 Poster: A snowHead
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Any recommendations for a pension or not too expensive hotel in Ortisei would be very welcome. There seems to a lot of availability
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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trevor, Can't help to answer your question as we are hoping to break into the Ortisei area that week for the first time.
There are going to be one or two of the snowHead persuasion around that week.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'm doing an offpiste trip based in Arabba from 28 Feb.
However, I also want to take my parents, wife and son there the previous week. Based on this thread it looks like it's the wrong week to be in that area...
I've been offered accommodation in Selva, Plan di Gralba, Santa Christina, Corvara and San Cassiano.
Any views of which would be the best for early intermediates and avoid the queues?
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trevor, no specific recommendations, just make sure you're near a ski-bus stop so you can get up the valley to Selva to access more skiing, if and when you need to, the snow is often better up there.
horizon, yeah that week promises to be one of the busiest, it's Carnevale, just depends how many Germans bother to drive that far south this year. The area between Corvara and San Cassiano tends to be quieter than Val Gardena and the Sella Ronda circuit, lots of easy blues too.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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horizon, I would agree with Luigi that the area between Corvara and San Cassiano would be a good area for early intermediates. Corvara althoiugh bigger and busier than San Cassiano has good lift transport out in four different directions whereas San Cassiano has only a good lift in one direction.
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horizon, as riverman says, Corvara would probably be the best overall bet, some accommodation can be a long way from the lifts/pistes, so watch that!
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Personally the distance to lifts thing is not really an issue. Even if it's 15 minutes on a bus there and back every day, who really cares that much? I'd rather be close to town centre and bars and life than stuck out near the lifts where most Austrian resorts (for example) appear to put them!
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carled, good point, but in this case, the centre is quite handy for the lifts, but there are some outlying 'suburbs' and hamlets that aren't, and with Horizon saying he's taking his parents and son, I didn't think they'd appreciate lugging their ski gear any further than they need to.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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riverman, luigi, thanks for the advice. I've tried to find something reasonable in Corvara (emailed and phoned several places) but it was all booked up. We ended up in Santa Cristina, 100m from a gondola. I had a look at the piste map and there should be enough skiing for everyone.
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horizon, that sounds like a good spot, gondola one side of the valley goes up to the sunny Seceda area with a variety of long runs, the gondola the other side goes up to Ciampinoi, just the first red pitch off the back is a bit steep fior timid ones, but then you're into the Piz Seteur/Piz Sella area that's good for confidence building. Not sure which gondola you're near but as a new underground shuttle train links the two base stations, you'll have easy access to either.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| pokemon wrote: |
patrick318, luigi, just been into Waterstones at lunch at looked at the "What's New" bit in this years Where to Ski and Snowboard book. Apparently there is a new chair and piste going in at the Cinque Torri that links it with Col Gallina. Therefore if you go to the Lagazuoi Cable Car and cross the road, you can ski the Cinque Torri and back without the need for another bus.
I wish the season had started as I want to go back now, with all this talk  |
I've finally found some details about this new chairlift and piste, with an unfortunately hazy map, but hopefully self-explanatory, if you know the area. It will open on Dec 25th:
http://www.dolomiti.org/dengl/cortina/cnews/showNews.lasso?l=2&search_idgenere==&keyid=1846
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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luigi, is there any nightlife in Santa Cristina or is Selva our best bet? (my wife's and mine, that is, parents aren't so keen on bars).
Thanks for all the info - will you be in the area at any time between 21 Feb and 8 March? It would be good to say hello.
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luigi, Does this new chair mean that to get to the Passo Falzarego you will not now ski pass the Cinque Torri. Looking at my piste maps for the area I cannot locate the Croda Negra summit or the Tofane and Sasso di Stria mountains refered to in the desription. It says the chair starts on the Fedare piste (bottom or top ? ) and therefore it would seem goes in a northly direction. Looks like I need a ski guide !!!!.
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You know it makes sense.
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| horizon wrote: |
luigi, is there any nightlife in Santa Cristina or is Selva our best bet? (my wife's and mine, that is, parents aren't so keen on bars).
Thanks for all the info - will you be in the area at any time between 21 Feb and 8 March? It would be good to say hello. |
Selva is probably the most lively, the Ski School Bar is good for apre and there are various venues for evening drinks. The Luis kellar can be pretty hectic and there's Dancing Disco Dali for a late boogie. Avoid the Irish Bar, it's pants.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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alex_heney, Have you any more persuasive arguments for my lot please!? "It looks too far away from the Sella Ronda", "It's miles from anywhere", "I don't want to spend hours on the ski bus every day", "I want to be somewhere convenient for the slopes" are a sample of the comments I have had since suggesting Moena... (or Vigo or Pozza...)
Moena strikes me as a place that will have cheaper supermarkets (for our self catering) and probably cheaper bar prices as it's a proper town... Anyone else have anything to offer on Moena as a venue? Probably not, I suspect, as most on here tend not to stray too far from the beaten track...
It's a conundrum...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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riverman, it took me a while to get my head round it, this is the way I understand it, looking at the map in the linky above you can see the red Fedare piste in the bottom left quadrant, a short blue splits off near the top to the new lift which brings you up to the ridge (Croda Negra?, just west of the Averau), from where you can ski down to the Falzarego pass and the Col Gallina lifts admiring the buttresses of the Tofane range facing you and the pointed Sasso di Stria just west of the pass.
So, no, you don't have to ski past the 5 Torri to get from Rifugio Fedare to Falzarego, but if you do, you don't need to catch the bus up, just catch the 5 Torri lifts up and drop down to the new lift to get over to Falzarego.
