Dolomites in January having trouble finding a guide

A snowHead

We are a family of 3. Husband and I are pushing 60 and son is 20. I suffered a broken knee cap last March and have had two surgeries. Very much improved now with virtually full range of motion now. A little nervous about upcoming ski trip and thinking a guide might be a good idea to keep me out of trouble but having trouble finding one at this point. Any suggestions? Staying in Selva Gardena area. I would love to ski Sella Ronda and the run from Lagazuoi to Armentarola.

A snowHead

I won't discourage you from getting a guide, but if you come up empty don't despair, you don't really need one. The area is well-signed and the few steep runs in the Dolomites are easily avoided. The Sella Ronda and Hidden Valley are both fun and easily accomplished by an intermediate skier. Given your nervousness, I'll add this: (assuming you don't have a guide) when "traveling on skis", as one does when doing the Sella Ronda, let one of your guys lead and do the looking around for signs, and just follow them. Lets you focus on job #1, your skiing. At other times when you're just skiing laps on the same lift, you can lead and strut your stuff there! PS I've done the broken patella thing myself, but two surgeries? You went big!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@woodburc, while it may be expensive, you can book a private ski school instructor and basically ask them to act more as a guide for a couple of sessions early in the week to help you get to grips with where to go and become familiar with the general local terrain etc?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Thanks guys for the info. Yep the surgery I had in March didn't really take, so they took out the pins and wires and replaced with screws. Bone has finally grown back together and thrilled that I will ski again!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

+1 to not really needing a guide, maybe for off-piste, but the pistes around the Sella Ronda are very well signposted.

Even the route to the Hidden Valley is easily followed using signposts as long as you know the various waypoints...Dantercepies, down to Corvara, Pralongia, Armentarola, get taxibus to Falzarego, up cable car, ski down taking first left twd Armentarola, horse-tow, Armentarola, San Cassiano, Corvara, Selva

You could scope out the way from Selva to Armentarola on a dry run on an earlier day. It will give you an indication of the timings. Itwill take about 1.5-2hrs from Armentarola to do the Hidden Valley run and be back atArmentarola again. It is a full day out from Selva, so only attempt if feeling fit.

Let hubby & son go slightly ahead and find the way and you can just follow!

You'll need to Register first of course.

But if you still want one, I'm sure one of the instructors from one of the ski schools in Selva would take you wherever you wanted for a handsome fee! wink

The Selva Val Gardena ski school were always in red and Ski Snowboard 2000 were in yellow, I've had good experiences with both in the past.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I am guessing that the real reason for the guide is not so much to find the way (ie navigate) but to find the right way that avoids those slopes which are marked whatever colour on map but turn out to be a nightmare, or to provide that reassurance and assistance especially on more difficult patches or find the gentle way back when tired. That might be as simple as knowing a certain route means you can take a gondola download to increase rest time. Far easier to do so with local knowledge than by all trying to interpret the signs and maps.

As an example, when at top of ciampinoi, which choice is really the best one to take given time of day, numbers of people, conditions and so on, even just which side of a piste to use can sometimes make the difference.

But, I may have misunderstood the OP.

After all it is free

SteveM you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I am looking for. Thanks for putting it so concisely. I feel a little silly for wanting a guide but this injury with the knee kind of changed our lives and definitely our retirement plans. I have contacted 4 different agencies/schools/individuals and heard back from all of them. I submitted relies to all 4 to firm things up with any of them and then nothing, crickets. Been three days and hoping at least one will get in touch soon as we head out in less than 2 weeks!

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@woodburc, nothing silly about it!

Hope you have a great trip whatever. Are you staying in Selva itself?

From Selva to the run at Lagazuoi is luckily all straightforward skiing for example. Up over Passo Gardena via Dantercepies lift but coming off the top there heading into Colfosco there is a small steeper pitch that gets bumpy and puts people off. One tip (if you remember it) - go out from the lift and turn left as if you are going to head back down the way you just came and then keep left as much as possible and you loop under the gondola round the top station and come out below the small top pitch. But equally you can head towards Colfosco, don't turn right down the little steep bit and follow a track that winds across the hill. I suppose that is an example of what I was talking about for guiding! Don't get me wrong, that steeper bit is not particularly long or steep but is a classic for getting a bit bumpy and having people faffing on it.

The red turns blue as you descend the valley then hop in gondola across to Corvara. Then I think the most straightforward way across is up the little chair broadly "in front" of you, take the Capanna Nera button tow up and then drop down into Planac to get Pralongia 1 and 2 chairs up to the top of Pralongia, pick up run 9B down pasta Saraghes hut and keep a careful eye open for the fork off to the right to get to Armentarola for the bus/taxi up. There are other routes across the Pralongia plateau, each with their pros and cons (for example if you absolutely want to avoid the button drag lift).

The route back after San Cassiano can be "fun" to navigate first time but following signs for Corvara there is probably nothing that really will catch you out - the one most complained about tends to be the part of run 8 just after bottom of Pralongia 2 chair if you happen to find yourself there in the afternoon when people are streaming back into Corvara. As you head back up to Passo Gardena then at the top of Val Setus chair to get down to bottom of Cir chair is a piste that can be crowded with people, rucked up and then has a crossing where you need to turn right before the Hotel Cir and before piste goes under road bridge. I don't know of any alternative, just keep calm and steady!

Then off the top of Passo Gardena down into Selva - at the top my preference for avoiding crowds is again to bear left and ski along the ridge a bit, then turn right downhill before the drag lift - yes that pitch just heads down the fall line but there tend to be fewer people on it. Down the main drag of the Dantercepies red run can be busy, sometimes finding the right hand fork option is less busy and I personally enjoy it more although the gradient is more variable. There is always chaos just above the bottom station of the Dantercepies gondola before you go under the road bridge there, again not really any option to avoid it. Unless of course you just download all the way from top of Passo Gardena on the gondola itself.

Then find the "charming little track" that goes off left after passing under the road bridge and which leads back into Selva town itself.

Of course, you're not going to go to Lagazuoi every day but at least you may be reassured that the trip there and back is not likely to be too challenging.

What's much more "interesting" in terms of choices where to go is from the top of the Ciampinoi gondola out of Selva and the runs back into Selva coming from that direction. I've never been based in Selva itself so not sure about this, but I might be tempted to find an option to bus up to Plan De Gralba early in week rather than go straight up Ciampinoi - maybe others will have a view. Of course you can go the Dantercepies route and ski in & around Colfosco and Corvara for easier starting days as well.

Help!!

Dolomites in January having trouble finding a guide

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