Alpe Cainallo
A tiny Esino Lario area whose historic skilifts died by 1990, kept alive for fifteen years by a volunteer-run conveyor belt until the association folded in October 2024 because nobody came to the meeting.
- Region
- Lombardy
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1970s
- Year closed
- 2024
- Reason for closure
- Scarce snow closed the skilifts, the last of them by the end of their technical life. The beginners' conveyor kept going under a volunteer association, Esino 2000, which dissolved in October 2024 for want of anyone willing to take it on - nobody attended the meeting called to renew its board.
History
Alpe Cainallo sits at about 1,296 m on the north-facing slope by the Passo di Cainallo above Esino Lario, with two short descents dropping from roughly 1,312 m to 1,230 m. The first lifts date from the 1970s, and the Mountain Wilderness survey of 2006-07 recorded two skilifts already unused since 1990 and a double-rope skilift of about 370 m that still had seven years of technical certification left but was being wound down as it reached the end of its working life, its platters already off. What makes this entry worth having is the long volunteer afterlife. The Associazione Esino 2000, founded in 2000 when the skilifts still ran, kept winter sport going on the hill for some fifteen years after they closed by operating an 88 m tapis roulant on the beginners' slope, which was genuinely popular. It ended quietly: a meeting was called for a Friday evening in early October 2024 at the Esino cinema-theatre to renew the association's board, nobody turned up, and after more than two decades Esino 2000 announced its own dissolution. The conveyor stayed in storage for the following winter. Note that lift directories still list the skilift and the conveyor as though they were active, which they are not - a good example of why those listings need checking against local reporting.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | A double-rope skilift, about 370 m, which still had seven years of technical certification left when surveyed in 2006-07. Pylons, cables and end stations remained, with the platters removed | |
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | One of two skilifts recorded as unused since 1990 | |
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | The second of the two skilifts unused since 1990 | |
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | A tapis roulant of about 88 m serving the baby slope, installed around 2009 and the last thing running on the hill. It stayed in storage for the winter after the association dissolved |
Sources and further reading
- https://www.mountainwilderness.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Impianti-abbandonati-Lombardia-2007.pdf
- https://www.laprovinciaunicatv.it/stories/lecco/lago/niente-piu-sci-al-cainallo-si-e-sciolta-lassociazione-esino-2000-o_2668500_11/
- https://www.dovesciare.it/localita/cainallo_esino_lario
- https://www.skiresort.it/comprensorio-sciistico/alpe-cainallo-esino-lario/impianti-risalita/
More in Italy
Location
45.9864, 9.3645