We managed Alpe di Siusi from Arabba, via Saslong, Ortisei and that long run down. Long day out, and clocked up the piste km. And had time to loop Portovescovo blacks twice at the end of the day.
It's certainly ambitious, but not impossible.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Cool, will see how well I'm skiing and probably have a rehearsal just to Ortisei or the sector the other side of the funny train thing from the bottom of Sasslong to get an idea of timings.
OH likes racking up the miles as a bit of time pressure makes me (wo)man up and ski properly with Ss rather than Zs. Selva got horribly neglected last time in favour of Hidden Valley, Marmolada, the Fassa Panorama x 2 - the second one was very snowy and we hadn't realised how robust they are with the links, a first day bimble around the Orange Sella to get bearings (never did bother with the Green other than a couple of sections as travel options) and a little play around Danteciepes followed by an unplanned continution around the Orange in powdery falling snow.
Basically it's all amazing, but life is a lot easier if cut up reds and blacks aren't terrifying - saw plenty of people contemplating some of the reds (Boe/Vallon ish) and looking unimpressed - and this was before the Graveyard down from Portavescovo. Half wish we'd discovered the Dolomites earlier but they would have been wasted on me until after the Courchevel week where Combe de Saulire in flat light every evening taught me to deal with end of day bumps...
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?
andy wrote:
Quote:
The maps are a little unwieldy
If you're based in Arabba or Selva or Val di Fassa, then I recommend grabbing a Badia local map when you go in to the Corvara/San Cassiano/La Villa sector. That mass of mostly blue runs is almost impossible to decipher from the full Sella Ronda map. And sometimes following the signs at piste junctions can be confusing when it points both ways to the same place (esp. Corvara).
I would also suggest heading to corvara and try to get upto the San cassiano sector before you need to do it in earnest. Getting from one side of the village in corvara to'take the other bubble' is a little unobvious the first time you do it.
The top tip is on exiting the col alt bubble, ski down the first pitch and once it opens up, turn left ski across to the first lift you see - that's the one that'll take you I'm the right direction. Going straight on or turning right, puts you in an 'infinite loop' and you end up lapping col alt all the time
@Arteta10, Selva is probably the only option if you want lively apres, but not quite on an Austrian scale, though Piz Seteur and its twice-a-week dancing girls are an interesting Italian take on it!! Canazei has a few lively spots too. Arabba is quiet but the best base to avoid crowds and access challenging skiing.
The edelweiss above colfosco was good fun last year. Stop come 16:30 have a few cheekys do some dancing on tables to your fave Austrian après (Anton aus Tirol was remarkably popular deposit the geography) and then ski down in the dark with the odd spotlight from a snow cannon to kind of show the way
Great fun - especially if your hotel is just off the side of the 'home run'
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Another great but quite long day from Selva is to ski to the Santa Croce chapel and back via Corvara, la Vila and Badia. It's a magical place. Anyone know if the long run blue down to La Vila - 24 - is open though?
Another great but quite long day from Selva is to ski to the Santa Croce chapel and back via Corvara, la Vila and Badia. It's a magical place. Anyone know if the long run blue down to La Vila - 24 - is open though?
Who cares it's the most annoying 'piste' in the Dolomites, why you would ever take a route that needs poling when you have the option of a fabulous red or the gran risa, I have no idea. Ok so the top might be a bit intimidating, but there's the alternative entry option round the back of the Beemer more or less opposite st. Moritz
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
In preference to Santa Croce, I would head off to Laguzoi but take a right turn and explore Cinque Torre. Lots of runs and really pretty.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Yes, the blue run to La Villa is open now. We did it yesterday. However, la Villa appears to be the only place without snow.
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@erica2004, is right. It is by no means obvious, but if you keep hard right off the top of Laguzoi, there is a pleasant run down which drops you by the road. Cross the road and head for the chair - you can ski this. Up the chair and keep hard right again. You are looking for a track before the bottom lift station on your right. This delivers you to the bottom of the Cinque Torri area, which is magical. Lovely restaurant there too with a memorable venison ragout (well, I have just remembered it!)
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
bertie bassett wrote:
The edelweiss above colfosco was good fun last year. Stop come 16:30 have a few cheekys do some dancing on tables to your fave Austrian après (Anton aus Tirol was remarkably popular deposit the geography) ...
"deposit"? - I trust you're not implying it's crap?
I presume you meant to say "despite the geography", but actually geography wise it's still Süd-Tirol!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
" why you would ever take a route that needs poling when you have the option of a fabulous red or the gran risa, I have no idea. Ok so the top might be a bit intimidating, but there's the alternative entry option round the back of the Beemer more or less opposite st. Moritz"
You have, Bertie, answered your own question. Some of the group I'll be with in a few days time, when I'm hoping to lead this route, are inexperienced. Good to know re the alternative entry option to the red though.
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.
FYI - There's a route planner on the dolomiti superski website that will tell you all of the runs/lifts you need to take to get anywhere, it's awesome. They may even have done an app for it now - I haven't looked recently as we're (very sadly) not going to Dollies this year after the Esprit fail so off to La Plagne at 1/2 term but already looking into independent options for next season - young sprogs requiring childcare makes independent trips tricky though.
Anyway, massive +1 for Rifugio Comici - it is probably the best mountain restaurant anywhere - it is NOT cheap though! We always book for a late lunch on our last day as a treat - have a good morning on the slopes, then a huge blow out lunch there and wobbly ski back down to Selva - watch out for the Grappa petrol pump - very dangerous! (and when the previous poster says the bogs are bling, you have no idea - they are the blingiest bogs i've ever seen, let alone up a mountain!)
Another outstanding mountain restaurant which is great value is Rifugio Friedrich August. It is at the bottom of a little drag lift, a bit off the beaten track right up at the top between Plan de Gralba and Canazei, it is difficult to find but well worth it. Get there early (c.Midday) to avoid queueing too long for seats - especially if there's more than 2 of you.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
There's a route planner on the dolomiti superski website that will tell you all of the runs/lifts you need to take to get anywhere, it's awesome. They may even have done an app for it now
there's been an app for a few years (at least 2, maybe 3), but some of the routes it comes up with are a little bit on the buggy side. the predefined ones for Sella Ronda both ways and WW1 route are iirc mostly OK, but there were certain combination of getting from A to B that gave very peculiar route suggestions.
Regardless of the accuracy of ski-beep, all of the lifts and most of the runs are also marked on Google maps - if you're going to enable data anyway, use that too - not great for planning necessarily, but the best way to find out where you are...
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
There are 1-2 missing lifts on google maps, but they have made updates since they started adding them in. Dantercepies has been corrected (not that it really affects anything), but new lift in Arabba is still missing. I think one critical lift in San Cassiano was missing, but is there now.
There's wifi at plenty of lifts of you don't want to use data.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Wifi at the lifts? How decadent! My data plan is from US, and using it in Europe costs a fortune, so I would MUCH rather connect to WiFi whenever possible .
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@alenchic, When are you and your friends off to Selva? I hope you managed to sort out transfers from Venice - did you ultimately decide to arrange a taxi transfer?
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?
@Alastair Pink, we are going to be there this Saturday . And yes, we decided to get a taxi transfer, it just seemed a LOT easier than the alternatives, especially as we are getting to Venice in the latish afternoon.
Yes, the blue run to La Villa is open now. We did it yesterday. However, la Villa appears to be the only place without snow.
Thanks
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@alenchic, Enjoy Selva (and its surroundings)! Oh and if any of you fancy some traditional(!) alpine apres ski in Selva the best place is probably the Luiskeller, which is on the main street on the bend in the road just by the right hand side of the Hotel Corona/Krone.
@Alastair Pink, thank you for the recommendation! We will make sure to stop by the Luiskeller, as we likes all kinds of apres ski . Not entirely sure what traditional stands for in South Tirol...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
jma wrote:
Regardless of the accuracy of ski-beep, all of the lifts and most of the runs are also marked on Google maps - if you're going to enable data anyway, use that too - not great for planning necessarily, but the best way to find out where you are...
Who needs google maps if you've got an andy andy or a geepee geepee
After all it is free
After all it is free
alenchic wrote:
@Alastair Pink, thank you for the recommendation! We will make sure to stop by the Luiskeller, as we likes all kinds of apres ski . Not entirely sure what traditional stands for in South Tirol...
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The nightlife and après in selva was full of Germans. Someone worked out that all the Brits did was sit in their hotels whereas the Germans went to the pubs and got smashed. They responded to this by playing German europop.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
madlondoner wrote:
The nightlife and après in selva was full of Germans. Someone worked out that all the Brits did was sit in their hotels whereas the Germans went to the pubs and got smashed. They responded to this by playing German europop.
And very enjoyable it is too. Culturally the area feels to me though much more adjacent to the Austria it was a part of till 1919 and where europop/ Ballerman apres ski predominates, than to Italy, where it doesn't.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I never went in the luiskeller but went in some place up the hill and past be chairlift where they played German europop and some live band. It was ok but I wasn't drunk enough. I don't think selva après compares well with Austrian après but the skiing and scenery is better.
What I found weird about Selva was it seemed a really old resort. Maybe it was just the week I went but when I went in every bar I would usually be the youngest jn there by ten years and I was 29 at the time.
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.
@madlondoner, agree that it's not a patch on say Saalbach, Ischgl, and Soelden but it's better than some others in Austria. Loads better though than Cervinia, Courmayeur and other 'Italian' resorts I've visited - although I've never been to Sauze d'Oux
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
After experiencing St Anton I am resigned to the fact that no resort that I could subsequently visit would compare in the apres department. But I am still expecting charm and perhaps some liveliness in Selva, traditional or not.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Wow! What an amazing ski area. Just thought I'd report back on our week in Selva.
