 Poster: A snowHead
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After the trials and tribulations (and disappointments) over the last two years we are desperate to go back to Hotel Tyrol in Selva...
We were booked to go at Xmas 2020 and then Xmas 2021 and both times it was not possible .
We cannot do this Xmas for various reasons and we are already committed to San Cassiano with friends at Feb HT (and anyway Tyrol was eye wateringly expensive that week...)
So I am no eying up 1st week April... can go with Crystal for a fair price (still expensive but its worth it).
BUT - is skiing in the dollies likely to be a disaster 1st week April ? Or glorious (and quiet)?
Anyone have much experience in this week (think last week of the season for most of the areas apart from maybe Kronplatz and Cortina ?)
I guess we can go walking if there is no snow !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would have said Madness..... : I went mid-March several years ago ; we just skied in the AM and chilled in the PM (low down snow was like slush - we actually bought gaiters to keep the water out of our boots...!)
At least Selva has several alternatives to Skiing..
The Crystal site shows Hotel Tyrol mid-March cheaper than 1st April?? (£1395 18th)
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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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| albob wrote: |
I would have said Madness..... : I went mid-March several years ago ; we just skied in the AM and chilled in the PM (low down snow was like slush - we actually bought gaiters to keep the water out of our boots...!)
At least Selva has several alternatives to Skiing..
The Crystal site shows Hotel Tyrol mid-March cheaper than 1st April?? (£1395 18th) |
So potentially a bit of a gamble....
Cant really do mid March as youngest is doing GCSE yr 1 so will be tricky to manage that...
Don't mind just skiing AM and doing something else PM as the location and hotel is so lovely anyway - it will just be nice to be back...
But no skiing at all would be hard to bear.
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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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So maybe we plan around that week (and start saving) and make a decision last minute... that would be more sensible ...
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From memory, the snow high up was Ok, it was the lower slopes that were slush. With a bit of planning I am sure it could be worked around ; stay high and look for north facing slopes..
Easter Sunday is the 9th of April -- the resorts will do their best to keep as many slopes open as possible..
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@sheffskibod, I don't know the Dolomites or Selva but I have skied first and second week of April a lot in France (La Pagne, 3V, etc). And if there is always plenty to ski. The variability simply comes with how high you have to stay, how late in the day it gets before it gets extremely slushy and whether there is any off piste.
And I understand the snow making in Italy is top notch so that further enhances the view.
So I think "no skiing at all" is not a possibility.
You can certainly book late for that time of the season although bear in mind the above means if you just want to go because you want to go it's unlikely to have much bearing.
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@Layne,
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snow making in Italy is top notch
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It is but, given recent weather conditions, there could well be constraints on snow-making next season. Personally I wouldn't risk it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We've skied in April, last week of season at least twice with good conditions. Finished on a Sunday (about 14 April) bus was at 1pm so eldest child and I did loops of the Sasslong al morning on PAYG tickets. Was rock hard and deserted. Equally, have skied at Christmas/NY and only man made ribbons of white.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Been there the last week of March in '18 and '19 so one week before your target. Both times the days were sunny and hard at the gun, softening predictably as the day goes on. After lunch, you'd better like mush but it was a fabulous morning. Coverage totally fine on the pistes, and the full range off. The only lift lines were on the Marmolada boxcars, though I'm an early bird. Got one day of pretty decent new snow. We're all guessing about water and energy issues, and I'm going to make a bet. Like Warren Miller said, "if ya don't go this year, you'll be a year older next year".
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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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I only booked two or three days in advance and had a solid forecast of significant snow fall. The consensus on here was it would be a slushfest. Doomsayers one and all! The drive to Alta Badia was our first time using chains and the family thought the trip was a bit hairy TBH. Should have paid a bit more attention to the sat Nav rather than assuming it would stay with the way I wanted it to take us. View the next morning more than made up for it all though. It was very tiring skiing the empty pistes and getting practically no rest on the speedy lifts. The quiet restaurants with quick service and excellent food didn’t help much either so I was quite happy to finish early some days. Ryanair giving away return flights at <£100pp and a 25% discount on the hotel and lift passes all helped.
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The Dolomites are one of the least reliable areas for snow, especially for off-piste skiing, since weather from the North has dumped all its snow before it got there. (The pistes are meadows which can be skied with little snow, while the off-piste is mostly rocky gullies.) There is also only relatively small altitude variation so the idea of staying high is difficult. Personally I'd think about France for both early and late snow, though if the place is what matters (and I fully understand what a spectacular place it is to just be) then why not go. There will be skiing, almost certainly, at least on piste.
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You know it makes sense.
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One of the ‘least reliable areas for snow’ but also one of the most reliable areas for skiing. It normally has more kilometres of piste open reliably every day of the season than most other parts of the alps, because of its shelter, particularly early in the season when bad weather or a lack snow is closing higher, rockier or more exposed ski areas. Late in the season there will still be plenty of skiing available but south facing runs will get very soft and some links will be broken. But a lot of people like soft snow skiing and the views and the food will be as good as ever 
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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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As an off piste skier I suppose my view is differently slanted. I have twice had to cancel holidays to the Dolomites at the last moment at great expense and go somewhere else, because there literally wasn't enough skiable snow to ski anything off piste. And that wasn't early or late season. Mushy snow I rather like unless it is so sticky no wax works.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I think you're both correct, so it could be a mostly on-piste experience, which at that time of year isn't exactly prison time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The beauty of being an early in their development skier, who from the sounds of it has only skied in fridges, is that you don't good off piste conditions or all pistes to be open. Granted poo-poo weather could be a downer, hence late season is more recommended but the OP and their crew seem pretty stoked and can live with that.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Too risky for late season in my opinion. Cervinia is probably the best Italian option that week but I haven’t been there. I would go somewhere high in France.
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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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@snowymum, or somewhere high in AT
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Done Cervinia, Livigno and La Thuile that week but wouldn't risk Dolomites.
Done Selva and Drei Zinnen mid March and found it a bit later than ideal ... you could get though lucky of course and have great conditions.. and all the other Italian resorts aren't as nice as the Dolomites.. but at least better food and service than France 
If I had to do April again I'd go Cervinia
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As mentioned many times - these vids from Ustaria Posta are great. the one from April 22 - just looks awesome. I really hope its like that next April as I hoping to go out on the 5th - but will wait till 2 weeks beforehand
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oops, reignited and old thread - ah well, the vids are great!!
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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 to Gaz_H I realised I never revisited this thread following our trip!
We took the risk and had a fantastic week - but we were lucky ...
First day was quite warm so good skiing for a few hours until lunch and then it turned very soft and bumpy (which actually I dont mind so much).
Then winter returned with super cold temperatures and even a few flakes of snow to low levels - according to a few locals - maybe happens once every 6-7 years .
So for the rest of the week we had superb conditions , cold and mostly clear weather - still got a touch soft at the low points but mostly great .
Lifts and slopes very quiet - after a slow start one day , around 10 AM from top of Ciampanoi - my daughter and I skied over to the Seceda area, did the La Longia to Ortisei - then back to Selva for lunch at La Bula - and then an anticlockwise sella ronda ! 42km and super conditions all day - we finished around 3 pm and was soft at the bottom but great above mid mountain.
The only downside was that Selva itself felt rather dead - things were already shutting down for the season and bars and restaurantys were very quiet.
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| what...snow wrote: |
| It was very tiring skiing the empty pistes and getting practically no rest on the speedy lifts. The quiet restaurants with quick service and excellent food didn’t help much either so I was quite happy to finish early some days. . |
This sounds like hell, you have all our sympathy…
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think that you'll get plenty of skiing at that time of year. If you're looking for cold powder snow, then try another place & time. Start early and ski the south and west facing faces early in the day and then shift to the more northerly aspects as things go beyond soft to slush & mush on the sunny side. The upper slopes of a place like Arabba will hold up better on a warm day. Stay high (i.e. at higher altitudes) as much as you can. Always download whenever possible to get down to valley level. If you need more skiing, take a few laps on the upper lifts and then download to get to the valley station. Planning helps. Otherwise, it is quite possible to have a long slog through the slop with tired legs at the end of the day which can be annoying. That said, there's no guarantee that things will be sloppy every day. I did a 6-day off-piste traverse of the Dolomites from Passo Rolle to Sexten in early April a decade ago and we never skied in soft snow the entire time. It was cold, blue sky, high pressure for the week with a lot of hard frozen pistes and off-piste. I really enjoy skiing in empty areas at that time of year.
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