 Poster: A snowHead
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@Rje66, I always drive as car rental in winter is dirt cheap in Italy, like €6 a day. I have never needed winter tyres in the Dolomites but if you use a broker you can always cancel closer to the time if there is snow in the forecast and get winter tyres directly from a provider, you will usually pay more for a car with these. Driving is very handy, from recollection its mostly secondary roads from about an hour out of Venice but no hassle.
I should say I mislead you about Arraba, it seems to be about 2.5 hours from Venice airport. Its a very nice part of the dolomites, small village feel with some very steep pistes, probably the steepest in the whole range above the town. It has full access to the Sella Ronda and you can also ski over to Marmolada and to the launching point for Hidden Valley and Cortina etc. The Grand Guerre Tour is also recommended, you go on a loop with a bus or two to visit various resorts.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| melbouch wrote: |
>CUT>
I did mean the Gran Risa, sorry for not providing more info in my previous post. I can get myself to the orange and yellow bubbles in Corvara but after that the Corvara side of life is a massive confusion. Fine when we're not on a time limit but for this we do need to be there for the start which I think is 10am. |
from corvara take the costes da l'ega (29), go left at the top and follow the piste into the village to take the col alto bubble (1) : ski down to the left to take the Bria fraida lift (2) ; ski down leftish (piste15) for the Bamby (6) lift -now you are at to top of Piz La Ila from where the Grand Risa piste starts ; the start gate is about half way down the piste
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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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Thanks @albob, so I'll be able to take red 17 from Piz la Ila as we need to end up in the finish area?
I do remember Bamby from last year before the big white ball came along to block our escape!
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| melbouch wrote: |
Thanks @albob, so I'll be able to take red 17 from Piz la Ila as we need to end up in the finish area?
I do remember Bamby from last year before the big white ball came along to block our escape! |
There is a blue road-like piste 24 if you carry straight on past the Bamby chair that leads to the bottom end of red 17, on to the short La Rua chair, then you can access the base area of the Gran Risa next to the gondola.
https://www.opensnowmap.org/#map=15/11.923/46.567&b=snowmap&m=false&h=false
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 22-10-25 0:41; edited 1 time in total
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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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Back to snow...there was a dusting this morning on the roof of 'the highest Pizzeria in Italy' at Capanna Ra Valles (2470m) in the Tofana sector above Cortina...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Cant you famously get a margherita at the cabana margueritta on monte rosa, which has a legitimate claim to be the highest "hotel" in Europe I suspect? Its at something like 4,400m, insane
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| Cheapski wrote: |
| luigi wrote: |
| Rje66 wrote: |
Cheers. Meant to say flying from Dublin. Looking at the Sella Ronda map its hard to work out which airport is near which resort. So flight times look good for Milan, which resorts would be close by?? And roughly bus transfer times ?
Thanks |
I'm not that clued up about transfer buses, I always rent a car as there's a few of us. The good thing is car hire is relatively cheap in N Italy in winter, from £70 a week for a small car, from £100 for a compact.
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How do you find such low car rental rates ? I am looking all over the place and the best I can find for midsize SUV is $900 for two weeks in early March (or $550 for "compact" class Fiat 500x or similar)
I would need vehicle that can fit 175cm skis inside. Usually I take train/transfer to/from Bolzano but this time I would have to go back to Venice to pick up my spouse so I figured renting a vehicle would be a better option. |
https://www.zestcarrental.com
Depends how fussy you about the car. For not small SUV’s it shows £541 upwards. Verona Airport was my example.
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| melbouch wrote: |
Thanks @albob, so I'll be able to take red 17 from Piz la Ila as we need to end up in the finish area?
I do remember Bamby from last year before the big white ball came along to block our escape! |
Yes -- or do as @luigi suggests,,
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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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Thank you both @luigi, and @albob, much appreciated. Just the two months to wait now!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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What are the logs for?
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| 8611 wrote: |
| What are the logs for? |
They go over a little stream - when 'snowed' on they form part of the piste and also alllow direct access to the Piz Sella cable car.
During the Season, you would not know they were there !
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You know it makes sense.
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| luigi wrote: |
Back to snow...there was a dusting this morning on the roof of 'the highest Pizzeria in Italy' at Capanna Ra Valles (2470m) in the Tofana sector above Cortina...
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The new restaurant in the Stella di Pila might take that crown (2700m+) when it opens this season, although I don't believe a menu has been released yet... Pizza might not among its traditional Aosta Valley Dishes.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Yeah, not a glitch, I checked wePowder and they talk of the chance of a temporary Genoa Low forming into Friday...
At the same time, some weather models predict the formation of a Genoa low that will quickly move across northern Italy toward Slovenia. This could lead to a temporary increase in precipitation in the Dolomites, Julian Alps, and Carinthia. By Friday morning, autumn will have given way to a winter scene above 1500 meters almost everywhere. Our model forecasts around 10–20 cm in Austria by Friday morning (possibly more in Vorarlberg) and 20–40 cm in the French Northern Alps and the Swiss regions of Valais and Bernese Oberland. If the Genoa low develops well, 20–40 cm could also fall regionally in the eastern Southern Alps. Since the precipitation will initially fall mostly as rain, these amounts are expected above 2000 meters, but lower elevations will also turn white eventually, especially in the French Alps where a substantial snowpack is possible above 1500 meters.
https://wepowder.com/en/weblog/2025/10/22/frequent-precipitation-increasingly-snow-above-1500-meters
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is bergfex reliable?
MeteoGroup computer and Meteoblue forecasting rain for Canazei. On the days with precipitation, village max temperatures:
Thursday 23/10 9C
Friday 24/10 6C
Sunday 26/10 8C
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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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| Snow&skifan wrote: |
Is bergfex reliable?
MeteoGroup computer and Meteoblue forecasting rain for Canazei. On the days with precipitation, village max temperatures:
Thursday 23/10 9C
Friday 24/10 6C
Sunday 26/10 8C |
Their figure for Arabba might be based on Marmolada and for Canazei the top of Pordoi !!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| albob wrote: |
| Snow&skifan wrote: |
Is bergfex reliable?
MeteoGroup computer and Meteoblue forecasting rain for Canazei. On the days with precipitation, village max temperatures:
Thursday 23/10 9C
Friday 24/10 6C
Sunday 26/10 8C |
Their figure for Arabba might be based on Marmolada and for Canazei the top of Pordoi !!! |
I see. Briefly light snow/sleet at 2,500m. Then endless days of Dolomites sun.
https://www.bergfex.com/sommer/arabba-marmolada/wetter/prognose/#day1
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| albob wrote: |
| Snow&skifan wrote: |
Is bergfex reliable?
MeteoGroup computer and Meteoblue forecasting rain for Canazei. On the days with precipitation, village max temperatures:
Thursday 23/10 9C
Friday 24/10 6C
Sunday 26/10 8C |
Their figure for Arabba might be based on Marmolada and for Canazei the top of Pordoi !!! |
I've found Bergfex to be pretty good at close range, though as snowfall and rain-snow limits are hard to predict, exact amounts are indicative only. Their forecasts are based on ECM output. Other forecasts use GFS, not sure about MeteoBlue
Arabba is based on Porta Vescovo around 2600m, Canazei is Sass Pordoi at 2950m though.
Don't forget that you lose 1C for every 150m of altitude gain, so a 6C at 1400m becomes 0C at 2300m and snow will often fall a few hundred metres below the 0c isotherm.
It will no doubt fall as rain in the villages though.
ARPAV are usually accurate as their forecasts aren't just a raw computer output, but they combine local knowledge of weather patterns.
https://meteo.arpa.veneto.it/?page=DM
They are going for a torrential 30-50mm rain in Arabba and a snowline initially of 2500m, but dropping to 2000m, so always above village level. 1mm rain=1cm snow.
We'll have to wait and see what the cams reveal tomorrow!! 
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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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Definitely a season starter i would think. Ive found bergfex's weakness is the freezing line / temps, remember being in dolomites before and it was forecast to be very cold but was actually fine, im not sure do some areas require adjustment for micro climate or local features as opposed to the effect of a given front over a very large area
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| 8611 wrote: |
| Definitely a season starter i would think. Ive found bergfex's weakness is the freezing line / temps, remember being in dolomites before and it was forecast to be very cold but was actually fine, im not sure do some areas require adjustment for micro climate or local features as opposed to the effect of a given front over a very large area |
Yeah, none of the computer models do that well in the mountains, like you say, the topography gets in the way and creates microclimates.
Local forecasters can take such things into account, but even so, accurate snowfall figures at a given altitude & location are a bit of guesswork, they tend to give a range.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I like the narratives on wepowder as they often have more nuance than their numbers. I see some of the influencer type skiers using (promoting) open snow or something so might try that this season
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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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Interesting part of the world, huge mountains. My second ever ski holiday was in Santa Catarina di Valfurva.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Snow&skifan wrote: |
Interesting part of the world, huge mountains. My second ever ski holiday was in Santa Catarina di Valfurva. |
Yeah, serious mountains, the Ortler Range is higher than the Dolomites. Ortler (3905m) was the highest mountain in Austria-Hungary until 1919 when South Tyrol was ceded to Italy
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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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| Snow&skifan wrote: |
Interesting part of the world, huge mountains. My second ever ski holiday was in Santa Catarina di Valfurva. |
Santa Caterina was my very first ski holiday in 1982 with the school, I was 13. My parents saved for ages to send me and it was my Christmas present.... the best one they ever got me. I then had to wait 15 years until I could fund one myself!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not a huge amount, looked soggy most of the day, but we'll see what morning brings!
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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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| Gaz_H wrote: |
| Snow&skifan wrote: |
Interesting part of the world, huge mountains. My second ever ski holiday was in Santa Catarina di Valfurva. |
Santa Caterina was my very first ski holiday in 1982 with the school, I was 13. My parents saved for ages to send me and it was my Christmas present.... the best one they ever got me. I then had to wait 15 years until I could fund one myself! |
I also had a huge gap.
December 1980 - Madesimo school trip. Loved it and unlike everyone else I could ski beyond snowplough turns, due to indoor dry lessons in the months before previous.
March 1996 - Santa Catarina di Valfurva. Like riding a bike.
What happened in between .... life, holidays in the sun 
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Also see they have started the cannons on the (north facing) world cup run in PSP as theres a streak of white down it, with otherwise just frost above
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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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Aha, I thought it would be cold enough to get serious with the cannons this week and those Kronplatians are always so efficient!
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FAQ
