(Almost live) TR : San Vigilio & Kronplatz

A snowHead

I have been coming to Kronplatz for over 20 years, occasionally staying in Olang / Valdaora but more often staying at San Vigilio. I like it here. I recently asked @garc to report on his trip so I could see the area through his eyes, from a different perspective. I found that interesting and decided I would try to do a report myself. I have been thinking about this and realise that I am learning a lot about myself in doing this. I hope it isn’t too introspective and that anyone struggling to read it isn’t too put off by my ramblings but I suspect I will find it therapeutic.
Why Kronplatz?
I started skiing in my mid 30s. I went on a couple of package trips with Tour Operators. My wife wouldn’t come along so I ended up bringing 4 children skiing. But I decided to try to take an extra trip (without 4 children in tow) to a less well visited (by the British) resort. One of these was Kronplatz. A decent sized area. Good lift infrastructure. Looked ok.
It is a bit of a pain to get to from the North of the UK. But the journey is part of the holiday.
What’s wrong with Kronplatz?
Not easy to reach without expensive flights or lengthy transfers.
Not big enough for some people.
Not many British Tour Operators.
Although English is fairly widely spoken, it is by no means universal (although much more so than some years ago)
No significant nightlife.
Although part of the Superdolomiti area, it isn’t really “Dolomite scenery” and it is a little bit set apart geographically
What’s good about Kronplatz?
Good variety of slopes.
The best beginners slope I have ever found anywhere (Miara)
Not many British here (but increasing noticeably)
Friendly cosy gemütlich feeling.
Interesting culture.
Whilst not the cheapest resort, by no means the most expensive
(Some) pretty villages
Beginners area at the top of the mountain with some gentle slopes high up and gondola access (so beginners can get high and access better snow than at village level, and then travel back down in the gondola)
Excellent infrastructure with a high proportion of gondolas (which might not suit everyone)

If I manage to do this properly then I will start off with “The Travelling”

A snowHead

Somewhere I have never been, so looking forward to reading this.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Look forward to reading this, also never been but it's on the list. Ramble as much as you like, i like reading about feelings as well as where to eat and drink. Very Happy

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Where to stay.
The area is bi-lingual or tri-lingual. My history isn’t usually up to much so please don’t take any of this as “gospel truth”. I believe the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the First World War and in 1918 when the map was re-drawn it suddenly became part of Italy. But for the people on the ground who went to work as before, went to school, lived their lives, they didn’t suddenly magically start to speak Italian. And that change in 1918 sort of overlaid what was there before as some of the valleys had been comparatively isolated and had developed in their own way anyway.
So the original “culture” is Ladin. There are Ladinisch museums to see and there are ladinisch foods and dress etc. The Ladinisch language is officially recognised and if you are dealing with officialdom then as I understand it, you can opt to have papers etc in Ladinisch in a similar way to the situation in England where you can choose to have matters dealt with in Welsh.
We found that some of the villages around Kronplatz are more “Germanic” and others more “Italian” or “Ladinisch”.
Kronplatz /Plan de Corones is a mountain. There are basically three main towns / villages around it. Olang, Reischach and Sankt Vigilio.
I had a good look at the piste map and decided that the Olang side of the mountain seemed to have most pistes so went there for my first visit. I have been back and would be happy to return but SV suits me better.
For most (not all) the accommodation in Olang you would need to catch the free SkiBus to get to the main base station to get the gondola up to the summit.
Reischach we have never really explored. When we were there pre Covid, there was some building work going on close to the base gondola station. There is also a good swimming / leisure complex (Kron4) not too far away. And at the gondola base station there is the K1 bar for après ski dancing on the tables (some are “normal” tables but quite a lot are reinforced especially for clambering onto and dancing). It can get quite lively from late afternoon until the sun goes off that area.
San Vigilio suits us best though. We tend to “self cater” and there is plenty of good quality self catering accommodation available. We have stayed in several locations in and around SV. The cheapest was about €180 per person per week. The dearest about €280.
The cheapest was actually in Mantena about a mile away. OK if you have a hire car.
The most expensive is about 25yards from Cianross gondola station. There is now a ski hire facility at Cianross and also a sale point for lift passes. It is also very close to the village centre.
Wherever you stay there is pretty good access to Kronplatz summit. Most of the lifts are gondolas, size to take perhaps 8-12 people sitting down. They don’t suit everyone. You have to take your skis off each time which of course you don’t need to do on a chair lift.
The more recent ones seem to have WiFi in each gondola. Some have heated seats.
Kronplatz mountain is shaped with a flattish top and steeper sides.
So you can have a mixture of beginners area / blue pistes / red pistes all high up where there is likely to be better snow all season. There are some blacks as well. Sylwester and Hernegg go from the top of Kronplatz and finish by the K1 bar at Reischach. I’m no expert but can manage these. They are fairly long. There are other blacks but my favourite is Piculin which is away on the other side of SV from the Kronplatz mountain.
At the other end of the spectrum is Miara. A blue piste which is at SV rather than up on the mountain. It’s the best slope for beginners / wary progressors I have ever encountered. It’s maybe a mile or so of smooth wide gentle even skiing. Gondola to the top of Miara (easy for beginners) and just spend some time practising as you stop for coffee at any of the five or so cafés / bars on the way down.
It’s relaxed.
It’s sunny.
We had lunch today at a different café but it is generally gemütlich cosy friendly. Sitting outside in the sun with stunning views.

Little nightlife in SV. A meal out. A bar after skiing. Some (well, one) with Austrian après ski music but mostly quiet.
The hotel / restaurant at the bottom of Miara is called La Bronta. There’s an outside terrace where you can sit in the sun after skiing and look out across Miara. There’s an outside “fast food type” grill for sausage and chips / Wiener schnitzel and the like.
SV is between two sets of ski slopes. The biggest is Kronplatz. When skiing from Kronplatz to SV you end up going down Miara. From there you can get another gondola across town to the ski area on the other side of town. Only about half a dozen pistes (including a couple of very short ones) but more good cafés and a couple of black runs, Erta and Piculin. Piculin is steep. But lovely. Probably best avoided (by me anyway) if the snow is soft later in the day but a lovely gem in the morning.
There’s a huge amount of snow making ability. They manage the snow impressively well. They tend to start the season at the end of November. We have been in mid to late March. There are usually special offers on in early or late season. 6 days for the price of 5 on lift pass, instruction and ski hire and 7 nights for the price of 6 on accommodation.
But in mid March it is soft snow in the afternoons. Fine in the morning. But tempting to sit in that sunshine in the afternoon.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Travelling to San Vigilio
We live in North Cumbria. Newcastle is the nearest airport. Then there are Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool all about 2 hours drive away.
At the Italian end the nearest airport is Bolzano. Then Innsbruck. After that it’s Munich and Salzburg in the North, Milan (including Bergamo) Verona etc in the South.
The problem for us is that if granddaughter is coming then as she is now at secondary school, we are pretty much limited to school holidays. Easter really is too late for SV. So half term then.
Fortunately there aren’t so many British here although the numbers are increasing. So prices don’t seem to be hiked up for half term week. And it doesn’t get too busy - well, not excessively - unless it coincides with the Fasching carnival.
But from the North of Cumbria there are limited flights to Innsbruck which is about a 90 minute drive. And at half term, those flights are prohibitively expensive. We have tended to fly to airports not usually thought of as “holiday destinations” and driven in from there. Pre Covid our airport of choice has tended to be Munich. Flight from Manchester with Lufthansa is about £150 - £200 return on their economy plus tariff which includes hold luggage and also includes ski carriage. Hire a car and drive. About 3 1/2 to 5 hours drive. Not perfect but we put up with it because it makes the ski trip possible. We tend to go back to Munich on the Saturday after a week of skiing and go for a meal at the Hofbräukeller (not the Hofbräuhaus). Educate the children as we do it. (Site of Hitler’s comeback speech in 1919). Then stay overnight and fly back to Manchester on the Sunday (keeps the price down).
I have managed to fly Manchester to Bolzano once a good few years ago. Also flown to Innsbruck but not with children at half term.
The driving is not difficult. And we like to have a car available during the week as we can take a trip out to Corvara and do the Sella Ronda or to San Cassiano and do the Hidden Valley and so on.
It also means that on one day we can drive round to Reischach and start skiing from there. Which means a finish at K1 bar and more education for the children with dancing on the tables. Followed by swimming at Kron4. A leisure pool with things going on - waterfalls / whirlpools / bubbles etc. Also a couple of water slides. And a pool that starts inside and goes outside. It’s lovely to be immersed in warm water in the snow.
A friend who lives in the South of England has joined us and for him he seems to have a choice of flights to Innsbruck every day (I think it is Saturday only from Manchester) and at reasonable cost too.
He has also travelled a couple of times by train to Bruneck / Brunico and then service bus to SV.
But for us if coming with children, it really has to be a flight to a more distant airport and a hire car.