The resulting circuit around Monte Averau makes this small snow-sure area a lot more useable, but presumably will attract more day-trippers as a result, as it's not just a diversion on the way to the Hidden Valley.
Now, that's probably as clear as mud! 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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luigi, Thank you, it all makes sense now
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| carled wrote: |
alex_heney, Have you any more persuasive arguments for my lot please!? "It looks too far away from the Sella Ronda", "It's miles from anywhere", "I don't want to spend hours on the ski bus every day", "I want to be somewhere convenient for the slopes" are a sample of the comments I have had since suggesting Moena... (or Vigo or Pozza...)
Moena strikes me as a place that will have cheaper supermarkets (for our self catering) and probably cheaper bar prices as it's a proper town... Anyone else have anything to offer on Moena as a venue? Probably not, I suspect, as most on here tend not to stray too far from the beaten track...
It's a conundrum... |
You're probably right about it being cheaper, it's definitely going to be more Italian down there, you probably won't get the German/Benelux contingent that you get in Val Gardena and Alta Badia, there'll probably be a few E.Europeans, I knew a Czech girl whose family skied the Tre Valli area, not sure where they stayed though.
I'm staying off the beaten track this year at Pedraces in Alta Badia, accommodation is half the price of Corvara (on the Sella Ronda), we'll have a car so getting to the lifts at La Villa or Corvara won't be a problem and we can do some trips further afield to Kronplatz & Cortina.
Ski-in, ski-out is nice though, especially with a group, everyone can please themselves when they start and finish.
I'm not helping much, am I? I'll get my coat! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I remember having lunch in a lovely place at the top of the Colfosco / Pedraces lift system just by a church. I'll try to find out what it was called. Santa Croce ? Anyone else know what I'm on about.
Maybe I should get my coat too....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Frosty, that is exactly the place ! We were taken here last year by someone we met where we were staying in Arabba and we will be going back there again for lunch this season no doubt
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carled, Unfortunately, they only have the "special" bus timetables online so far, which are those for this weekend, and don't include the full valley links.
But those show that Moena to Passa Pellegrino (furthest cable car) is 15-20 minutes, depending on where in Moena you start.
Mazzin to Campitello (cable car) is 9 minutes.
So it certainly isn't huge amounts of time on the buses. Vigo and Pozza both have doorstep skiing, including runs to valley level.
And while it will take some time to get onto the Sella Ronda circuit itself, how many times do you want to do that in a week?
The more easily accessible skiing from those parts of the valley will be much quieter than the Sella Ronda area, precisely because so many people think it is the most important thing. I'd rather be sking than standing in lift queues 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Bit off topic...anyone managed to do the Sella Ronda circuit it more than twice in one day ?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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dsoutar, the first year I went to Selva there was a young lad in our chalet who reckoned he did it twice in the same day, one way then back the other, no doubt possible if you didn't linger or get caught in lift queues (it wasn't busy, towards the end of march). Not sure it would be that much fun though. IMHO the Sella Ronda is best used as a means to get to quieter places rather than a destination in itself, of course you should go right round once.
I'll check out Santa Croce while I'm there, thanks for the heads up!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I've managed it twice (reversing it) on the same day just to check it out for suitability for the kids and had a couple of hours to spare. I know it's a pointless exercise but I did reckon if you got a wiggle on it could be done three times. I did it in half term so outside that time it would almost certainly be possible
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dsoutar, Which way around did you prefer? I understand that the Sella Ronda has been done three times in a day many times.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Orange, otherwise it's all lifts up from Corvara up to Dantercepies.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Mollerski, But then you miss the the Dantercepies run itself. If I do ski the Green route I spend a hour or so in the Colfosco bowl to make up for all the lifts up to the Dantercepies.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Mollerski, It would be a long haul back to Arabba from the Ski school bar.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| riverman wrote: |
| Mollerski, It would be a long haul back to Arabba from the Ski school bar. |
Don't bother.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Apologies, got caught up in a 'Carry on' double entendre moment! 
I've only ever been all the way round in one go on the orange. On the green there used to be some really long drags up the Gardena pass, but a few years back they installed the new Plaus/Frara gondola which made it a bit less of a chore, some good thigh-burners that way too, the Dantercepies, the Val Salei, the Boe and the really long cruise down to Arabba.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I haven't done it the green way, but don't you have to walk a bit in Selva that way around?
Doing it the Orange way, it was just across the road by the footbridge, and of course crossing the road in Arabba, that you have to do whichever way you travel.
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Not if you stay in Arabba - well I suppose you do but it's at the start / finish so it doesn't really count 
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alex_heney, on the green route in Selva there's a narrow piste that runs down through the village from the nursery slopes that deposits you next to the main road almost opposite the Ciampinoi gondola, so it's just a matter of going down a few steps and crossing the road.
On the orange route, you sometimes have to take off your skis to cross the road at the Gardena pass (after dropping the first pitch from Dantercepies gondola), although I have seen people shuffle across with their (rental) skis still on!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Hmmm, very difficult for me to give a preference. I like the run down to Colfosco from the Sella pass but then I like going down the Sasslong as a wee diversion and I also like the run down into Corvara from Arabba. That's where I normally turn on the GPS to check speed. 105 kmh is my best so far but I wish I had my old 195 GS skis as doing that on my 170 carvers is a bit nerve-racking. I try to keep them on a bit of an edge otherwise I find the tips just start flapping around. In case anyone wonders, I do wait for the slope to be clear in front of me so at least if I stack, it's only me that's involved.
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FAQ
The Sella Ronda, that is! 
