 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
johnboy, where are you off to? Done the dolomites before?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
A mate and his family spent New Year week in Canazei. They had a magnifocent week. they were blown away by the beauty of the area.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
magic_hat,
Done Italy a few times, but this is the first trip to The Dolomites. Staying in Selva.
Frosty the Snowman,
Wonder why it seems relatively undiscovered by Brits 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
johnboy, Stop fretting. The whole point of this area is that it is anodyne, boring piste skiing. You cruise about trying to look cool and watch the pretty mountains go past. It is not for powderhounds or off-piste tigers. There is plenty of snow on piste, and if there isn't they will make some. The Dolomites are just not suitable for proper skiing at all. It is intermediate piste cruising all the way. No challenge at all. Yes, I might just have my tongue in my cheek, but there is some truth in my reassurance about the snow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Chris Bish,
That will suit me just fine then 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
johnboy, Exactly. Always a blue route round the blacks! Love it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just back from Canazei, had a blast, did pretty much the whole area inc Marmolada, Hidden Valley, Cinque Torri, Val di Anna, Sella Ronda, Santa Croce skitour, the Saslong WC run, Edelweiss Valley, etc.
About the snow, the best I've enjoyed here in 4 trips, there's loads of snow, too much according to the taxi guy in Arabba, it was cold temps all week but we had sunshine & blue skies 4 out of 6. It snowed a little on Tuesday, freshened the surface up. Pistes were packed below the grippy, powdery surface layer, not icy and still with plenty of bite. Busy pistes got scraped and mogulled by the afternoon, a bit tricky. In a few places where the sun had shone there was a bit of granular ice. Usual excellent grooming with occasional evidence of collecting snow from off-piste areas to repair worn pistes.
You can check my performance here with skipass no. 146/50517. A respectable 199km of pistes and 36,987m vertical. Perhaps we could start a dedicated thread for the comparison/competition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
luigi, Welcome back. Glad you had a good time. Can you, once you have unpacked and got the washing-machine on, have a look at the thread in resorts and give me the benefit of your knowledge regarding buses between Campitello and Alleghe. I have a scheme for getting to 5 Torri that way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
luigi, Am off to Arabba on Wednesday... 5 days skiing. Good news about the snow conditions, cheers.
Planning on doing some general mooching around the Sella Ronda and marmolada.... how easy was it to get to the hiden valley?
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
magic_hat, That is more or less the same question as I am asking. From 5 Torri you can now lift-link to Hidden Valley and then back into the circuit. I am working on a plan to get down to Alleghe to get into 5 Torri from the southern end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
magic_hat, Chris Bish, we did the Cinque Torri/Hidden Valley by using a taxi-bus from Arabba to the Falzarego pass, cost €50, there were 3 of us & then a german couple turned up, so €10 each. Can also be done by skiing to Armentarola & catching the taxi-bus there for €5pp. You also need €2 for the horse tow back to Armentarola. There are a few flat spots to walk or pole but an amazing adventure, well worth it. 5 Torri & Col Gallina were blissfully empty yesterday.
Chris Bish, your best bet would be to get the free ski-bus to the Pecol gondola in Canazei, up and over to Arabba, get the taxi-bus to Falzarego, do 5 Torri, then Hidden Valley, ski back via Arabba. It's a long day (32km), you can check the route we did (I don't think we made any mistakes) on the performance checker in my last post, look at 9th Jan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cheers Chris Bish, luigi.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
Is the hidden valley worth the effort? For a Dolomite first timer I reckon there is enough to see?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
Snowforecast now predicting a few cm on Wednesday.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| johnboy wrote: |
| Snowforecast now predicting a few cm on Wednesday. |
Snow on Wednesday (with the roads remaining lovely and clear for my drive up from venice) and then sunshine for the next 5 days would be ideal!
Currently, weather.com predicting snow on wednesday and OK ish weather for other days. A few other sites predicting snow on wednesday and crap weather for the other days!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
| johnboy wrote: |
| Is the hidden valley worth the effort? For a Dolomite first timer I reckon there is enough to see? |
Everything I've read seems to suggest it's a "must do" if you are in the area?
I know what you are saying though... I am only getting 4.5 days on the piste, so why spend one of them mucking about in the car or with buses/taxis. I guess I'll see when i'm out there - what normally happens in these situations is that i get up every morning and thing "nah, i'll do it tomorrow". My thinking was that I'd drive out to Cortina for a day, with an early start, and fit in 5 Torri/Hidden Valley either before or after.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
luigi, Welcome back and thanks for the reports. Fingers crossed that it stays cold all the way to half term. I know what you mean about the busy slopes getting tricky when moguled. Had an interesting time on the slope down from Porto Vescovo (above Arabba) when it was busy last year. From the Cable car on the way up it looked like an ants nest!. Interesting that that is only graded red (someone told me it was once black but was changed to red so that more people would do the Sella Ronda).
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
magic_hat,
I have no doubt the hidden valley would be spectacular, but if it means a bit of pissing about I might give it a miss this time. If I had a car I might feel different.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
luigi, Did you use the new chair lift in the Cinque Torri area .