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@pam w, this was when she was 7. Just wait until she’s 17

I have driven to San Vigilio/Kronplatz a couple of times ..my last visit was 2020 I can reccomend the Hotel Conrad ..nice hotel and good food My favourite run there is the one down to Olang followed by the ones down to Brunico ..not that busy as most people dont seem to know about the Olang and it can be confusing as there seem to be no piste naming on the way down ..It is quite an easy drive compared to most ..no real hairpins ..I would happily go again Very Happy

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I have driven to San Vigilio/Kronplatz a couple of times ..my last visit was 2020 I can reccomend the Hotel Conrad ..nice hotel and good food My favourite run there is the one down to Olang followed by the ones down to Brunico ..not that busy as most people dont seem to know about the Olang and it can be confusing as there seem to be no piste naming on the way down ..It is quite an easy drive compared to most ..no real hairpins ..I would happily go again Very Happy

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The journey down

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JHS

I have usually come to SanVigilio as the last stop on a tour round the Dolomiti Superski as I have friends in Campitello I have driven from Hull/Rotterdam and with one ovenight in Ulm or Memingen and from Dover with an overnight in Permisens.....certainly cheaper and easier than taking the plane...I am off in 3 weeks to Campitello so I will let you know how it goes

@DaveD, that would work for us but not when taking granddaughter. If you are not tied to school holidays things get easier

You know it makes sense.

Day 1
Arrived Saturday. Booked a meal at La Bronta. It’s a restaurant / small hotel. Not a fancy hotel.
I’ve been thinking a lot about costs in resort as in my mind it is not the most expensive place to ski.
At La Bronta you can get a basic pizza for about €5.50 or so. Most pizzas tend to be about €7-€10 or so. You can go for other foods. I had a pork steak with mushrooms. Daughter had a pork joint. Granddaughter went for a wiener schnitzel. We had a litre of very acceptable house red, a bottle of water and an apple juice. For desserts a strawberry ice cream and a tiramisu. Total cost around €75 which I thought was ok. We could have kept the cost down if needed.
To be honest, it was a case of keeping it simple on the day of arrival. We aren’t paying for a catered chalet so I don’t mind paying for a meal out.

