I am looking for a little advice - there are six of us looking at Arraba on the 18th January. We are mixed ability and mixed confidence group! Two of the group in particular can ski fine but get a bit wobbly and loose confidence easily. Will Arraba be ok for them? I am trying for a resort that does not cost the earth, that is pretty, that has a couple of bars (though nice bar in the hotel is more importand so we can relax in the evening with a beer or two and a game of cards!), and that will be ok for mixed abilities / confidence. Four of us are really looking forward to doing the sella ronda but I do not want the other two to be left with nothing to ski. Any thoughts appreciated.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Price I have been quoted with everything in is £600 for Arraba
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?
Arabba and the Sella Ronda are not the most challenging. Head over towards Corvara/San Cassiano, and it's mostly very easy blue runs.
The only doubt I would have is that skiing back down into Arabba is a steepish red if you are coming from the Corvara direction. There are people whose confidence is badly affected by the colour code of a run even though they are very variable. The place itself is pretty quiet. As andy, said, if you go more towards San Cassiano way it is truly blue heaven. (Though not so well placed for an easy circuit of the Sella Ronda.)
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The Sella Ronda generally is very good for confidence-building. Selva or Corvara might be better bases if you want more blue slopes. Arabba is possibly the most challenging part of the Sella Ronda, so if doing a circuit go through Arabba in the morning and even your less confident skiers will have few problems.
Chris Bish, there's a way round the steeper narrower bit. Only found it by accident, when that piste was closed.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I remember being on a first-day ski-guiding trip with Neilson's on that slope. An Irish guy got down by skiing flat out traverses and crashing into the snow banks at the side of the piste, picking himself up, reassembling the gear and repeat all the way down. He ended up on one ski as he broke one in the process. Turned out he had never been on skis before!
Where is the alternative? I only know the two reds. (One of which is often icy.)
After all it is free
After all it is free
Lovely area. If you want a bit more challenge than the cruisy generality of the Sella Ronda it is in this area.
This is part of Arabba's own skiing (taken from a nearby part of the Sella Ronda) with a bit of Arabba village at the bottom. The Marmolada, the highest peak in the area, is just beyond this.
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.
thanks for all the replies - is it possible to get back down to arraba without hitting the red? For example using a Gondola?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
No. The slope we are talking about is chair-served so you would have to ski it. Getting out of Arabba the other way (towards Belvedere and Canazei) also involves a pretty steep slope as you come off the gondola. If, as is suspected, your less confident couple are red-phobic then Arabba is not the best location for you.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I think it is now possible to use the chair lift on the Marmolada side of the town to Porta Dos. Then ski across to a new lift (not on piste) maps which will take you to Pont de Vauz. From there you can get the chair to Passo Prodoi. That would result in a long blue run back down into Arabba. Sounds complicated on paper, but on the ground it's not and would give your timid skiers time to build their confidence.
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.
If they;re really red-phobic, then choose Corvara or San Cassiano. Either will do, and both access the same area of blue heaven, But Corvara is directly on the Sella Ronda loop.
If they're merely bump/narrow dislikers, and they're happy to "just get down" a slightly steeper bit then pretty much anywhere on the Sella Ronda is fine. We've had near n00bs doing those 2-3 short tricky sections.
Chris Bish, maybe we're talking about 2 slightly different sections, but both are on way back from Corvara to Arabba. From top of Boe gondola out of Corvara, instead of straight on which takes you down a steep narrow bit with a hairpin, go left as if you're going back to Corvara but only a short way... then there's a flat path on the right. Comes out below the steep narrow bit. From top of Campolongo chair (ie last one before Arabba), I think the Right hand choice is usually better.
The steep on the side heading from Arabba to Canazei, is usually not a big issue first thing in the morning, which is when you'd ski it. I haven't sussed out if the old 2 man and new chair let you skip that bit. I think it might?
On the whole, in general, I think Sella Ronda is not challenging at all. It's just there are a few short sections here and there that are a bit steeper and bumpier, which are on the route you have to travel to get about.
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
andy, I can see a blue down from the Burz lift, but only the 2 steep reds from Bec de Roces: Arabba piste map image (though I don't know how old that map is).
I agree with Chris Bish, Arabba is in a steep-sided valley and you don't want to put your buddies off completely! The red from Porta Vescovo down to Pont de Vauz gets particularly choppy and littered with bodies in the afternoon, as it is the only way to complete the Sella Ronda orange and it one of the trickiest/steepest pistes on the circuit.
San Cassiano has a very nice gentle blue back to the village that stays in good condition all day. The gondola back down is another option, as it is for La Villa or Corvara. There are many more gentle blues in this area that won't scare anybody, whilst also offering fairly quick access to tougher terrain. I would be inclined to reconsider your location.
