Cross-country skiing at the Colle di Zambla

On its website, in the version archived in 2022, the Sci Club Valserina lists three tracks: the «Gioba e Adolfo Maurizio», blue, 5 kilometres of intermediate difficulty; the «Celeste Maurizio», purple, 7.5 kilometres, intermediate; the «Maplus», green, 13 kilometres, intermediate to difficult. Skiers' reports use the classic colours: Waterwind describes an almost flat, compulsory opening blue track about 6 kilometres long to Pian della Palla, a one-way black run that after about 2 kilometres climbs left towards the Conca dell'Alben and a red track beyond Pian della Palla, towards the Bottiglione and the upper Baita Mussa.

The black run is what made the centre's name: climbs, steep descents and 180-degree hairpins, with very little protection. Waterwind, which skied all of it on 21 February 2026, calls it a true black, to be tackled only if fit and with adequate technique. From the Conca dell'Alben you descend to Pian della Palla and can continue towards the Pian della Mussa and the Costa de la Spada, the highest point of the track, at 1,420 metres.

All the courses are prepared for both classic and skating. The names of the tracks recall local skiers remembered in the Sci Club's history: Gerolamo «Gioba» Maurizio, called up to the national team in 1929, Adolfo Maurizio and Celeste Maurizio.

The Colle di Zambla is reached from the Seriana valley, leaving the SS 671 at Ponte Nossa and climbing through Val del Riso on the SP46, or from the Brembana valley, on the SS 470 to the entrance of Val Serina and then the SP27 via Serina and Oltre il Colle. Waterwind gives 50 minutes from Bergamo and 1 h 40 from Milan on the Seriana side, about twenty minutes more on the Brembana side. When the SP27 is closed, as happened from 28 August to 1 October 2026 because of the landslide at Rosolo di Algua, traffic from the Brembana side goes via Costa Serina.

You park at the pass or drive up via al Colle, southwards, following the signs for the cross-country track and the adventure park, to the spaces of the Centro Sportivo Valle near the flat starting area, which fill up first at weekends. There are less than 150 metres between the pass and the start. The second access is Pian della Palla, where the road from Oltre il Colle arrives: in 2021 Waterwind reported an underpass there, another centre with ski hire, changing rooms and toilets and a refreshment point.

Grooming depends on the snow. The Sci Club Valserina publishes the state of the tracks in the «Situazione piste» section of its website, sciclubvalserina.it, which could not be reached on 1 October 2026. Alternatively you can call the Scuola Sci Oltre il Colle on 350 1230498, which works on the tracks, or the Edo Sport hire shop in Zambla Alta on 0345 95285.

Waterwind notes that because of its low altitude Zambla does not always have the best snow, but that when the snow is there it is one of the most technical and enjoyable tracks it has tried: it is worth going up as soon as it is groomed.

The rules published by the Sci Club in 2019 provide for a ticket paid at the entrance to the staff, or a personal season pass with a passport photo; children up to their tenth birthday ski free. The hours given were 8 am to 5 pm, with a ban on entering the track between sunset and dawn: to ski in the evening on the floodlit section you therefore need to ask the Club whether and when evening opening is planned. We found no prices for the 2026-27 season: on 1 October 2026 the Sci Club website could not be reached.

The track is reserved for cross-country skiing. On two-way sections keep to the right and on steep sections do not stop in groups; group lessons are allowed only at the Colle di Zambla start, Pian della Palla, the Mussa, the Conca dell'Alben and the Coregn de l'acqua. The rules provided for fines of €50 for those who break them.

Edo Sport, at via Prealpina 892 in Zambla Alta, about 200 metres from the Colle, hires complete cross-country ski sets for adults and juniors, as well as downhill skis, snowboards, snowshoes and bobs, without booking while stocks last and also for the whole season; its website gives opening hours of 9-12.30 and 14.30-19, Sundays included.

The Scuola Sci Oltre il Colle, founded in 1981, has 11 instructors, all registered with the Lombardy regional college of ski instructors; it is a member of AMSI and ISIA and teaches cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and Nordic walking, with instructors specialised in teaching pupils with disabilities; the director is Carolina Tiraboschi. At the start there are the changing rooms of the Centro Sportivo Valle and at the pass bars and restaurants, including Al Trapper.

According to the history of the Sci Club Valserina written by Paolo Maurizio in 2015, the Sci Club Oltre il Colle was founded in 1916 and is documented from 1925, with the engineer Lecchi, director of the mines, as president. In 1931 Oltre il Colle hosted the Lombardy championships in ski jumping, cross-country and slalom; the jumps were built each time, and the structures of the last one, at Vandullo, can still be seen.

The club was refounded in 1965 and in 1987 merged with the other clubs of the valley into the Sci Club Valserina-Oltre il Colle, called Sci Club Valserina since 1990. In 1994 the club persuaded the municipalities of Oltre il Colle and Serina to build the Alben cross-country facility, funded by the Lombardy Region, and ran it from the 1995-96 season until 2002; from 2011 it ran it again, under an agreement signed on 10 September that year for seven years, and in 2022 the club website was still publishing tracks and prices.

According to the club, Val Serina has given Italy eight Olympic athletes in cross-country skiing and biathlon. The best known is Pieralberto Carrara, from Serina and brought up in the Sci Club Oltre il Colle, silver medallist in the 20-kilometre individual biathlon at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Downhill skiing in Zambla today comes down to beginners' slopes: the Pro Loco mentions two slopes at the Conca dell'Alben for learning the basics, and the ski school also works on the Costa Nebel in Zambla Alta. Non-skiers can choose the snowshoe walks and the skin ascents towards the Alben and the Arera, described on their own pages. On the groomed track, however, snowshoes are not allowed: the rules forbid it.