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Val Gardena Off Piste
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

I was wanting to try skiing in Italy this season (before Japan trip) and was wondering if anybody knew what the off piste is like in Val Gardena? I know there are some off piste restrictions in Italy. On the whole does anybody know what the area is like for intermediate skiers and what there is going on in evenings etc?

Cheers
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

Nightlife is quite quiet. great piste runs but not enough variety for advance, would be perfect for intermediate. I always went with my parents when I was younger and there was never enough snow for off-piste.

Beautiful setting but if you are looking for off=piste and nightlife I would look elsewhere
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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?

hh12345, right rolling eyes
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hh12345, Agreed.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I don't know about Val Gardena but the Sella Ronda just up the valley has some extremely good off piste, particularly on the tougher side and most requiring a guide. Most skiing is in the valleys and the pistes are generally not demanding. Springing up from this are awesome and spectacular vertical rock faces which are cut by couloirs - almost all off piste. The most famous route cuts right accross the middle of the Sella Ronda circuit and is called the Val Mesdi (very spectacular and worth a go but not all that steep). If you want off piste off the side of the piste there isn't much.
Don't go in very early season as there can be too little snow for off piste. There are some restrictions in a few places but I get the impression they are not much enforced as long as you are not too blatant. More a matter of covering themselves against responsibility.

The steepest bit of the Val Mesdi


climbing up to ski over into another valley with no tracks in it! (again not steep but spectacular)


one of the couloirs cutting the rock faces.
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Re: "Rules" about off piste... I've asked in lots of places, e.g. here, on http://pistehors.com/, at tourist offices, I've asked local instructors, local guides and I've spent far too long searching the web and using online translators. The outcome of my research is that there are laws about off piste, no one knows exactly what they are or how they are applied. They certainly vary in different regions in Italy. E.g. in Aosta you must carry avalanche gear and can be fined if off piste without it (and this is at least *occasionally* enforced with police at exit points to well know routes - I got that first hand from a guide). The Dolomites covers 3 different regions - Trentino/Alto Adige, Ventito and (I think) Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the laws are different in each. The advice I got from an instructor and from a guide (independently) was that if you are sensible, properly equipped and do not cause any harm you *should* be OK. Francesco Tremolada also advises (in his excellent book) to avoid skiing above pistes. I got the impression that in Trentino/Alto Adige (the region covering Val Gardena) off piste is not banned per-se. Over in Veneto (e.g. Arabba) there were quite a few signs saying off piste was not allowed. Plenty of tracks indicated this was widely ignored.

So, that's all clear then... Puzzled

As for tips... well, clearly with the muddy legal situation I can't advise you to ski off piste in Val Gardena but I, ahem, saw someone skiing off piste around Mont de Seurra above St Christina and off the "back" of Piz Sella and that looked fantastic - fairly easy angled and no one around. After a storm some people ski around the edges of the pistes too, which goes against the advice above but on easy angled slopes is pretty safe and also untracked first thing. Never do that on a slope above about 20 degree though. The wide open slopes on Col Raiser are also offer lots of low angle off piste. I would avoid the Seiseralm though, there's just not enough angle to get moving in soft snow Smile

If you do go pick up the book from the book shop in Selva (or maybe order online before hand), it's a great book and will give you a few good options. I skied there twice last year and will almost certainly be back this year to tackle some of the stuff in those photos above wink
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