Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

Dolomiti Superski off piste and piste rating

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
hi all i got offered a job in Dolomiti Superski area but have not skied there before. just wanted a review of the terrain.

Im a confident skier and would focus on free ride (cliffs) etc is this ski area suitable?

Tar

Jon
latest report
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
scope out your cliffs carefully before hucking your meat

http://www.snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=97141

looks great to me if you know how to handle yourself off piste. worth checking local regs on that subject though. you do occasionally hear about off piste bans in Italy but I don't know what they really mean in practice
ski holidays
 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?
jonckemp, As Arno suggests, if you like your off piste to be Epic, then the Dolomiti Superski area is Epic. People normally seem to like the pistes too, but I'm not really into that kind of thing. Get hold of a copy of Francesco Tremolada's book, "Freeride in Dolomiti" (He's the guide mentioned in the linked TR, and was our guide a couple of weeks later) It used to be hard to find, but I think it's back in print again now; best book I own. Very Happy
snow conditions
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
In general the pistes are on the easy side - lots of very scenic cruising. However there is lots of tough off pistes through the cliff bands, but it is not obvious - you really need a guide to find it. There is a guide book to the off piste with text in English and Italian (FREERIDE IN DOLOMITI
100 itineraries, by Francesco Tremolada) but the book is too big to take skiing and Italian maps only mark 25m contours, not 10m.
There are signs in a couple of places saying No Off piste skiing, but nobody seems to know their status (I asked a question on here and even the Italians were unable to give a proper answer). It seems like it is mostly so they are not liable if you get in trouble - so just be a bit discreet in those areas and you should be OK.
If you need a guide try Francesco Tremolada himself ( info@proguide.it )
See the TR on one of our Dolomites holidays by Horizon: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/50606-TR-Dolomites-17-25-March?highlight=Dolomites

Edit: Oops, I see the book and Francesco have already been recommended! I took a break to find the book.
snow report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
which one would you go to ?
alta badia vs 3valleys la plagne verbier.

for freeride
snow conditions
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
snowball, it's always worth recommending again!

jonckemp, I'd go for Alta Badia. I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for easy-to-find lines off the side of the piste though. You need to know where you're going (and what you're doing....)
snow report
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
jonckemp, where would you be based? Were you offered the other 3 places? Verbier would be very tempting - perhaps you could find more steep off piste there without a guide. La Plagne is even flatter than the piste skiing at the Dolomites but the back (North face) of Bellcote has a wonderful array of extremely steep off piste routes, plus the back of the Aiguille Rouge at the linked Les Arcs is also very steep (largely 45º or more) and Les Arcs also has steeper pistes. Since the latter is a National Park I think you have to take a guide - as I imagine you would want to? It all depends if you want easy navigation to the steeps or if you would take a guide (there are also more guides available in the other 3 places than the Dolomites - though like everything else they are more expensive at Verbier. However there are also fewer other off piste skiers in Italy.
snow report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
jonckemp,
The Italian approach to enforcing their "no off-piste skiing" rule is very Italian but - from what I can make out, having fallen foul of the local caribinieri last season - kinda makes sense.

If there is a tasty off-piste slope with a piste or lift at the bottom of it and you ski/ride the off-piste slope - you'll get fined. Particularly if, before you start your ride, the nearby lifties office is shouting at you by loudhailer to desist....but you can't understand cos it's in Italian and anyway penetrating one's stoke is hard enough at the best of times. You should assume the police will be awaiting you at the bottom and you will be required to hand over E30 after much official form filling. Sounds fair enough to me.

However, if you are far and away (and only you will be able to judge that distance) from any piste or lift so that no one but you and your mates will be endangered if your tasty slope slides, you're probably going to be fine if not exactly 100 per cent legal. A humble and respectful response which will not impinge on an Italian policeman's macho mojo will probably go a long way to avoiding any serious bother in this scenario.

I don't have huge experience of the Dolomites like Snowball but in three visits, I've yet to see a blue uniform anywhere off piste.

As mentioned previously, Francesco or his book is your go to man/reading. It's a heavy tome but great reading during the summer. He's also a lovely bloke.

Enjoy the season. Am very envious.
ski holidays
 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.
Big Paua wrote:


I don't have huge experience of the Dolomites like Snowball but in three visits, I've yet to see a blue uniform anywhere off piste.

Yes, I agree. And very little of the Dolomites off piste is above a piste (actually I can't think of any I've skied) - it is mostly quite far away from any piste.
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I have actually been stopped by the police going off-piste in Dolomites. Not a pleasent experience and very lucky not to get a fine.
snow report
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Woosh, where was that? I think you have to be a bit discrete near a lift.
snow conditions
 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.
At the Monte Cristallo area in Cortina. Approching a line from the top and was stopped by men in uniform..
snow conditions
 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
Woosh, do you mean on the back? I thought the front was all a piste under the top lift.
Several well skied epic off piste routes off the back I gather, though I've only done one of them- only having skied there for a day visit (twice) from the Sella Ronda. We were with a guide as were some, but far from all of those setting out. Since the (steep) piste was closed because it was icy, we were specifically allowed on the lift to ski the off piste - so I cannot see how it could be forbidden. Or perhaps having a guide makes the difference?
ski holidays
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I've skied the Dolomitis out of Arabba for most of the past 35 years. Basically, we ski where we want to but I don't do cliffs. Runs off the Pordoi gondola except back down the tram lie have no piste and you are on your own.The Dolomitis have wonderful weather and more than enough snow but you won't find as much new snow as they get in the French Alps. Despite that, I prefer the ambiance of Italy better than that of France. Have fun, frankef
latest report



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy