 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Enjoy. I thought the hidden valley so beautiful that it made me all emotional
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Be sure to sample the hot chocolate
In a class of its own. And not expensive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
You can easily get marmolarda and the anticlockwise Great War ring in a day (including a top to bottom switchback to Alleghe which IMHO is about the best run in the world.) And have time to a bit at Cinque Torri which is a wonderful place.
Do check if the horse drawn lift is on though as it's not a piste and may not be covered by artificial snow.
If you loved sass long you,ll love the black I to Alba and the others on the ski Panorama route. The Tomba run is as exciting as the man.
Glad you're enjoying Arabba. Maybe come back another year and meet us all at the Birthday Bash.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
@sbooker,
Alistair Pink's comments are spot on. So glad you are enjoying what I think is the best all round ski experience one can have. Marmolada is a great run if the weather is good, but it is just one of many in the Dolomites. Enjoy!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
@Alastair Pink,
I went to the quiet pizza place at the back of the hotel yesterday evening to catch up on a few work emails and got to talking (in very broken English and extremely broken Italian) to the owner and what appeared to be regular locals. The barman insisted on getting me a ‘special’ red ale - very good! He then followed up with a couple of his own ‘free’ grappas.
The beer in the Hotel is great. And the 5 euro half litre of vino is surprisingly good.
@cameronphillips2000,
Myself and Kylie will be going on a two centre trip in February 2020 (without kids) for our twentieth wedding anniversary. We were thinking Canada but the possibility of coming back to Europe has been discussed. Stay tuned. It would be nice to put faces to some names.
@Aussie Steve,
Yes. Very impressed with the area.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@sbooker, great update and pics. Pistes looking in good condition.
Enjoy Cinque Torri and Hidden Valley day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| sbooker wrote: |
@Alastair Pink,
I went to the quiet pizza place at the back of the hotel yesterday evening to catch up on a few work emails and got to talking (in very broken English and extremely broken Italian) to the owner and what appeared to be regular locals. The barman insisted on getting me a ‘special’ red ale - very good! He then followed up with a couple of his own ‘free’ grappas.
The beer in the Hotel is great. And the 5 euro half litre of vino is surprisingly good.
@cameronphillips2000,
Myself and Kylie will be going on a two centre trip in February 2020 (without kids) for our twentieth wedding anniversary. We were thinking Canada but the possibility of coming back to Europe has been discussed. Stay tuned. It would be nice to put faces to some names.
@Aussie Steve,
Yes. Very impressed with the area. |
You're hooked, you'll be back. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@sbooker,
Hot chocolate last year. I think it was at Rifugio Cherz. And yes, you could stand the spoon in it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
@sbooker, oops, hope you’re OK and good that you were wearing a helmet.
Sounds like a great day otherwise. Good to still have the Hidden Valley to look forward to.
As others have recommended, if you have time to ski the runs below Cinque Torri, they’re well worth doing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nasty. Hard enough to need a new lid?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
@sbooker, sorry to hear about your crash, as Peaky B said good job you were wearing a helmet and I hope any painful bits soon get better. Enjoy the Hidden Valley tomorrow!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Best way to do it is Great War ring anticlockwise. The route around is even more picturesque than the Hidden valley.
Sorry to hear about your prang. If it's any consolation. Your brain had undergone quiet a massive drop and then rise in Oxygen levels. Marmolarda is one serious vertical.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
@PeakyB,
I’m a relatively recent helmet convert after being ‘first responder’ to a snowboarder who hit his head on ice and had to be lifted out on a helicopter after an extremely serious injury at Squaw Valley in January 2017.
Will be sure to check our Cinque Torri tomorrow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@sbooker, as @ster mentioned, worth a close look at helmet to check for any more serious damage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
@sbooker, kudos for fessing up that you were a knob. I like that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
@sbooker, any comments on snow conditions, what kind of shape they’re keeping the pistes in?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Sbooker, great trip report. I’ve been enjoying reading it and following your travels.
I was also on the Alta badia blues this afternoon after spending the morning in Colfosco. Sounds like you had a great time and we might even have passed each other around Corava.
I would say the pistes are in great shape at the moment. This morning the snow was really very good. Not icy at all but not slushy either. Pretty much perfect. There’s plenty of snow on the pistes but off piste is very bare and looking shiny from previous melt/ freeze cycles. It’s still scenic and wintery though, would just benefit from a decent snowfall sometime.
I hope you’re OK after the fall and enjoy the rest of your trip.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Alastair Pink, great advice again
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@olderscot, given how little natural snowfall there’s been, they do an amazing job on those pistes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| PeakyB wrote: |
| @sbooker, as @ster mentioned, worth a close look at helmet to check for any more serious damage. |
I’ll be sure to do that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@PeakyB,
As mentioned the piste conditions are excellent particularly given the amount of natural snow they’ve had. This time last year we were skiing on and off piste at Jackson Hole so hear is a completely different experience. The vastness of the skiing is new also and we do enjoy the ‘day trip’ thing.
On another note we’re loving the ‘half board’ thing. It works so well to stay within the hotel after a big day skiing.
@Alastair Pink,
You’re a wealth of knowledge. Thanks!