Sunday morning was a quick look around town. There is obviously a lot of private investment taking place and that shows confidence. A hotel near our apartment is having an extra two floors built on top. That sort of investment.
The photo is the building we are in. Cianross piste comes down at the back of the building and finishes at the bottom lift station which is just out of view to the right of the photo. It isn’t “ski in / ski out” as you have to walk about 30 yards.
The apartment is well equipped. Dishwasher. Oven. Fridge / freezer.
And the bottom station of Cianross sells ski passes. There was a queue in the sense that there was one person buying a lift pass when we arrived.
Helpful lady sorted out whether it was better for us to buy a 5 day pass for the full Dolomite area plus a half day local pass for today, or a 6 day Superdolomiti pass.
Lift passes bought they validated Rosie’s pass for the full week (she is age 11) and validated mine and my daughter’s for the day.
Then we walked into town for ski hire.
There is now a ski hire depot at Cianross. New for this year. But we have had such excellent help and support from Andrea & Marco ski hire over the years that we went back there.
Things have changed over the years, but a slight diversion here to a story of our first visit to SV. We wanted to hire skis. Wandered down to a ski hire shop. Got sorted out with the kit we wanted. Went across to the “checkout” desk. Asked if they wanted details of credit cards. No. We don’t do cards. OK. Do you want a copy of our passports etc? No. Why would we want that? Should we pay now? No - you say you want these for a week but you might change your mind - sort it out when you bring them back. Do you want a deposit? No. You say you will bring them back. Sort it out then.

It is different now. But even so, we walk into the shop and the staff say “Hallo Herr Smith. Guten Tag. Are you staying bei Frau Valentin again?”
Skis sorted. Lift pass sorted. Time for a quick blast around some easy pistes and then up to Col de L’ Ancona for a liquid lunch.

This really shows why I like this area. Low wind speeds. Lots of sunshine. But still decent snow. Relaxed skiing. If you want adrenaline then you can go for Sylwester Hernegg or Piculin. But that’s another day.
Sunday finished with a pizza from the Spar cooked in the apartment. With a bottle of Lagrein. And if you don’t know Lagrein then that’s another delight in store

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Monday was a gentle start. Validating the lift pass with the NHS proof of vaccination QR code took a few seconds.
The a 30 yard stagger to Cianross and away. Went around to the top of Kronplatz. Down Reid to Perca / Percha where the train station is. You can get off the train and cross the width of the platform and into the gondola to take you to the Kronplatz summit.
On the list of things to do but not yet done is to ski down to the station and go up the valley on the train to Drei Zinnen and ski there for the day.
One of the things that I like about returning to the same resort is that instead of skimming the surface you look further and closer and find other things to do.
It was a sunny day with deep blue sky and no wind.

More skiing around the various slopes at Kronplatz summit and then back for a pizza in the apartment. Cheap meal tonight. Snow forecast for tomorrow. Might be another gentle day.
I can see that people visiting Kronplatz for the day from the main Dolomite area could go up the Piculin lift, down one of the pistes into San Vigilio and across the village by gondola and then up the gondolas to the top of Kronplatz. Then ski down either Sylwester or Hernegg or Reid and then return.
They can truthfully say that they have “done” Kronplatz but they are unlikely to have done Sylwester AND Hernegg AND Reid. Each of them “feels” different. And there are quite a few pistes from the summit - Alpen / Arndt / Belvedere / Plateau / Marchner / Sonne just to name some of them - that you also won’t have touched. And there’s the longer run down to Olang as well.
Maybe 20 years ago I would have tried to “bag” as many as possible. Now, I appreciate the food and the view whilst sitting outside in the sunshine at Ucia Bivacco and the many other resting places.

A snowHead

Tuesday : snow.
Daughter and granddaughter didn’t ski. I just did a bit of a potter about. Thought about costs and comparative costs.
@garc is right to say it isn’t cheap here. I have obviously turned a blind eye to the cost of the lift pass. It is expensive. But….

Am I trying to justify this for myself?

You are paying for a lot of infrastructure. And it is worth paying for the Superdolomiti pass (unless you are a first week skier) as that gives access to a huge area. Even for beginners it is worth a trip to the large area of blue pistes around San Cassiano.

But as for costs in resort? I think the value here in SV is excellent.
Tonight we have eaten at the Ritterkeller. A large choice of pizza at €8
But granddaughter had a Wienerschnitzel.