[edit] cross posts. The above essay may no longer be relevant
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
andy, yes if you take that long old 2 man chair then the new chair instead of the cable car you can indeed skip the steep section.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
that map is ancient (and still doing the rounds).
the other one is top of boe gondola heading down to Passo Campolongo. If you head to the left of that big rock (will be signposted Corvara, which is the wrong way), you have less red to worry about.
the 2 drag lifts on that map from Passo Campolongo up to Bec de Roces, has been a chair for years!
But if you do choose Arabba, then you can ski to Corvara/San Cassiano/AltaBadia sector, and only really have that 1 red from Bec de Roces down to Plan Boe bar on the way back, and ski blues all day apart from that.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
jonm, The 2 man chair is often shut first thing in the morning opening after 10am, no idea why.
As you can see from this piste map http://www.igluski.com/italy/arabba-piste-map_25615 (click to enlarge) almost all the immediate runs around Arabba are red or black (except returning back down the valley). Sure the 2 main lifts are a gondola and cable car on the side facing my photo, but that is not much help. If reds are a problem that is going to leave very little skiable unless one red to reach blues is OK, so I think they would be at the wrong resort. You could get to Arabba around the Sella Ronda from other resorts (quickest in the clockwise direction if you choose Corvora).
See http://www.dolomitesworld.com/images/sellaronda.jpg for general Sella Ronda positions (but excluding peripheral lifts)
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
As a nervous type I would suggest somewhere other than Arabba as a base.
As has been said already, the first pitch from the top of the Portovescovo gondola (leaving Arabba on the clockwise circuit) is usually horrid - always steep and often bumpy. And there are two unavoidable (I think) nasty sections between Corvara & Arabba - one which ends at the road between the two resorts and then the final red(s) down from Plan Boe. It's OK to tackle them once if you're doing a circuit but not much fun on the way 'home' at the end of the day.
Edit: The steep bit that ends at the road may not be on the direct route back from Corvara
Red Leon, if the steep bit you mean is the bit I think it is then yeah it does end up at the road crossing, it's the one before the chair up to the top of plan boe, I think ... and it's a blue piste, surprisingly steep for a blue.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I've just looked at the piste map and it seems the right-hand piste down from Plan Boe is a blue as well! I'm more of a wimp than I thought
After all it is free
After all it is free
right hand piste?
the right hand one from Bec de Roces to PLan Boe (the sH bar) is definitely red. the left hand is redder.
from Plan Boe bar to Arabba is blue. and there's not really a left or right, apart from going left or right of the patch of trees near the bottom. left is basically blue, other than the bit where the piste bashers access the piste, where I did a monumental wipe out after letting the piste bashers go up, on freshly pisted snow.
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.
Speaking of piste-bashing. Does anybody do a better job of bashing a great piste than the Dolomites?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
andy wrote:
right hand piste?
the right hand one from Bec de Roces to PLan Boe (the sH bar) is definitely red. the left hand is redder.
You're quite right, of course. Memory said they were both marked red (though the right-hand run is a bit less steep than the left-hand) but either I found a piste map yesterday which showed a red & a blue.... or I just mis-read it
And the bit I thought was Plan Boe is, indeed, Bec de Roces.
Better not let me & Maggi out on our own without someone to guide us home
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
andy wrote:
Arabba and the Sella Ronda are not the most challenging. Head over towards Corvara/San Cassiano, and it's mostly very easy blue runs.
Yep - the Pralongia plateau is Blue Heaven. Make sure you take your friends down the Gran Risa run, though. Tell them it's just a dark blue.
New slope “Rutort” from “Bec de Roces” and Campolongo Pass. It’s a medium difficult slope (red), 970 m long, 228 m of vertical drop and 24% of average steepness.
This un-pisted space under the lift was popular as an off piste run after a dump but will now give skiers a choice of slopes when heading from Arabba to Corvara.
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
We've just booked for a 5 day trip to Corvara before Christmas. Looking forward to it - the skiing and of course, the food
Fabulous area. The runs are long and dreamy.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Red Leon wrote:
andy wrote:
right hand piste?
the right hand one from Bec de Roces to PLan Boe (the sH bar) is definitely red. the left hand is redder.
You're quite right, of course. Memory said they were both marked red (though the right-hand run is a bit less steep than the left-hand) but either I found a piste map yesterday which showed a red & a blue.... or I just mis-read it
Its red 23 (right hand side as descending). The first 150m or so is the steepest section, but the rest is quite wide.
This is a vid of the whole run - the "red" finishes at around 1.48 and you can then see the Plan Boe on the left.
It's Red 27 on the latest piste map. 23 is blue bit further down on the new map (shortcut from top of Burz back to the bottom). The chair at the start is the one that is still marked as 2 drag lifts on older maps (that still seem to be all over the web, even though the chair has been there for a decade).
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
I would suggest somewhere other than Arabba as a base.
