Dolomites 2019/2020

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

We really struggled with the piste numbers/names last week. We are generally (well myself) pretty competent at navigating but we did struggle a few times around the Sella Ronda (well not the loop, that's really easy, but you know what I mean).

The fold-able lift maps were not that useful. Perhaps because there is so much information they try and get on there, it actually takes away some of the detail. Like we were left confused sometime which way a run goes downhill.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Strange piste conditions today - warm temps meant skiing was sticky around midday. We are wondering whether the lifts will open tomorrow. Bergfex predicting force 9 winds in Gröden!

You'll need to Register first of course.

[quote="sheffskibod"]

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

Good first day in the Dolomites. Sunny morning and a bit of cloud in the afternoon. Everything open and not busy.
Made our annual pilgrimage to Refugio Santa Croche for lunch via the new Gondola.
Pistes are excellent as always. Slightly heavy this afternoon in the warm temperatures. Up to 12.6c at Canazei today but that was counteracted to some degree by the dry air down to 50% humidity. Plenty of snow cover.
The forecast tomorrow is for strong winds which will probably mean we stay around Alta Badia. Hopefully it will remain largely dry and bright with give good visibility again. A noticeable drop in temperatures after lunch will mean faster skiing surfaces tomorrow.
A dusting of snow forecast Wednesday and still very windy.
Great to be back in the Dollies. snowHead

After all it is free

@Peter S, doubt if many lifts will be open tomorrow because of the wind - gale force 9 in Val Gardena/ Gröden

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@sheffskibod, @Fridge03, @maquibr,

I agree with your comments about poor piste maps and inconsistent signage on the mountains.

A couple of weeks ago we were having a good rant about this. When so much has been invested, with great success, in infrastructure, can’t understand why something important and relatively inexpensive is so neglected.

For relative beginners, not so used to navigating around mountains, it must be very frustrating.

Maybe feedback about this to local tourism offices might prompt an improvement?
Puzzled

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@richb67, yes the conditions today were challenging. Higher temperatures, softish chopped up snow, quite busy bottlenecks and crowds in general.

I was told, and it seemed plausible, that all primary schools in the area had 1 day off today. Certainly saw lots of families with younger children.

Nevertheless we made our way clockwise to Selva then up to Secada? and eventually Ortisei. Just above there was an annual tobogganing race, which was interesting.

With late lunch finishing there at 14.00, we had to crack on though heavy snow and crowds to get back to Arabba just in time to squeeze in the Fodom black. Then we were last across on the Arabba Fly.

A memorable day certainly, with a wide variety of lift and piste types experienced.
snowHead

snow reports

Forecast was for a couple of centimetres today. We've Already had more than that at village level in Selva. Off to Kronplatz for the day. If we make it.

ok, it’s a snow conditions forum so the good news is that it’s currently cold and snowing in Madonna and expected to have low temps for at least the next week. My instructor expects conditions to get better and better as the week goes on and the pisteurs do their magic. The snow seems to be just showers so isn’t sticking in the town. Anyone arriving this weekend will hopefully have good conditions.

That’s especially good because today was very challenging on most slopes. The exceptions being those not that exposed and high enough to have a dusting of snow. After yesterday’s very warm day it was raining at 7:30 this morning before the temperature dropped and it was below freezing with occasional snow showers all day and very windy. So most pistes were patchy at best and some were just packed ice. Lifts for Spinale, half of Pinzolo and the top of Groste were closed all day. When we braved the top lifts there was a steady stream of snow boarders trudging up hill to get the gondolas back down. We were getting a hot chocolate at 4pm when someone official looking went to every table to explain that Pradalago gondola was about to close so they either got that down immediately or had to ski down. It was very quiet on the way down !

Thinking of going to Passo Tonale tomorrow (weds) is anyone there? Some in resort updates would be helpful.

Ps generally pretty quiet but lift closures have meant short waits for key lifts (<5mins)

You know it makes sense.

@richb67, patchy as in bare patches, or patchy as in icy patches?

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

A snowHead

At the Birthday Bash right now. The strong wind blew all the snow away from the pistes, so today we were all skiing on ice/icy corduroy on all pistes and in all sectors, thus slaughtering our edges. Basically we were skating Cool

A snowHead

A bit firm today and wind polished! A day for sharp edges. We had a dusting of snow this morning but that was getting blown off. Sub zero at Canazei from about 1pm. Visibility was good again in the sun at la Villa and once again we could see the bad weather to our north along the Alpine ridge. Higher lifts such as the Grand Risa were closed today by strong gusts which meant getting the bus back from la villa. Forecast is for another dusting tomorrow and at least as windy so probably confined to Corvara and Colfosco. Thursday through Saturday look much better for weather.
Thanks for the recommendation about the pine ravioli at Refugio Lee snowHead

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

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Alta Badia has ski busses within each of the villages (Corvara/Colfosco/La Villa/San Cassiano) but they only serve the villages themselves. To travel between the villages you catch the local hourly bus.

You'll need to Register first of course.

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

Some flakes this morning in Val Gardena. Seems to be sticking, too. I can never quite read the precipitation forecast here https://www.valgardena.it/en/weather/precipitation-forecast/, I don't quite understand how the two X axes mesh, but it seems to indicate a total of 30 cm in the next 24 hours. Of course that could apply only to the higher altitudes.