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| johnboy wrote: |
| Is the hidden valley worth the effort? For a Dolomite first timer I reckon there is enough to see? |
Certainly is! If you are driving to Cortina you can take the valley run on the way. Up the cable car, skii off the back. Minibuses wait at the valley exit abd bring you back to the cable car. Not sure what they charge these days..I was there a good few years ago. Did it by accident, leaving non-skiers in the car. Suddenly realised I was in a valeey by mnyself with no sign of a lift back! Skiied on, past a very tempting bar and was greatly relieved to find the buses!
One of the best runs ever! Going back there 31/01 to show my son.
John
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The 'James Bond' run from Seceda down to Ortisei is possibly better and a whole lot eassier to get too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mollerski, The run down from Seceda to Ortesei is a very nice run. What makes the Hidden Valley run better is the fact that there is nothing in the valley except the ski run ie no lifts or roads , buildings etc until you get to a very nice refugio after about a vertical drop of over 600 metres.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| riverman wrote: |
| luigi, Did you use the new chair lift in the Cinque Torri area . |
Yes, it's a fixed 2-seater. The piste from the top that links back to Col Gallina/Falzarego isn't particularly wide, has some tight bends and a few flat/uphill sections, so quite a challenge to keep momentum, but fun.
It makes the whole area a lot more worthwhile as it can now be skied as a circuit without the need for a bus and particularly as it was empty compared to the Sella Ronda.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
luigi, Looking forward to using the new lift and to ski the circuit. As you say this is a quiet area which will now get busier
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| Seldom Seen Kid wrote: |
| luigi, Welcome back and thanks for the reports. Fingers crossed that it stays cold all the way to half term. I know what you mean about the busy slopes getting tricky when moguled. Had an interesting time on the slope down from Porto Vescovo (above Arabba) when it was busy last year. From the Cable car on the way up it looked like an ants nest!. Interesting that that is only graded red (someone told me it was once black but was changed to red so that more people would do the Sella Ronda). |
That was one of the pistes I was thinking of: not wide, steep, mogulled and full of early intermediates doing the clockwise Sella Ronda, a nightmare by mid-afternoon. Contrast that with the nearly empty runs across twd Passo Padon/Marmolada off the mid-station of the Arabba gondola.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Snow depths are still double the 15 yr average according to Skiclub
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
luigi,
Cheers, looking good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
luigi, Conditions look fantastic. I presume if you did the trip to Santa Croce you used the new Colz chair in La Villa? Where does it drop you in relation to the Gondola up to Piz La Ila and was there a queue to use it?
Thanks in advance
By the way was the interesting smell at the Saraghes hut there or have they fixed their drains? We tend to ski past that most days and have never loitered!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Seldom Seen Kid, we rode the Colz chair, it's a two way job, base is at far end of the gondola car park next to the top of the La Rua chair, goes across the road and up the hill a bit to give you enough height to ski across the Doninz chair. On the way back it a 50 m skate/walk/pole to the gondola station. No significant queues each way on a fairly busy Sunday 4th Jan.
It's a lot better than having to cross the road and walk up to the next chair. They could do with a similar arrangement at Arabba.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 12-01-09 21:13; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Going on Saturday to Selva.
Just thinking about ski map. Will the one I get with my ski pass cover just the Val Gardena Area or will it be a map of the whole Dolomites/Sella Ronda Area?
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
MhicEasmuint,
I was wondering the same thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
MhicEasmuint, There are 12 ski maps that cover the whole of the Dolomiti Ski Pass area. However they do overlap a fair way so being based in Selva you will probally need maps 3,4,5 and 6 at most.
You can pick the maps up as you go to various different areas at Lift Stations. You should get the first map when you get your lift pass.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
riverman,
Cheers
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
johnboy, If you choose carefully you can get a map with the local area on one side and the Sella Ronda routes on the other side.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
luigi, Thanks now it all makes sense and I agree about Arabba. Did you by any chance go on the new Masarei lift? This has been an bit of a bottle neck before and I am hoping the new chair has made a big difference.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
riverman,
Cheers. Don't want to be going getting lost now. lol.
Will keep an eye out for maps at the lift stations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| MhicEasmuint wrote: |
Going on Saturday to Selva.
Just thinking about ski map. Will the one I get with my ski pass cover just the Val Gardena Area or will it be a map of the whole Dolomites/Sella Ronda Area? |
The free map we got in Canazei had the whole Sella Ronda area on one side and the other Val di Fassa areas on the other side. Everyone was a bit confused by it as the slopes face so many different ways, it was difficult to work out whether pistes were going up or down.
You can buy a more detailed cartographical map (Sella Ronda one side and a larger area encompassing Val di Fassa, Civetta & Cortina on the other) with contours and spot heights as well as all the pistes and lifts at some newsagents/shops in the area, probably a good investment.
You can also buy it here:
http://www.stanfords.co.uk/stock/sellaronda-e-valli-ladine-60890/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Seldom Seen Kid wrote: |
| luigi, Thanks now it all makes sense and I agree about Arabba. Did you by any chance go on the new Masarei lift? This has been an bit of a bottle neck before and I am hoping the new chair has made a big difference. |
Yes, I do remember it as it was one of the few times we met other Brits on a chair, it's now a fast 4-man, got quite chilly near the top with the icy north wind we enjoyed that day. That area around Pralongia/La Vizza/Cherz was one of the quietest we visited, nice runs too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
We've been going to the Val Gardena valley for years, we also were in Canazei for NY week.
