 Poster: A snowHead
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After a family fry up on Boxing Day we headed off to Manchester airport to catch a plane to Milan, Dad collected us from the airport and we drove up to the house in Menaggio on Lake Como for a late meal and overnight stay.
27-12-14. Got up nice and early to drive to resort, needed chains to get to resort as it had started to drop the forcast snow as we climbed upto Passo Tonale (note to SH's - P T looks like a grim place to stay). Arrived at appartment and went shopping.
Day 1 was pretty good with some nice skiing, Madonnas snow is better than in folgarida, I suspect they use better water to make snow on this side as it was a different and much nicer consistency than that of folgarida.
Didn't see Wayne...
Day 2 - Decided to ski on the Groste side of the valley as the Ursus snowpark is at the top of the gondola. Massive queues at both lifts on either side the junction over the road. Nice skiing though at the top but only managed a few runs because of said queues.
The piste bashers are doing an excellent job of keeping the mountain open with what snow they have to play with. A few beers in the evening and booked a table for NYE.
Day 3 - Mum decided she wasn't skiing today so we headed over to Pinzolo, not much open because of lacking snow but we had a good few hours there but cut it short as it was very cold and both my dad and son were feeling it.
Day 4 - NYE - Just skied around really with no real goals other than to have a good day. Finished around 4, and headed back to get ready for the evening out. Table in a restaurant reserved from 9-midnight.
Madonna is a real town, not like some resorts which are just resorts so there were hundreds of people out for the celebrations.
This sort of thing wouldn't be allowed in the UK, people walking around with bottles of Prosecco, setting fire works off in the street and stopping traffic with displays in the middle of the road. Fantastic atmosphere with unorganised displays lasting around 50 minutes.
Bed...
As we got in around 1.30am we had decided to have a late start and a good breakfast, bacon, eggs, toast and 3.20 Euro tin of Heinz baked beans.
Day 5 - NYD - Skied from about 12 until 5 when it was going dark and stopped for a few beers on the way back to the apartment.
Snow making was evident in several places...
Day 6 - Mum and dad supposedly bought an area pass but the gate to Folgarida wouldn't open so we seperated and we three skied over that way, did a few runs around Orso Bruno then tried to get to Folgarida itself. Massive queues at the bottom of a deciding piste, cranky old two man chair to Folgarida - Four man fast chair had the same size to get back to MDC. No brainer really so we stopped for lunch at a nice slopeside gaff in a conservatory type annex.
Generally warm all day so we carried on skiing until 5 then dropped into the village and walked back to the apartment to pack 
Drove back to Menaggio on the third of Jan and passing through the village signs were revealing +8 degrees. That combined with the sunny days and no snow didn't bode well for the next few days.
Got to the house and temps of around 12 degrees so we unpacked the car and got some food in for dinner.
The day after it was lovely and sunny so Mrs HD and my mum dropped us three boys off at the lake whilst they went shopping for provisions.
If you look in the water around the sides of the lake there are big fish which, according to my dad and several locals are uncatchable... So with rod in hand we set about it, loose fed hard pellets with a nice oily pellet on the hook.
Uncatchable my back bottom...
An Itallian guy gasped and swore when I put the fish back in to the water as it would have made a splendid main course.
5-1-2015 - Rang school to tell them I'd ballsed up the flight dates and that littleHD wouldn't be in, then had lunch in Varenna and drove back to Milan to fly home.
Random phone snap of Lake Como from Varenna.
To sum things up, Madonna is a very nice place to ski. The most expensive coat we saw there was 19800 Euros. The piste team did a very good job keeping the area open with what limited snow they had. I need to take some hair rigging bits and bobs to present my pellets better in order to catch more fish
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@homers double, Enjoyable report 
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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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@homers double, Great report and helpful to me, as I'm thinking of going to MDC for a week in March.
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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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@homers double, Really enjoyed your trip report and the first photo reminded me that the best hot chocolates I have ever had were in MdC! At the bar underneath the Rifugio Viviani pradalago to be precise. Even better with a shot of rum!
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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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@Waffle,
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I'm thinking of going to MDC for a week in March.
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I can strongly recommend it. Do send a PM to Campiglio as sending people to MdC is his raison d'etre.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@foxtrotzulu, Thanks for that. I'll need all the help I can get if we decide to go. Not skied in Italy before.
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hey great report, looks like you had a great time. I am staying in Pinzolo, Madonna Di Campiglio for my first season ever and i am extremely gutted about the snow situation, does anyone know how typical it is for the area? I have to say the slope conditions in MDC considering the lack of snow are excellent however.
if you see me out there give me a shout!
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Looks a beautiful place.
Thanks.
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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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Thanks for the great review. We are heading over for a weekend on march 20th, I am wondering if we have left it too late in the season, hope not..... we will of course manage to do something if the snow isn't great, hell we will ski if there is only a tiny bit,  . Just wondering seeing as our time is short, are there any tips, ie places we should not miss, and runs that are just not to be missed? I hate it when you find a great run on the last day and have no time to repeat it, we ski all sorts of stuff are advanced so pisted un pisted, routes etc are included in the question.
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If you are in MDC for a weekend I'd avoid trying to get to Folgarida, there is a piste which you HAVE to ski down (red 8 IIRC) and has a cranky old chair over to Folgarida which is a bottle neck and a half.
The runs at the top of Groste are nice, wide and fast and there is a decent snow park if thats your thing.
The black off Spinale is pretty good too but I doubt you could ski everything more than once* in a weekend so just have a play about the place.
Pinzolo is good for a day but I guess that depends if you're buying local or area passes.
*except of course the ultra fast awesome sh's who maintain they can ski everything faster than anyone else
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@biddpyat, We were there two years ago, arriving on 24 March. The snow was excellent when we arrived and at least a metre of fresh snow fell in the village during our stay. Others can advise if this is unusual, but I'm pretty sure MdC has a good record for late season snow. Don't forget, the village is pretty high at 1500m!
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Wed 25-02-15 16:51; edited 1 time in total
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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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@biddpyat, There is another post here about restaurants, so here is my personal view of the runs:
Pinzolo - Didn't get there, but others in our party did and said it wasn't really worth the hassle of getting there and back.
Marilleva / Folgarida - Didn't get there as the visibility was pretty poor and we didn't fancy paying the cost of an extension pass to get there. Definitely would if we go back.
Pancugulo - Newish black. Steep, but not hard in good snow. Great fun.
Genziana Alta and Genziana Bassa - both lovely runs.
Groste area - Higher, so the snow may be best up there. Wide open, great scenery and a fab run all the way back down into the village.
We liked nearly every run we did and divided our time pretty evenly between the Pradalago/Patascoss area and Groste.
Only thing to avoid is the two-man chairlift out of Campo Carlo Magna going up to Spinale. Old, cramped, uncomfortable and unbelievably slow.
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@foxtrotzulu, thanks for that, definatly will avoid slow chairman. I can't wait to go, and as always am youtubing and researching the resort.
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