The old Italian mountain settlement of Breuil was re-named Cervinia by the fascists in the 1930s after Italy built one of the world's first high-altitude purpose built ski centres there in the early '30s. The reason for the name change was that it sounded too French, and had no reference to Monte Cervinio - the magnificent mountain above, known as 'The Matterhorn' to English speaking folk. With nationalism or a back-burner in most countries these days but political correctness to the fore, the resort is today, officially, Breuil-Cervinia, although most punters still seem to prefer Mussolini's version.

Cervinia today has established the best snow record in Italy on wide, sunny slopes above the treeline and extending over the border in to Switzerland. It's a vast terrain and thanks to the introduction of an international pass (after decades of argument between Zermatt, on the Swiss side, and the Italians), it's now possible to access and ski on trails of up to 22km (15 miles) in length with minimum hassle down over one of the world's biggest vertical drops from the top of the Klein Matterhorn to Cervinia's lower neighbour, Valtournenche. The main moan of serious skiers is that there isn't a great amount of terrain for experts, but there is a heli-skiing operation in Cervinia so perhaps they should not complain so much!

The resort attracts a lot of international clientele, especially from Britain, while at the weekend the residents of Turin and Milan fly up the Autostrada (motorway) and ditch their cars all over the resort (including the pedestrianised zone, but rarely in the free car parks, interestingly) as they rush to the slopes. It's perhaps best as a weekend destination as there's not a huge amount to do beyond the bars and restaurants.

Vertical Drop:	4693 ft	Half Pipes:	1
Top Elevation:	11421 ft	Snowmaking:	28%
Skiable Acres:	1144	Total:	3km
Trails:	57	Restaurants:	31
Lifts:	24
Cable cars:	5

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Източник: www.goski.com