 Poster: A snowHead
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We're a couple of beginners with one week behind us in need of another fix! I love Italy and the Sud Tyrol so have been searching for wide pistes with lots of blues for practice and technique improvement and Corvara looks like what I need!
Anyone have any experience with Corvara they can share?
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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 went thru Corvara one day, while staying in Ortisei. Those are very wide, not steep slopes.
Culturally, I found it very interesting. A small Ladin-speaking town in a German-speaking part of Italy.
Andy
San Diego, California
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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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The skiing round there is not too demanding and there is also some more difficult skiing on your doorstep should you wish to progess. It's a nice town too with good accomodation.
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P28, excellent choice, it's probably the best spot in the Sella Ronda area for easy cruisy blues. Go up the Col Alt gondola and follow your nose, blue paradise with loads of nice huts with sunny terraces. By the end of the week, you'll be doing the Sella Ronda, try the green (anti-clockwise) route, you miss out the steepest bit at Arabba.
A lot of accommodation is too far to walk to lifts, but I think there's a ski bus that runs around the village, check this out when choosing.
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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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We were out in Selva last week and there were two areas that would be excellent for practicing techniques on pleasant blues, one is the area between Corvara/San Cassiano/La Villa, and the other Alpe de Suisi. For the former, Corvara or San Cassiano would be the best place to stay as La Villa only has a black or red back to village. For Alpe de Suisi the approach from the Suisi ebd is much nicer than from Ortisei, but Alpe de Suisi is nowhere as easily connected to the rest of the Sella Ronda (best connection seems the Satria - Monte Pana bus). When we looked the accomodation in Corvara did seem very expensive, one of the reasons we ended up in Selva.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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P28, Great place as others have said. Lovely tree lined blue runs and great position on the Sella Ronda. There's also a lot of local skiing and it's a good location to get the Hidden Valley quite quickly. We looked at going there when we go back this time but got a good deal in Arabba that was close to the lifts. As luigi has said some of the accommodation is a bit of a walk from the lifts, or at least that's the case for the ones advertised by Tour Operators. I think the distance varies according to price. All the brochures mention a good local bus service but walking to the lift is possible. It just depends on how much you don't mind doing it.
If you go independant then you may get something nearer to a lift but may end up paying more unless you go in the low season.
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Thanks everyone.
It'll be a confidence-building ski holiday so it sounds great. Much as I would love to ski some nice reds and the odd black, just parallel turning is enough to occupy me for the moment 
I downloaded the Corvara PDF to find a B&B near the Col Alto lift...and did for about E35 which is pretty good. In fact, flying into Innsbruck it could work out to pretty reasonably. Has anyone driven in winter on this route through the Brenner Pass? You can either get to Corvara via Ortisei or Brunico and down the ss244 (which looks less steep and windy than the Ortisei route).
The other question: What are restaurants like in the resort? Any good pizza joints? Oh yeah, and how do you do "hockey stops"???!!
As I understand it, English comes 4th in the locals language dept (Ladin, German, Italian, English) so I guess a splattering of Italian or German will come in handy.
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We drove to Selva all the way from the UK, Got back last Sunday, over the Brenner from Innsbruck is no problem, and if you hire a car in Innsbruck it will have winter tyres. I would think the shortest way is to go to Selva and over the pass, it is kept pretty clear, so in daylight, unless it is snowing heavily you will have no problems, should only be a couple of hours from Innsbruck depending on traffic. I have not eaten in Corvara, but will still guarantee that there will be superb pizza restaurants 
In a lot of bars and restaurants some english is spoken, but a mixture of Italian and German is helpful - it is common to ask to ask in Italian and get a reply in German or vice-versa, and most menus are just Italian and German - I find with both I can work out what everything is.
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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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P28, the Brenner motorway is the main link from Germany to Italy and is a fairly low alpine pass at 1300m so is usually kept clear throughout winter, but if you're unlucky it could be tricky in a blizzard.
Low-altitude route to Corvara is via Brunico, never used this road, so can't comment. From Ortisei/Selva, there's the Gardena pass at 2100m that is usually kept open but is prone to closure during/after snow events. Val Gardena can also get quite busy on transfer day.
Never stayed in Corvara, but there is a good pizza place on the mountain called Baita Fredarola, just on the right as you drop over the Arabba side off the Sass Bece chair, about halfway round the green Sella ronda from Corvara.
Practise your hockey stops in slippery socks on a polished wooden floor!  On skis, it's like a more violent parallel turn, involves unweighting the skis, to get them across the slope and using the edges of the skis to scrape into the snow surface while leaning into the hill slightly. You might find it easier one way than the other at first, keep practising, you'll get it eventually! 
As to language, try not to splatter the locals as you attempt to communicate!  A lot of people under 40 speak English, but no harm in going local.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 5-02-09 10:02; edited 1 time in total
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P28, Stayed in Corvara last year for a week. Try not to book out of the town as others have said - we did and it was a big mistake. We stayed at the Bel Sit which was a great hotel, but 10 minute walk out of town along very icy paths! The town is lovely with plenty of bars and restaurants. Did not eat in town as we were half board.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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P28, you need to leave the motorway at Chiusa if approaching Val Gardena from the Brenner, if not, you end up down at Bolzano.
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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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P28, Just checked - Innsbruck Airport to Corvara, via Ortisei/Selva is 86 miles, 50 of it on the motorway so 2 hours is about right.
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luigi, Correct, but it is signposted Val Gardena (on the brown sign)
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You know it makes sense.
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Wow. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to post - a great resource of (practical) information. Now all we need to do is book the flights (oh, and polish the hallway to practise the hockey stops!). Cruising easy blues here we come! There might be the odd gluvine or beer imbibed en route....
One final question that has more to do with photography than Corvara: I need a decent, padded, pack to take a DSLR camera in. Has anyone skied with one and is it better to have a backpack, frontpack or some other kind of one...? Ideally something that doesn't get in the way of skiing and wont cripple you if you fall on it!
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