As skier numbers grew, the first ski pass and points-based access system were introduced, simple at the time, yet revolutionary for managing tourism flows. Winter tourism became a powerful engine for local development, transforming a traditionally agricultural community into a forward-looking tourism destination, with new accommodations, restaurants and shops.

Over the decades, lift systems were continuously expanded and modernized, improving connections between villages and across the plateau. What once began as a modest single-seat chairlift is now a state-of-the-art 8-seat gondola, part of a fully modernized network across Alta Badia.

Today, the Skicarosello Corvara Consortium manages:

• 28 of the 53 lift systems in Alta Badia
• 1 family-oriented accommodation facility

In addition, it entrusts third parties with the management of:

• 2 mountain huts
• 2 valley accommodation facilities

In 2010, the Consortium launched Movimënt – Alta Badia, the brand that represents the evolution of high-altitude tourism and a contemporary vision of the mountain experience.