Snowshoe walks at the Colle di Zambla and in the Conca dell'Alben

You park at the Colle di Zambla, in the asphalted area by the Centro Sportivo Valle restaurant that CAI Bergamo gives as the start, at 1,278 metres. After a short climb you turn left, cross the playground square, pass the barrier and join the road towards the Conca dell'Alben; a temporary barrier separates the roadway from the cross-country track. The surface, when the snow lets you see it, is fine cobbles.

After about a kilometre the CAI track passes the Passo della Crocetta, where trail 501 for Monte Alben starts and where the B&B Sotto l'Alben reports a drinking-water spring. You carry on through the woods, leaving a small rest area with benches and tables on the right, keep right on the main branch at the fork and, past a couple of houses, enter the area of the Conca dell'Alben with the ski lift. Pian della Palla is ten minutes further on, about 2.8 kilometres from the start: the Pian della Palla signpost, transcribed on OpenStreetMap, gives the Passo di Zambla at 45 minutes.

From Pian della Palla the Pro Loco of Serina publishes the H21 loop, which follows the cross-country track: 5.6 kilometres with the lowest point at 1,263 metres and the highest at 1,386, for about 236 metres of total ascent calculated automatically from the track. You pass the clearing of Pian della Mussa, then climb into the highest and most panoramic part to the Conca dell'Alben locality and return to Pian della Palla.

The full circuit from the Colle di Zambla therefore measures about 11 kilometres, the figure also given by the B&B Sotto l'Alben, which describes the upper part as more demanding but still a tourist route. On snowshoes the time depends above all on the snow: the Pian della Palla signpost gives 1 hour 30 for the loop. As far as Pian della Mussa the route stays almost flat; the real climb, just over a hundred metres, comes afterwards.

The track is a managed sports facility, not just any snowy road. The agreement between the municipalities of Oltre il Colle and Serina and the Sci Club Valserina provides for grooming the routes, fencing off the road at the Crocetta from the beginning of December to keep cars out, and a ticket for cross-country skiers, 8 euros a day in the 2024-26 seasons and free up to the age of 10. According to the Scuola Sci Oltre il Colle the tracks are prepared for both classic and skating technique: the grooves and the smooth lane are ruined under snowshoes, so you walk along the edge and let skiers pass.

The stretch from Zambla Alta to the Crocetta is floodlit for night skiing, according to VisitBrembo: anyone snowshoeing after dark does so on the same track, with a headlamp and even more attention to skiers. The road reopens to traffic in spring with a reopening ordinance: in 2025 it came on 17 April.

The valley floor is the quietest terrain in the basin, but above it rises the north face of the Alben. With the European avalanche micro-region boundaries in force since 3 November 2025, the line between zone 60 Orobie Bergamasche and zone 61 Prealpi Bergamasche of the ARPA Lombardia bulletin runs almost exactly along the track: the Alben slopes are in zone 61, those to the north in zone 60. Anyone staying on the route crosses no steep slopes; anyone climbing towards the upper basin or the Col dei Brassamonti must read zone 61 and carry transceiver, shovel and probe, required by law where there is avalanche risk.

The basin is not immune to accidents. On 15 February 2025, on a day when the regional snow and avalanche centre was urging the utmost caution, the Conca dell'Alben was among the Lombard localities with helicopter rescue interventions, according to Bergamo Tomorrow, which however does not specify the cause. CAI Bergamo, in the description of route 104 written after the first snowfall of January 2024, reports stretches of packed snow alternating with ice.

At the Colle di Zambla there are the asphalted car park and, according to CAI Bergamo, an accessible toilet opposite the Al Trapper bar-restaurant; the Centro Sportivo Valle restaurant is given by the CAI as the refreshment point (035 708988). To shorten the walk you can drive up from Oltre il Colle along via Drago, about 3 kilometres according to the B&B Sotto l'Alben, to the car parks at Pian della Palla.

Water can be found at the Crocetta spring and at the Colle, in the area the municipality calls Parco del Colle, where in 2023 it had a stone fountain and barbecue built; in winter they may be frozen. The barbecue areas with grills and small tables at Pian della Palla and in the Conca dell'Alben, handy in summer, stay under the snow.