I’ll let you know how I get on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Another really enjoying the trip report. I'm another Aussies who's done the Arabba / Portovescovo half board thing (although I stayed down the road at Bella Vista). It really is great to not have to employ any brain cells after a day of skiing about what to do for dinner 
Also hope you're feeling okay after your crash. Hey, we've all done something a bit stupid on slopes at one time or another.
I'd definitely consider a new helmet. I remember from my horseriding days that it was always drummed into us after a big fall to replace the helmet, even if there wasn't visible damage as it has 'done it's job' and absorbed the impact.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
@sbooker, Hope your trip to Cinque Torri and the Hidden Valley went well (assuming you went there today  )
How much longer have you got in Arabba? I don't know if it's on your plans, but many snowHeads on the Birthday Bash like to fit in a trip to Santa Croce/Heiligenkreuz/La Crusc. It's a nice ski trip and the rifugio by the side of the church at the top of the top chairlift nestled at the foot of the Sasso Santa Croce mountain makes for a very scenic lunch stop. There's some lovely tree lined skiing down from the rifugio afterwards. From Corvara you need to ski to La Villa then follow the signs for "La Crusc" (the ladin name for Santa Croce) https://www.lacrusc.com/?lang=en
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@sbooker, i think we're in tge same restaurant (cantineta?) In Canazei. One of you blonde with a big bobble hat.
Anyway, 8 aussies having dinner across the room. (I'm wearing cuecked shirt).
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
@Alastair Pink,
Mission successful. We got an early start and despite intermittent cloudy and light snow conditions we were awed by the beauty of the place. We loved the virtually empty pistes too. I am curious to know if that area receives more snow than the main area as it appeared there was more off the pistes.
I would argue the Cinque Torri general area is almost as pretty as the Hidden Valley itself. Some parts reminded me of the National Parks in Utah USA - like Canyonlands with snow.
After we caught the horse tow which my daughter loved we headed to the Gran Risa run down to La Villa and lapped that a few times before a latish lunch. The afternoon was spent cruising the blues in Alta Badia before we just got the last lift over to Arabba. We stopped at Plan Boe hut so my wife could get in her regular afternoon cuppa (very British?). The place was jumping and we ran into some other Aussies. We swapped war stories for a while. The fellow’s wife had a crash today and snapped both skis. 
Just in the bar with an Erdinger refreshment while catching up with a bit of business.
A few photos.
https://i.imgur.com/c7B8M7h.jpg
Kylie on a busy slope.
https://i.imgur.com/ROQ6nLA.jpg
Tom on the Gran Risa.
https://i.imgur.com/ydfVQBe.jpg
Emily loved the horse tow.
https://i.imgur.com/aBWYJ6z.jpg
Obligatory frozen waterfall shot.
https://i.imgur.com/TYNlPRp.jpg
Views and snow were great.
https://i.imgur.com/Llq8fs7.jpg
You’ve seen this but it’s special.
https://i.imgur.com/cAyv9wj.jpg
Cinque Torri.
We ski here tomorrow and move on to Innsbruck the next day. We haven’t spent much time in the western side of the big rock so may explore there tomorrow. I like the idea of the tour around Val Di Fassa.
I ran into Ian (Toyah807) from Snowheads this morning. I hope his day to the Marmolada glacier went well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| marodo2712 wrote: |
@sbooker, i think we're in tge same restaurant (cantineta?) In Canazei. One of you blonde with a big bobble hat.
Anyway, 8 aussies having dinner across the room. (I'm wearing cuecked shirt). |
That’s not me but Toyah807 picked me by my accent only morning while kiting up outside the ski room.
No blonde in my crew. I’m short and dark hair and my wife is has part Fijian heritage but we make very good looking kids.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| Quote: |
No blonde in my crew. I’m short and dark hair and my wife is has part Fijian heritage but we make very good looking kids.
|
Anyway, there are eight Aussies in Canazei!
Have fun!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Loved the photos and the story. I think you can probably call yourself a true Snowhead now you've done the Hidden Valley.
Val de Fassa and the Ski Panorama route is epic and I'm sure you ll have fun it you do it tomorrow. The bar/restaurant at the top of the red/black above Pozza do Fassa is lovely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
If you're in Marmalada for lunch tomorrow and you shout 'Snowhead where are you!' I'll buy you a beer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
@marodo2712,
Hi. I probably won’t be over that direction today. Thanks for the offer anyway. 
@Alastair Pink,
Fortunately all chairs were open so no bus required. The kids have sampled the hot chocolates. As previously mentioned Kylie is an avid tea drinker and I love a coffee. I have tried some of the kids though. Certainly rich!@cameronphillips2000,
I’ll report back on the day at Val Di Fassa later this evening.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
I am quite partial to the hot chocolate myself. Especially with a shot of rum added
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@JohnHSmith,
I've moved from rum to brandy in mine, great either way
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
| DrLawn wrote: |
@JohnHSmith,
I've moved from rum to brandy in mine, great either way |
Damn. This means I will have to go back again and try it with brandy.
The things I am forced to do in the interests of research !
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@DrLawn, @JohnHSmith,
I arrive in Arabba with our local Rutherglen Muscat to add to the chocolate. Sublime, just like the skiing, vistas, culture and Snowheads friendship.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