And it certainly wasn’t a small one
Daughter had a Schweinhaxe

And again it was a bloody big one.
I had a skewer of mixed meat and veg

Again, it was a very full meal (none of us had dessert)

Perhaps because we had a starter to share between three of us. Cold mixed platter. I don’t normally take photos of my food. I just eat it. So I didn’t get a photo before I attacked it. But you get the idea from this I hope (photo above if I have managed to do this)
So for a meal out we could have done it on the cheap and each had a (very large) pizza at a cost of €24 for three.
Instead we had a starter, a very substantial main course, a bottle of red wine, a bottle of water, a Diet Coke and a liqueur coffee.
How much would you pay for that in England?
Here it was €95
Not our cheapest night out but acceptable

A snowHead

That schnitzel looks like a manta ray run aground on a reef of frozen chips

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Great report! I always ate in the hotel so I never found out about the restaurants ....but I am glad to hear about the s snowHead

now ...I do hope it lasts till I get there!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Great report! I always ate in the hotel so I never found out about the restaurants ....but I am glad to hear about the s snowHead

now ...I do hope it lasts till I get there!!

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@DaveD, no need to worry about snow levels. This is where we are staying with the piste behind it.
A meal out can be cheap. Pizzas at Ritterkeller are mostly €8 (maybe a dozen to choose from at that price) but there are some for perhaps €2 or €3 more. Then there are other choices as well. The Wienerschnitzel was €13 (we made a note of that as it was a large portion and good). The “skewer” was about €20 or €22 (can’t remember)
La Bronta is very close to Ritterkeller and more easily accessible and about a couple of euros more per meal. But we still like it there. Very friendly and considering the number of people they must see in a season, we were surprised at the fact that they remember us. It must be at least 5 years ago that I came here without family. When I walked into La Bronta the staff gave me a funny look and said “Where’s Rosie?” Granddaughter is now 11 so they could only have seen her a couple of times yet they not only remembered her and linked her to me but they remembered her name.
We always try to visit Fana Ladina for a meal. That does cost a little more but you get what you pay for. It won’t suit everyone - a friend who comes with us sometimes, refuses to go there as he says it is overpriced. But it’s an experience. If you are in a large-ish group there, instead of choosing from the menu, ask if they can do a selection of Ladinisch foods to share.

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JHS It looks wonderful...I remember being there in 2017 and the only snow to be seen was on the pistes...and that was in January...Its a great place!

After all it is free

@JHS, on the lift pass, yes, it's not as cheap as some small resorts, but we ended up in Val di Fassa this year, when we should have been in Meribel.

Our 7 day lift pass was €324 each, which compared to the 3 valleys for the same 7 days would have cost us €372 each as they give a €10 discount per person when you buy more than 1 pass.

So nearly €50 saved just on the lift pass. When you then consider that at most on the mountain I think we paid €5.50 for a pint of beer, the savings soon start adding up.

Everything is relative, is it a cheap holiday, no. Skiing isn't cheap, but compared to other resorts of similar size etc, it's a cheaper alternative.

Wednesday was a trip out to San Cassiano. Not busy especially considering it is UK half term. We usually try to get there early and park at Piz Sorega valley station.
Daughter slipped and fell and hurt her back before we even got to the car. So we had a gentle day. San Cassiano is perfect for that. Plenty of space in the car park. And no real queue for the Sorega lift up.

You do get “proper” Dolomite scenery in the background with huge vertical cliffs yet a generally gentle area for skiing. There was about 6 inches of snow yesterday at Kronplatz and it looks like a similar amount here.
It adds interest and makes the spectacular scenery even more spectacular

And then we had sunshine as well.
This is one of the reasons we tend to go for a hire car to get us from the airport to the resort. A day out is very easy.
Assuming daughter is ok tomorrow then we plan to stay around Kronplatz and finish up at Kron4 for a swim. If that’s too much then just a gentle tootle around.

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Enjoying reading this - very informative and entertaining TR!

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Does Kronplatz have as many restaurants on the piste as San Cassiano & the general Alta Badia area? Also would love a few photos of the scenery. You’ve said it is not like the main Dolomites but not what it is. Enjoying your updates

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@…where, when I think of “proper” Dolomite scenery I think of the Sella Gruppa and similar views of immense rocky outcrops with huge vertical slabs.

