Ski school and equipment hire at Zambla

The school is based at via Belvedere 16 in Serina, in the Valpiana locality, at the other end of the cross-country track that starts from the Colle di Zambla. On the number of instructors the website is not consistent: the home page says 11, the presentation page 10, and the list of names gives ten with their disciplines, almost all for Nordic skiing and Nordic walking and a few for alpine skiing. Some instructors, the school explains, work with various ski clubs on training athletes.

For Nordic skiing the school gives the tracks at the Passo Colle di Zambla and Pian della Palla, for alpine skiing those of the Conca dell'Alben, home to the Gambacotta–Fornace drag lift and the ski-school magic carpet. VisitBrembo, the Val Brembana portal, gives the school itself as the contact for the Monte Alben slopes: 350 1230498, info@scuolascioltreilcolle.it.

For the 2025-26 season the school published private alpine and Nordic ski lessons at 45 euros an hour for one person and 10 euros for each extra person, with 55-minute lessons held in any weather. For alpine skiing there were three group courses at 150 euros: the Christmas one from 27 to 31 December, the Epiphany one from 1 to 5 January, both from 11 am to 1 pm, and the Sunday course in January and February, from 3 to 5 pm. Equipment hire was given as available on site.

With children the school describes a gradual approach, tailored to each child's level, and requires a helmet for all pupils, citing the legal obligation; with adults it follows the pupil from the first steps to perfecting technique. For bookings and for the 2026-27 courses the reference is the mobile number 350 1230498.

Edo Sport, at via Prealpina 892 in Zambla Alta, is registered in the municipality's list of businesses as a clothing and sports shop with ski and mountain bike hire, telephone 0345 95285. The municipality itself hired the equipment there for the Nordic ski course for primary school pupils, held from 25 to 27 February 2026 with the instructors of the Scuola Sci Oltre il Colle. The shop's opening hours are not published: it is best to phone.

The municipalities' agreement for the slopes provided for a ski hire point on the ground floor of the former hotel in the Conca dell'Alben, but in June 2026 the municipality described the building as completely abandoned and due to be replaced. Hire in the village is at Edo Sport, in Zambla Alta, which lists downhill and Nordic skis, snowboards, snowshoes and sledges for adults and children on its website; in winter the hire desk is open from 8.30 to 12.30 and from 13.30 to 18.00, the shop from 9.00 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to 19.00, Sundays included.

On the kilometres the sources disagree because they measure different things. FISI has approved two loops, a 2.5-kilometre one named after Gianni Carrara and a 5-kilometre one dedicated to the Gioba brothers and Adolfo Maurizio, with approval expiring on 30 June 2026; the school speaks of 12 or 13 kilometres of tracks, depending on the page; VisitBrembo counts 16 kilometres from Zambla Alta to Valpiana, the same overall figure cited by Prima Bergamo in November 2025. The tracks are prepared for classic and skating technique, and part of them has snowmaking.

The track is run by the Sci Club Valserina: since 20 November 2025 the stretch of road between the Colle di Zambla and Pian della Palla has been closed to traffic to make it a Nordic ski track. In the 2024-26 seasons access cost 8 euros a day and 80 for the season, 60 for residents of Serina and Oltre il Colle, free up to the age of 10. The stretch from Zambla Alta to the Crocetta is floodlit for night skiing, according to VisitBrembo.

The specialisation in teaching people with disabilities is stated by the school and appears among the director's disciplines; it is worth mentioning it when booking to get the right instructor. For the youngest, the Conca dell'Alben has the ski-school magic carpet, bought by the municipality in 2025, which avoids having to tackle the drag lift straight away.

For several winters, at least since 2023 according to the published acts, the municipality has funded through its plan for the right to education a Nordic ski course for pupils of the Oltre il Colle primary school, entrusted to the Scuola Sci for the lessons and to Edo Sport for the equipment: in 2026 it was held from 25 to 27 February, from 9 am to noon.