 Poster: A snowHead
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We went to Madonna di Campiglio in the 2nd week of January, and had a great time. We had 2 bluebird days, one grey day, and two days of heavy snow. I discovered (again) that I'm rubbish at skiing in powder.
The holiday was booked through Crystal, who were really organised. The Crystal rep in resort was quite different to what I expected, but very well suited to the resort - I'd guess he was in his 40s and wasn't too "in your face". The optional activities organised by Crystal were well-suited to a resort that was full of more mature skiers - off piste taster, wine tasting, dinner up in the Chalet Fiat on the mountain - not even a mention of a pub crawl or quiz.
We stayed in the Hotel Italo, which is a nice family-run hotel near the bottom of the Spinale lift. I think if I went again I might look to stay near the bottom of the Groste lift, as it's a bit more central.
The skiing in MdC itself is great. It's split into ~4 areas, with a mixture of treelined skiing and wide open pistes. To move between areas you generally ski down to the town and catch a lift out, but you can do it without having to walk. I don't think I found a run I didn't like. The Groste bowl is a big, open area. The restaurant at the top of the Groste gondola (which is v. slow) is quite impressive. It's also a hotel. If you were there for a weekend, it would be a great place to stay.
The skiing in the Cinqu Laghi area is fun, and the food in the restaurant at the top of the gondola was good. We ate there are a snowy day, and were glad of the open fire where you could pop gloves and goggles on the mantlepiece to dry. It was even better when one of the staff came out and turned all the gloves, so that different bits were dried - not a service I've seen elsewhere.
There's a couple of lovely treelined blue runs from the bottom of Groste to the bottom of Spinale. They're well worth skiing as they're beautifully picturesque.
The link across into Marilleva and Folgarido is pretty good, but you do notice that the infrastructure over there isn't quite so slick. It's still good skiing though. Folgarida looked like a fantastic resort for young families. The nursery area is at 1,885m, reached by a choice of 2 gondolas from the 2 ends of time. It looked to have great family facilities at that height, with nursery slopes, snow garden and several restaurants where parents could watch their kids. It's also one of the few places I've ever seen baby changing facilities up on the mountain. There is then a lovely long blue (3km) down through the trees to Folgarida village, which would be fine for skiing competent little ones down slowly after lunch. Alternatively there's the gondolas to download. It looked far more appealing than most areas for kids in resorts, as at 1,800 the snow is good.
Marilleva is pretty much all skiing through the trees. We visited the Rifugio Orto above Marilleva in search of the goulasch advertised by Cacciatore, but sadly it wasn't on the menu. To be honest, the food at the Rifugion Orti wasn't that brilliant and was more expensive that anywhere else we ate.
Possibly my favourite skiing of the week was the day we spent in Pinzolo. There's only about 18k of piste, and it's a 16 minute gondola ride there and back, but it's worth it. The scenery is spectacular and there's some lovely runs. We ate at the Dos del Sabion, which is at the top of Pinzolo, with fabulous views and good, reasonably priced food.
One thing I'd note is that the standard of toilet facilities on the mountain was overall very high - think more Austria rather than Italy or France. The toilets had seats (unlike French toilets) and I never encountered one that was only the classic Italian hole in the ground (the boys did though). Coupled with all that, they all had hot water, soap and drying facilities - I was impressed.
I'd add some photos to the post if I knew how.
SM.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sugarmoma666, Great TR - sounds loverly, good job there's a bunch of us going there tomorrow...
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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?
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sugarmoma666, nice TR. so pleased you enjoyed it.
bertie bassett, there's another thread on her with restaurant recommendations etc. might be worth a look if you search for it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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sugarmoma666, I enjoyed your report. I head to MdiC on Feb 1st for a week. This will be my first trip in a few years and my wife and 2 boys (5&3) first ever ski/winter holiday.
We're very excited and the snow conditions look great. Any particular recommendations for family friendly restaurants? Any particularly good pizza/pasta places?
Good to hear you had a good time.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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kendoddsdadsdogsdead, there's another thread on here about restaurants in MdC. Can't link to it at the moment, but should be easy to find. Have a great time there it's a wonderful place.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kendoddsdadsdogsdead, you'll love it. Tbh you'll really struggle to find anywhere that comes close to disappointing on the food front and nippers will be welcomed everywhere...
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The thread about restaurants is here http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=106323. It's a bit hard to find as the resort name is spelt wrong in the title, so if any friendly piste patrollers are around, it would be great if that could be fixed.
I'd agree with the comments above though - you'd struggle to find somewhere where the food isn't good or at least OK.
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A couple of things I've remembered since writing my trip report is that the piste numbering appears to have changed in Madonna di Campiglio since many of the piste maps online were drawn. All the runs around Groste seem to be 60s, around Spinale are 70s and across the other side towards Folgarida are 40s and 50. So beware if you have an old piste map or get recommendations for particular runs.
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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.
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Pistes were all renumbered this year to make it feel more joined up
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sugarmoma666, good report, thanks. Looking forward to our trip at February half term, our second outing to Madonna, but you've given me ideas of other restaurants to visit. Also agree about Pinzola really enjoyed skiing there.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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.
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| Cacciatore wrote: |
sugarmoma666, nice report 
Sorry to hear that Refugio Orto wasn't up to scratch - a real shame. Must have gone down hill over the last couple of years  |
It did have some very strong competition.
In fairness, the special that some of our group had, which was something to do with roast potatoes, eggs and bacon I think, was apparently lovely. There just wasn't any goulasch There was goulasch soup, but it wasn't that good.
I may also be holding the change in the weather that occurred whilst we were there against the place. There were clouds beginning to gather as we arrived, but it was basically sunny. By the time we left, it was cloudy and cold.
For anyone else thinking of of going to the Refugio Orti, the black run down isn't too bad. However, if you access it from lift 18 (Dos de la Pesa), the blue run at the start has a rather annoying and unexpected uphill section.
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FAQ
