Most Sicilians don't think about snow. But the Italian island's rumbling top delivers one of the world's best skiing experiences.
From 3,000m, I saw a layer of fresh snow covering Europe's highest and most active volcano. After many days of snow, my guide, Elis Martis, stated he'd never seen Mount Etna's sides so covered in white. He pointed to our target far out in the distance, where the turquoise sea met the bright blue sky, and we skied down the volcano at high speed through the light, fresh snow.
Most people don't envisage snow-covered Sicily peaks. High on the Italian island, winter temperatures drop as snow falls. Scirocco winds from the Sahara Desert gather up precipitation as they pass the Mediterranean Sea. Snow covers Sicily's mountains when these gusts meet colder, drier air from the north.
Martis and I met in 2020 while skiing in the Italian Dolomites. Martis, a mountain guide and Italian skiing specialist, told me unbelievable ski lines on the Mediterranean's biggest island. In February 2023, we traveled to Catania on Sicily's coast and drove 50km to Etna Glo Bed & Breakfast at the volcano's foot for an incredible vacation.
Martis explained why skiing on Etna is unique as we drove near it. His explanation was that new snow here is so wet and soon develops a deep, load-bearing layer of powdered snow that enables skis to glide. Etna's rumbling crater spews smoke as white powder contrasted with dark lava boulders. "This, combined with stunning views of the sea in the distance and incredible Mediterranean cuisine provide an experience beyond description," remarked.
As we drew up to his B&B, Etna Glo owner Giuseppe Cobo, a skier, raced to meet us. Cobo told us Etna has a long history of skiing after offering us blood oranges from his family orchard. Cobo claimed his grandparents skied to the mountain base to get fuel in winter.
Since there were no freezers, his ancestors collected little boxes of snow from the woods and stored them in cabins for the winter. At the first hint of spring, they returned to the cottages to harvest ice for food preservation. From the 3rd century BCE, the Romans governed Sicily and established this centuries-old ritual. Arab monarchs made sherbet from Etna's ice, sugar, and citrus fruits in the 9th century, a method that inspired Sicilian granita.
Ski mountaineering on Etna started in the 1930s with a small group of local endurance athletes. Ski mountaineering involves cross-country skiing or climbing to the summit of a mountain with your skis, then racing down through wild terrain on an unmarked trail. Resort skiing involves being lifted up a mountain and skiing down a marked trail.
Skiers from mainland Italy and Europe started visiting Etna once the 1950s cable car opened, taking them to 2,500m. The construction of Etna Sud and Etna Nord ski resorts in the 1960s and 1970s sparked the Etna skiing boom. Etna Sud lift attendant Patricia Pavoni said skiers from throughout the globe now visit. "Every year we receive more guests from Asia and North America," remarked.
Etna's ski resorts are tiny compared to European ones. Etna Nord features four ski lifts, whereas Etna Sud has five on the volcano's southern slope. Chamonix, a major ski resort near Mont Blanc's base, features 69 lifts. "Our guests don't come because we have the most ski runs in Europe, they are more attracted by the prospect of skiing on our magnificent volcano and the Mediterranean atmosphere," he added.
Cobo learned to ski at Etna's resorts as a youngster but loves ski mountaineering.
I think Etna is ski mountaineering heaven. He claimed you may see sea and craters without people. Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, due to rising participation and media attention.
Like Cobo, I've skied resorts for a decade, but I've started loving ski mountaineering. I adore solo mountain climbs and the exhilaration of virgin snow descents. Ski mountaineering gives you lengthy periods of isolation and closeness to nature in isolated areas. I search for culturally and historically significant ski mountaineering places like Etna.
Martis, who has escorted skiers up and down Etna for over a decade, is one of the few persons who knows its infrequently traveled unmarked slopes. He suggested we visit the Valle del Bove, a massive amphitheater on Etna's eastern side surrounded by 1,000m rock walls with steep slopes of soft, fluffy snow ideal for ski mountaineering. You may climb Etna's peak after crossing the Valle del Bove. Martis stated the volcanic crater views are amazing.
The excursion included local skier Salvatore Rizzo, Cobo, Martis, and myself. A short drive from the B&B took us to the Valle del Bove snowline. Our ski-touring gear—thin, lightweight skis and synthetic "skins" for uphill grip—was then built. We brought an avalanche transceiver, but Martis said we wouldn't need it.
As we relaxed cross-country skiing in the Valle Del Bove, Rizzo discussed Etna's unusual connection with its shadow dwellers. "We adore Etna irrationally. She alternates between calm and enraged. "She can destroy everything when angry, but we always return," he remarked.
Since November 2022, Etna has erupted four times, most recently in August and November 2023 when it sprayed hot lava into the air, closing the island's airspace. From his B&B in the peaceful village of Zafferana Etnea, Cobo showed us structures destroyed by lava streams in 2013.
Volcanologist Sarah Booth said, "Etna is a treasure chest for volcanic scientists because its intense activity allows us to closely study the volcano's inner processes." "This information helps us create more effective tools to monitor the volcano's behaviour."
Etna's eruptions have destroyed but also blessed the region. The rich volcanic soils that enable citrus and wine production make the region around Etna one of Sicily's most affluent and densely inhabited. Sicily has 242,000 vineyard acres (98,000 hectares), Italy's biggest. "Etna's volcanic soil provides ideal nutrients for wine grape development. Lucrezia Marino of the Oro winery in Zafferana Etnea claimed the soil is unique.
Clusters of jagged black volcanic rock littered the valley as we skied, marking Etna's earlier explosions. After five hours in the Valle del Bove, we reached Etna's top on a steep climb. We zigzagged up using kick turns, a difficult maneuver that requires skiing diagonally upwards in one direction and then swiftly twisting to ski in the other to soften the slope.
On Etna's top, I took in the 360-degree view. I looked down over Catania, the Ionian Sea, and Calabria, Italy. I removed my ski skins, adjusted my bindings, and started down the volcano to find Martis.