 Poster: A snowHead
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Thinking of going to Italy instead of Les Arcs. Lazy intermediate looking for good snow, food and some reasonable skiing - size of resort and piste variety not a big deal - good food and authentic Italian feel hoped for!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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How about Cortina? Some nice eating at the restaurants around the ski area, we are still talking about the beetroot pasta encountered in one of them!
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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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Everything is a compromise to some extent. The perfect resort will have lots of people simply because it is the perfect resort. Have a look at Abetone for an Italian resort.
Have a look at the Alp di Suisi / Seiseralm area for more infrastructure and quietness but less Italian feel to it
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It's difficult to fnd poor food in Italy.
Monterosa?
Courmayeur?
Madonna di C.?
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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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Livigno - Good food, good skiing and duty free! Probably the longest transfer of any European resort (approx 3.5 -4hrs) so generally its not too busy. Only drawback being it's not the archetypal Italian resort, but that's probably due to how relatively remote it is.
If doing DIY you could fly into Bergamo - then stay at Lake Como, then go to Ski in Bormio and then over to Livigno. I did something similar and it was brilliant. Car hire and flights to and from Bergamo are very cheap.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Madesimo is within spitting distance of Com depending on where you stay.
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Santa Caterina (though I haven't been there for 20 years!  )
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@timmythedog, I'd recommend courmayeur although it is quite a long time since my last visit there.
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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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@clarky999, I went there in March, it was lovely.
Very quiet except when the Italian school championships rolled into town. Food was good, hotel restaurants plus a couple of pizzeria type places. The Valtellina area of Lombardy have quite distinctively unique local cuisine to what what you might find in most areas of Italy.
If you are willing to drive around the local area (Bormio, Oga and Isolaccia) and maybe the 1hr drive to Livigno there is ample skiing, that being said if you are used to going to Les Arcs you might find this too different.
http://www.piste-maps.co.uk/Piste-Maps/Italy/Alta-Valtellina-Piste-Map-Large.jpg
Other places you might want to look at as well as Madesimo, Bormio and Livigno are Chiesa and Aprica - which is very close to Tirano where you could take the Bernina Express into Switzerland, a stop in St Moritz is possible too!
It's a lovely area that is not commonly visited by Brits, but possibly because of it being lesser known it's very authentic with lots to see and do aside from skiing! The Bagni Vecchi Roman Baths are well worth a visit in Bormio.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just be aware that some of the resorts in the South Tyrol have a very Austrian, rather than Italian, feel (they were Austrian, before the First World War, of course). You never know whether to ask for bier or birra but they all speak everything, anyway.
Go up a lift, down a slope, and you're in a different language area, a bit oompah oompah, and quite likely to be offered some horrible concoction with sausage and curry sauce. 
But it's all astonishingly beautiful! One thing I found slightly disconcerting about the Dolomites, compared to my "home" area in France, was the large number of English speakers around. That , together with a lot of German speaking, meant overhearing some Italian was quite a pleasure, especially as I'm trying to learn it.
And the pistes, whilst wonderful and well groomed, were more crowded, too.
There are probably much more Italian places around - I've not been to Madonna, but it's on my list. Cortina is a big, sophisticated, place - nice centre, shops selling elegant clothing, works of art and antiques at eye-watering prices. More mink coats than you can shake a stick at to be seen on the after ski passeggiata. Lots of traffic on the outskirts. I haven't skied much there, but the lifts up to the snow (there was none at resort level) were very crowded and shovey. A good place to watch the Italians at play.
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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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Thanks everyone !
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Another vote for the Monterosa area
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You know it makes sense.
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@andy1234, don't want to hijack this thread but we are thinking of visiting Cortina in January. Some info would be appreciated.
We have stayed in a few different Italian resorts, Madesimo, Madonna, Bormio, Couymayer, Cervinia to name a few and had a good time in them all. Courmayer was a little limited( I am a Piste only skier) but had a day in La Thuile which has great terrain. Out of these listed Madonna would be my fave.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Ski Bormio, Santa caterina, oga and Isolaccia all on 1 lift pass. All 4 very different from each other plus italy's biggest vertical drop 3012 to 1225 mtrs.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| northantsred wrote: |
@andy1234, don't want to hijack this thread but we are thinking of visiting Cortina in January. Some info would be appreciated.
We have stayed in a few different Italian resorts, Madesimo, Madonna, Bormio, Couymayer, Cervinia to name a few and had a good time in them all. Courmayer was a little limited( I am a Piste only skier) but had a day in La Thuile which has great terrain. Out of these listed Madonna would be my fave. |
Cortina is very much like Madonna only a bigger town. It's definitely a town where skiing is another activity rather than simply a ski resort. Probably not a purist skiers resort but fabulously beautiful.
If you go then the bus up to cinque Torre, Lagazoui and the hidden valley are a must.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Dont bother with the monterosa... Otherwise too many people there will spoil it for me 
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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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@timmythedog, Definitely, definitely, definitely Madonna di Campiglio should be up at the top of your list. Fits your requirements 100% Great snow record, fabulous food everywhere and VERY stylish. You could do worse that send a PM to Campiglio. He runs a tour operator that specialises in MdC and is always happy to giove good advice. He's good value too. We couldn't do DIY any cheaper. Apologies if I sound like his PR firm, but he's a genuinely nice guy and did a great job for us. (p.s. Caters to all budgets)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@timmythedog, you don't say when you want to go?
There are 3 snowHeads bashes in Italy, which you're welcome to join:
The MYAsHBash in Livigno 16 Jan
The PreBBWUW in Alleghe 23 Jan (almost full)
The S12BB in Arabba 30 Jan
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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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Belpiano/Schöneben just over the border from Nauders Austria in the Südtirol Italy. Small, lots of snowmaking, new lifts, great huts, uber pisted, quite quiet.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We like Pila. Very small but also very quiet and cheap great food. We use Pilaski.co.uk to sort us out.
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FAQ