The photo above is the view from my balcony

And that’s another from the balcony in a different direction
Both taken 5 minutes ago. That’s the setting for San Vigilio.
This next photo is from two years ago

This shows Kronplatz as seen from near the top of the Col Toron gondola.
It shows the shape of the mountain and as you can see there are some flatter or less steep areas at the top. Good for those who want to experience the mountain but are not ready to tackle red runs.
There is some skiing amongst trees but I don’t think it would be fair to say there is a lot of tree lined skiing. Not on the San Vigilio side anyway. When I look at that photo I am struck by the quantity of trees.
But the summit itself is mostly “bald”.
Another re-assessment for me.
I must keep my eyes open more and appreciate the trees. Certainly some runs near the summit do go through trees.

EDIT : I am definitely re-assessing this. Looking back through photos of the last few days there are quite a lot of tree lined runs. Another photo (yes I am the fool in the kilt) shows Reid which definitely is tree lined.

It just doesn’t feel hemmed in by trees. For example, going back to the photo of Kronplatz mountain from Col Toron, the run from the summit along the skyline to the right emerges as a tree lined run halfway down the right hand side of the photo and turns and you can see it go through the trees from the right hand side after it turns and goes down and left, behind the head of the person taking a photo.
That is blue Furcia (there is a red Furcia as well). It starts off at the summit. No trees. Very wide open. When you get to the trees the run is wide and still feels “open”

@…where, Mountain Restaurants : my first thought was that there are not as many here as at San Cassiano.
I’m now thinking that there are more here. I’m just off to the village bakery to get fresh bread rolls for breakfast and will add to this later when I have visited a few Hütte

You know it makes sense.

@JHS, What is the local reaction to the Kilt ????

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@albob, invariably positive. Done it for years now. Lots of random strangers approach and ask if they can have their photo taken with you. People ask if it is cold. (It isn’t, but it is a good quality woollen one)
People seeing you standing at an outside bar will go to the bar and order “A schnapps for the highlander!”
I don’t wear it every day but if I am tootling around reds and blues with granddaughter then it’s fine. Not if I am being more aggressive and heading for some blacks - I’m not that good a skier.
Done the Sella Ronda in it
I am now able to explain the old joke in German so when people ask “What’s worn under the kilt?” I can explain that nothing is worn (abgenutzt) everything is in good working order

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@JHS,

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No wonder the locals remember you, @JHS...

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@…where, here’s a more general view of San Vigilio scenery.

Taken, as you might guess, from the Col Toron piste. As you return to SV from Kronplatz you go down Col Toron and that continues into Miara and at the end of Miara you are in SV.
Looking at the photo the strip of white to the right of the piste marker, turning right and ending by the gondola in the photo, that is Miara. It’s about 2 kms of nice wide easy gradient perfect for starters as they can go up in the gondola and then have 2 kms of gentle practice.

This is on Miara about half way down. As you can see from the first photo it is a strip of white. There are brown fields on the right and trees on the left. Self re-assessment time again. I think of it in my head as wide open and snow covered.
The piste certainly is well maintained and snow covered. When skiing down it I don’t notice the brown fields. There is a lot of wide snow covered piste. Also I don’t think of it as skiing in trees as one side is open and the piste is wide and it doesn’t feel enclosed.
At the bottom of Miara you cross the village on a horizontal gondola TransBronta which deposits you at the bottom of Pedaga on the other side of the village.
Going back to the first photo, in the centre you can see two pistes with an island of trees in the middle.
The piste on the right is Erta. “Erta” is, I believe, the Ladinisch word for “steep” and it is a lot steeper than it looks in this photo. It’s a black and is used for the FIS World Cup. The piste on the left is Pedaga, a red at the top, blue at the bottom. You can do it as a blue getting off at the mid station. Just left again is a shorter piste, Cianross.

This was the view looking up Pedaga at about 4.30pm yesterday. Not too busy.

