Monte San Primo
A derelict little ski area on the highest peak of the Lario triangle above Lake Como, shut for over a decade for lack of snow and now the subject of an internationally reported fight over a five-million-euro plan to build skiing there again.
- Region
- Lombardy
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- abandoned
- Year closed
- circa 2010
- Reason for closure
- Lack of snow. The mountain tops out at 1,682 m with ski terrain between roughly 1,200 m and 1,600 m, and from the early 2000s natural snowfall fell away to the point where the old lifts could no longer be run. They were forced to close more than a decade ago and have been left in place.
History
Monte San Primo rises to 1,682 m above Bellagio, the highest point of the Triangolo Lariano between the two arms of Lake Como. It carried a small ski area from the middle of the twentieth century, with cross-country skiing on the Pian del Tivano side, but from the early 2000s the snow stopped coming reliably at that altitude and the lifts were shut; they have stood abandoned for more than a decade, alongside the remains of other failed schemes including a European-funded cheese store and a downhill bike trail that reused one of the old lifts and collapsed after two seasons. What has made San Primo unusual is what happened next. The Comunità Montana del Triangolo Lariano and the commune of Bellagio have pushed a five-million-euro publicly funded plan to clear the derelict lifts and build new skiing between roughly 1,200 m and 1,600 m - four conveyor lifts, a tubing park, new parking and an artificial reservoir for snowmaking. The proposal drew a coordinated opposition of 31 associations, a petition of more than 650 signatures and a public meeting of over 130 people, and became a reference case in the wider European argument about publicly subsidised skiing on low mountains. A 2026 assessment by Professor Mauro Guglielmin concluded that a ski lift operating for so few days a year was simply not advisable. The historic ski area's opening year, lift inventory and piste names are not recorded in accessible sources.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | The old ski lifts on the Bellagio side are described in Italian sources only as abandoned and slated for removal under the current revival project; their number, names, types and dates are not documented. One of them was briefly reused to serve a downhill bike trail, which folded after two years |
Sources and further reading
- https://fattidimontagna.it/lincredibile-pazzia-dello-sci-sul-san-primo/
- https://bellagiosanprimo.com/
- https://www.ilgiorno.it/como/cronaca/monte-san-primo-impianto-k3mze48m
- https://www.laprovinciadicomo.it/stories/premium/Erba/il-progetto-per-sciare-sul-monte-san-primo-no-dagli-ambientalisti-o_2797562_11/
More in Italy
Location
45.9154, 9.2098