Italy has unveiled plans to create what it says would be the world's largest skiing network, a sprawling web of connected pistes and lifts in the Dolomites.

Environmentalists are aghast at the plan, saying that new ski lifts and stations would scar a World Heritage mountain range that is often described as the most beautiful in the world.

The network would offer skiers around 1,300kms of pistes, stitching together existing lifts and resorts and offering days of different routes.

Skiers would no longer have to travel by bus or car to travel between ski areas.

The project, which would expand the existing Dolomiti Superski network, is expected to cost around €100 million, with half of it coming from private enterprise and the rest from government funds.

It forms part of plans to promote the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be jointly hosted by the upmarket resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomites, and Milan, in neighbouring Lombardy.

It would link valleys where the ancient language of Ladin is still spoken to areas that were fought over by the Italians and Austro-Hungarians during the First World War.