OK that’s the scenery around SV from a skier’s perspective.
SV itself is (to my eyes) attractive and small. There is really just the one shop for general food etc, a Spar. It’s well stocked with a meat and cheese “delicatessen” and a good selection of foods for people with allergies (my daughter is “non dairy” and has no difficulty finding things to eat). Apart from the Spar there’s a bakery with fresh bread / rolls / croissants as well as pastries and cakes. Several cafés and some flash looking hotels. Quite a bit of self catering accommodation and (to my eyes again) a decent selection of places to eat out in the evening. We ate out last night. Granddaughter had a pizza at €8.50 and I had a fillet steak at €22
No nightlife to speak of, but there is “The Bus Stop” which I think calls itself a nightclub. I have never been inside so can’t comment.

Number of eating spots on the mountain?@…where, asked about this. There’s certainly no shortage of them. I don’t know other areas well enough to really comment as when we go to places like Corvara or Val Gardena we probably don’t see the hidden places.
There are “hidden” places here too. Ucia Bivacco is worth a visit (near the top of “Costa” chair, best accessed from Blue Furcia, but easy to ski past and miss it)
I would say the number of mountain eating places is comparable to San Cassiano / Corvara. Some are purpose built and some have obviously been there for longer than the pistes. The vast majority, even the newer purpose built ones are attractive and fit in well.
Taking Miara as an example, just above the top gondola station (but not so close that I would choose to walk up to it) is “Schnappskurve” - I think that’s its name, it’s what we call it - which is a cafe / restaurant (we have eaten there in the evenings having driven up to it before illegally skiing down Miara by moonlight). Schnappskurve was probably there before the gondola station. It’s really at the bottom of Col Toron rather than the top of Miara.
As you go down Miara you come to a piste side coffee stop, toilet stop, lunch stop. Attractive. Good. Fairly new (7-8 years maybe, used to be a farm / smallholding before becoming a café). Then further down is Chi Vai which has obviously been there long before the piste. It’s on the other side of the road which borders Miara. A favourite with my daughter as there is a good choice of food she can eat. This is what it looked like yesterday.

Going down Miara there’s another “new” (maybe 10-15 years) cafe at the side of the piste and at the bottom there’s La Bronta which during the day has an outside grill and pizza area and a sunny veranda.
Plenty of eating spots. I must recommend Col de L’ Ancona at the top of Pedaga and Piculin. Super outside eating and great views

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@JHS, this is a great report and I’m loving reading your daily updates, I really like that your mention a wide range of aspects of being away. I was away a few weeks ago in the Milky Way on my own, I met another solo skier in the hotel, and we skied together a few days, on one chairlift he said” no talking for a while, just drink the views in” it’s one of the highlights of my trip.

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I've been going to St Vigilio for about 10 years now (about as long as I've been lurking here) and I've never dared go in the Bus Stop!
Very disappointed to find that the "bumps" were missing from Miara in December and January, are they back yet?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@craigjam, yes the bumps are back !
Rosie (the 11 year old teenager in training) heads for them every time.
For the uninitiated, there is a strip down the left hand edge, only about 100 yards long and about 10 ft wide which is set up with bumps for people to go down. Aimed at the young in age. Used by the young at heart

After all it is free

Thursday : daughter (having fallen on Wednesday) decided that it would be sensible to take a day out of skiing. So Rosie and I had a gentle trip around the Kronplatz area. Because of the way things worked out with timings, we didn’t get round to Kron4 for a swim.
Not a problem as we now hope to go there on Saturday morning before we drive back to Bergamo.
Not a lot to say really. Just a pleasant ski around.
Friday : this was the day we had pencilled in to do the Sella Ronda, taking Rosie round for the first time. But daughter was still suffering twinges so we decided to stay local. Almost 11 miles skiing according to Ski Tracks. Off out to Fana Ladina this evening.

