Abetone - trekking in the summer and skiing in the winter

Located along the via Modenese, the town of Abetone was founded in 1778. It was named for a giant pine that was cut down in order to construct the road near Abetone’s Pass. Its two stone Pyramids, designed by Leonardo Ximenes, indicated the old border that separated the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena. A choice vacation spot for skiers in the early twentieth century, Abetone experienced a tourist boom in the 1930s when engineer Lapo Farinato degli Uberti started to construct a gigantic ski resort. The resort’s huge stone hotel in the Val di Luce was the last building to be finished—the project was abandoned due to the outbreak of WWII.
In recent years, Abetone has become a house-hold name among winter sports lovers thanks to the success of ski champions Zeno Colò, Celina Seghi and Vittorio Chierroni. Currently considered one of the most important ski resorts in the Apennines , it hosts a facility with more than 50 kilometers of slopes that stretch over four valleys: Sestaione, Lima , Scoltenna and Luce. These valleys are connected thanks to trails sprayed with snow machines and via ski-lifts that start at 1,200 meters and reach an attitude of more than 1,950 meters.