The weather was great: very cold (about -11 deg C most of the time) and clear all week (no snow, sadly) until Friday morning when it snowed so much we could hardly see 5 meters in front of us. We managed to get a lot of skiing done in Selva over our first 3 days: we spent a lot of our time around Dantercepies, Passo Sella, Plan de Gralba and the bar at Rifugio Emilio Comici . The red runs into Selva from the Campinoi cable car were good fun, and we even gave the Saslong World Cup run a go before heading up to the Seceda area to do La Longia down to Ortisei.
On Wednesday we skied around Corvara before heading to the Hidden Valley. The scenery was amazing, the run was good fun, and being pulled along by a horse drawn sleigh was an experience. Corvara was also beautiful if a little confusing and flat in places. We ended up going around in circles down the mountain and up the same chairlift while following signs for another chairlift we were trying to get to on our way to Armentarola, despite having a Val Badia map!
We did the clockwise Sella Ronda on Thursday even though the queues we faced getting into Corvara the previous day almost put us off doing the Sella Ronda at all. Surprisingly it was very quiet on Thursday - I don't know what changed. Out of all the slopes on the clockwise Sella Ronda I thought the red runs into and out of Arabba were the most fun. We took your advice and decided to leave the Marmolada glacier for another holiday. We were into Arabba by 1030 so we might have had time to do it, but I didn't know how long it would take us to get back to Selva. It turns out it didn't take us very long. With a few intentional diversions we were sat down for lunch at Piz Seteur in Plan de Gralba by 1pm. Piz Seteur is a strange place. When we went in it seemed a very respectable establishment. The restaurant upstairs was very nice and the food was excellent. When we came out there were huge crowds and "Go Go Girls" dancing on tables in bikinis! Ha!
Unfortunately we never made it all the way around the anticlockwise Sella Ronda. We got as far as Canazei on Friday but we had to turn back because the weather was too bad and they were starting to close some of the lifts. We weren't fans of the flat poley bit between Plan de Gralba and Passo Sella. I can't believe that's on the main circuit.
Generally, we thought Selva was great. It seems most people there are a little older. I'd say the average age of people you see out and about is 40-45, which we were a little surprised at (we're in our late 20s). The food and drink was good and not too expensive. Last year we were paying EUR 10 for half a litre of beer on the slopes in Val Thorens. This year we were paying EUR 3 for a glass of prosecco or about EUR 5 for an Aperol Spritz. Much better! The mix of Austrian and Italian influence was interesting (“Danke, ciao!”). All the bars were playing German Europop, and almost every song seemed to have some specific dance that everyone but us knew. Our favourite was an Oktoberfest song about schwimming:
@nijm, glad you had a good time. Having clear sunny cold weather is probably the best option with all that amazing scenery to take in.
It sounds like you are quick learners...judging by those timings, you likely could have done the Marmolada and got back to Selva, though there is the unknown of how long the queue for the cablecar is. You did the most interesting excursion in the Hidden Valley...and there's always next time!!
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?
@nijm, Great trip report - more people falling under the spell of the Dolomites! Perhaps was a bit too cautious with my advice earlier, but I've no doubt you'll be back and the Marmolada will still be there. Do try the Cinque Torri next time if you do the Hidden Valley, well worth it.
We'll have to shut up about the Dolomites soon in case they become too popular.
We've been converted this year, I have to say the whole area is stunning, cannot believe I waited 20 years before coming...
Question - can we comfortably get to Ortisei and back and have some ski time/lunch from Corvara on a snowy day - i.e. tomorrow??
Also I can see somewhere called Seiser Alm (forgive my lack of Dolomite knowledge!) on the map close to Ortisei, could that be reached on the same day, it looks extensive?
All advice welcome..
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
we;ve done Ortisei several times from Arabba. so yes. but that wasn't a snowy day.
Have also done Arabba-Ortisei-Seiseralm-Arabba in a day, but it was flat out all day, and lunch timed to be in the gap waiting for the Saltria-Monte Pana bus that winds thru the forest. It's all mostly blue up there, but yet another variation of scenery.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@andy, thanks
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Hi,
We are going to Val Gardena for 4 days in mid-March. This is my fourth time in Dolomites, first time staying in Val Gardena. I read the threads, I wanted to confirm the good restaurants as we are a group of 6 and I suspect things will get pretty booked up.
So far we booked Cianel and Sun Valley Stübele, and are looking for a good traditional restaurant. There are a number of hut recommended restaurants, it's clear to book for lunch but not sure how many of them are accessible for dinner? We are staying at Pension Daniel, we do have a car but in the evening want to resort to walking and taxi and not driving on frosty mountain roads.
Thanks
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
The Hotel Armin (on the main road) has a separate restaurant for non-residents. Food is very good - bit dearer than others may be..
FAQ
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