The end : I have found posting these comments very helpful in an introspective way. It all started with @garc to whom I am really grateful for enabling me to take the blinkers off and hopefully see San Vigilio through fresh eyes.
I can see that this is not the budget resort that I had convinced myself it might be. The lift pass alone makes sure of that.
Our accommodation is not the cheapest but that’s by choice. We have stayed in Mantena about a mile away for much less. But we choose to pay more for a very nice apartment indeed, complete with dishwasher, about 30 yards away from the nearest lift / end of piste for skiing back.
Having looked again at San Vigilio and the surrounding scenery, I still think it’s a pretty village.
Would I come again? I have already paid a €500 deposit to reserve the accommodation.
So what’s not to like?
Being honest (or trying to be honest) there are a number of things. Firstly, for those who want to simply ski and do nothing else, the Kronplatz area is probably not big enough unless you repeat some runs. But I do question whether those who say they have skied it in a day have done more than an “end to end”. Sylwester and Hernegg, the two blacks going down to Reischach, have a different “feel” from each other. Both are worth doing. And so are the many other runs that you have probably missed. Alpen / Marchner / Arndt / Hinterberg / Olang and so on.
I was surprised by the amount of trees. I think I must have been skiing with my eyes half closed. I’ve been here so many times and never appreciated the amount of trees.

Is there enough here for a week?
The answer is “it depends”.
With a hire car and the options of trips away, definitely yes.

For me, a skiing holiday is about more than skiing. We have managed eating out a few times, we have managed a trip to San Cassiano.
I decided to make a list of the things that we have NOT managed to do on this trip. The purpose of this list is not to be miserable and to complain. Rather to provide a list of things to aim for next year. And to demonstrate to those who say the area is too small, that we have been here for a week and still not managed to do these :

Sella Ronda
Ski Trip to the Marmolada from Arabba and visit to the museum inside the Marmolada
Hidden Valley with horse tow out
Visit the Lumen Museum at Kronplatz summit (museum and education about mountains and photography - leaflet looks good, never been inside)
Ski to Perca (base station of Reid piste) which is at the Pustertal train station, take the train to Drei Zinnen and ski there returning again by train
Visit the Ladin Museum
Ski the Cinque Torre area
Swim / sauna at Kron4 (although we hope to do that on Saturday)
Visit the Messner museum

So from my perspective there is more than enough for a week. If I had time on my hands I wouldn’t have so many things outstanding on my list for the week.

And finally….. this area will not suit everyone. Access by way of flights from the UK is poor unless you live in the South and can get lots of flights to Innsbruck. 20 years ago we would maybe hear another English voice once during the week. Sometimes not at all. Now we will usually hear someone speaking English each day.
Is it a good thing to do this report? I don’t know. 20 years ago if you spoke to another English person here you would say to each other “yes, isn’t it fantastic here, don’t tell anyone about it”.
But this report is done.

Remember there is no such thing as a perfect resort. It will depend on your expectations.
If you do decide to come here then I hope you come to love the place as much as we do

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Thank you so much for the lovely TR.
The first time I went, I fell at the top of piculin and span all the way down to mid piste. Of course damaged acl (badly) and side ligament. It happened on the second day and didn’t experience the resort at all, but always wanted to go back.
Managed to convince the husband for my 50 birthday , we were based in the excelsior hotel, I could see it from one of your picture, thanks for posting it, it brought back lovely memories.

We had a nice week of skiing and only did the piculin via the gondola Very Happy

this time .
My favorite piste was furca , number 9 if I remember correctly and of course the Miara is a pleasure at the end of the day. For me the beauty of plan de corones is that u can alternate between 3 resorts , we spent 1 day in sexten 2 in Alta badia and 3 in plan. we love to move around and really appreciate the excellent public transport that is free of charge.
we are World Cup followers and totally loved to watch the lady giant slalom from the hotel. MS won of course, the husband was pleased as his favourite, a Norwegian with an impossible name was second and I managed to shake hand with FBrignone. It made the holiday extra special.
I am going to investigate the spa that u mentioned. Could be our next destination (love swimming and steaming) Hope the return journey goes smoothly.

Help!!

(Almost live) TR : San Vigilio & Kronplatz

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