Considered the "greenest valley” in Italy, the Valsesia stretches from the slopes of the southern wall of Monte Rosa along the Sesia River to Romagnano Sesia and links itself with smaller yet no less fascinating valleys, covering about 760 sq km of territory both diverse and bewitching, which for centuries has seduced visitors from all over the world.
If Varallo is its historical and cultural capital, then its symbol is certainly Monte Rosa, whose imposing grandeur even intrigued Leonardo da Vinci, who wrote:
"Above me was the air enigmatic and even the sun brighter here than on the low plains.”
In the mid 1800's, the pioneers of mountaineering competed to climb this unexplored giant. From a census in 1862, there were 364 tourists coming largely from Great Britain.
The turning-point was from 1950 and 1965 with the design and inauguration of the first cable ski lifts, at the time, the most innovative in all Europe, ancestors of the current ones which connect the three valleys: Valsesia, Gressoney and Ayas, the last two are in the territory of Valle d’Aosta. These three sisters, together, make up the Monterosa Ski skiing district.
Today, art, history and early as well as rooted traditions come together to create a natural setting which has few similar realities in all the Alps.