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@sheffskibod, Good one -- nice links Smile

snow reports

There was plenty more than 1cm yesterday and more than that this morning again.

Very much needed, the pistes are a shadow of their former early January magnificence.

Once this fierce wind disappears, they'll have the snow cannons going full bifter. The sun will return, the prosecco will flow and all will be well again in the Dolomites.

@sheffskibod Spendid, good man! What im thinking about buses is - can i get a bus from Selva to La Villa or better still the bottom of the Sponata lift to get to Kronplatz. I made it last week, it took me about 1.5 hours to get to the bus at Sponata from Selva, another 45 mins to get to the top of Kronplatz. Corvara to La Villa on skis took about half an hour, if I could do that by bus then id save time. Bus from Corvara to Piculin would be sweet!!
Interesting stuff eh? Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

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

Ok dunno if this is useful:
For Hidden Valley: Line 465 Corvara to Falzarego Pass, 45 mins every hour - whether this saves time depends on what the queues are like in Armentarolla
For Kronplatz: Line 460 Corvara to St. Lorenzo 60 mins every half hour, then skibus to Kronplatz gondola - might save an hour
Also maybe interesting, Line 471 Selva to Canazei AND Passo Pordoi, Line 472 Corvara to PP via Arabba
Still weird that there appears to be no "proper" skibus ie laid on by the ski regions and not local public transport...

A snowHead

Lifts in Madonna closed all day due to winds, same for Pinzolo with a few open in Marilleva/Folgarida. This evening snow cannons are on but the pistes looked barren as we drove past Wind is due to drop overnight but they said that yesterday as well.

After much umming and ahhing mid morning we decided to go to Passo Tonale, arrived ca 11:30 to find little wind and what looked to be a few inches of fresh snow also snow cannons running. The resort was fairly quiet with top of glacier closed. First pistes were lovely but around mid afternoon wind got up to fairly dramatic levels so lifts were stop start, within about 30 mins lifts were closing and pistes were hard packed ice. We left ca 3:45 but had a really nice few hours with mainly decent pistes and blue skies. Very few skiers were coming down the black from the glacier so we didn't even go for a look expecting it to be tricky conditions.

Drive from a Madonna to Tonale beautiful, took about an hour and there is a free car park at the Valbiolo lift.

A snowHead

How is Madonna skiing at mo?

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

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Bit grim up at Seiseralm today. As with Madonna, the pistes have been scraped by the fierce winds. Lots of exposed hardpack, the cold (-10 plus windchill) and very strong gusts made skiing challenging at times. Still good fun though and the conditions made the bombardino stops all the more worthwhile!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@jimmybog, ok cheers i missed that...

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

Conditions much more friendly today- pistes back to normal.
Some areas are strangely crowded. We gave up trying to get to Secceda from St Ulrich as the cable car queues were huge.

After all it is free

Madonna also much better today though all blacks in a Madonna itself closed first thing with only a couple opened at all. They all had snow making this morning and the piste bashers were out on some mid afternoon. Get the right piste at the right time of day and it was lovely but in some areas the base came through quite early. Had a lovely run down piste 10 at lunch time just the right size of bumps for my ability but think it would be challenging at the end of the day. There was none of that real clear surface ice we had earlier in the week just a white base, not sure of correct terminology!

The right pistes in the morning were on the cinque laghi / Pradalago/ Patacoss side as they get the early sun and later in the day over on Groste. The short stretch from Spinale down to Groste was bad all day and when we finished at 4ish I stopped at a brow to check conditions and counted 5 unrelated accidents on the 20m long steep section below me.

Piste were still being bashed at 8:00 am evidently they waited for the wind to die down so didn’t start until late at night. Been around freezing all day and is cold now so conditions expected to be decent tomorrow.

Queues generally non existent but at 3:00 pm everyone from Marilleva decided to go back at the same time and the queue for Fortini was ridiculous. For anyone who knows the area the bridge between Fortini and Groste was gridlocked as the queue/crowd went right over it. An hour later you could jump straight on.

Non snow related but evidently this summer they plan replace the 4 seater Fortini chair lift with a gondola. The base station will move to next to Groste base so the bridge over the road will effectively be one way towards both gondolas.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

First of all anyone visiting Madonna should now about this useful site which gives live status of lifts and pistes, was very useful this week.
https://ski2.intermaps.com/v2/skimap_touch.asp?id=4359&lang=en

Our last day in Madonna as we drive over to Corvara tomorrow.

Beautiful sunny day, lifts very quiet, there was only one we had to queue for all day and that was about 2 mins!

Conditions where sun can reach were good today but shaded or very steep areas were still recovering from the wind earlier in the week. The bottom half of the Spinale black was closed this afternoon but Amazonia (on the south facing side) looked ok from the gondola and people seemed to be managing ok as we went over.

Patacoss side had sun all day and conditions were lovely when we came back from Pinzolo ca 2:30.

Pinzolo was a bit icey up top at first but that thawed a bit. Further down conditions good.

Two days ago Groste was closed and we were told it was an ice field yesterday. Popped up for last run today and it was lovely, nice snow hanging around on piste, amazing piste management. Lower down was a bit icey but it was as lifts were closing so understandable.

Help!!

Dolomites 2019/2020

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Snow Reports - weather - snow conditions