 Poster: A snowHead
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Any snowHeads out there? If so fancy hooking up at some point?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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When: 21.03.09
Where: Folgarida/Marilleva, Val di Sol, Italian Dolomites
Hotel: Kapriol 3*
Tour Op: Rocketski
Ski Hire: PM Sci, Folgarida via online Skiset
Skis: Volkl P60 – 167 length
Ski Pass: Full area Val di Sol @ €186
Holiday cost £229 pp inc f & t, half board
What a gem  This resort is a joy – superbly linked for some superb terrain, awesome pistes and easy access to plenty of off-piste for those who are just getting to grips with their first venture away from groomed slopes 
The resort of Folgarida/Marilleva and the links to Madonna di Campiglio offer a great range of confidence building blue runs, fast and cruisy reds and a few blacks that have challenging aspects but aren’t overly demanding. Expert skiers may be disappointed, but in a mixed group there is something for everyone and access to most areas that allow sufficient alternatives to enable people to ski together.
We had 5 days of clear blue sky  and 2 half days of overcast. Other than the last day which was hot, the wind kept temperatures sufficiently low, thus maintaining excellent conditions with little spring snow until right at the end of the day. The bumper snow this year meant exceptional coverage everywhere – I’ve not seen anything quite like it in the 17 weeks or so that I’ve experienced
The lift system is mostly modern, providing efficient uplift. Signposts for aiding direction are clear. I spent one morning out on my own and managed to ski all the peaks in the whole area, start to finish with only 2 or 3 references to a piste map. And what a morning that was. Blasting around a near empty resort under glorious sunshine, pausing only to record some of the views with my camera.
Truly one of the best mornings I think I’ve ever had. Breathtaking scenery, breathtaking pistes, buttock clenching speed, taking the fastest pistes available down from each peak. 3 hours of the biggest and longest grin on planks for the 7 years I’ve been at it 
The SO came on leaps and bounds – some of her best skiing 5 weeks in and comfortable on reds that enabled her to get over to Madonna and back by herself one day. A feat unimaginable until this week. A testament to the resort as much as anything.
If there’s anything approaching the snow depth/quality again, this is a resort I’ll certainly return to at some point
The restaurants on the mountain were all clean, efficient and friendly. Pricewise, typically 30% more expensive than the resort level establishments. So €12 for a pizza (enough for 2) for example. Coffee €2.50, beer €5 for 0.5l.
Folgarida 1300 is a purpose built, small resort of hotels which are mainly either side of the main drag. Two runs down to 1300 – a blue and a black, both fun. To be honest the black reminded me more of reds in France and Austria, but if the colour puts off less experienced skiers on the last run home, sending them to the blue, so much the better.
From the lowest hotel to the bubble lift is no more than a 10 minute, uphill walk. The place is on the featureless side and there are only a handful of bars. The week we were there was incredibly quiet, but even were it busier, I struggle to see how 1300 could ever be described as lively. Just out of the lift and on the far side of the “square” there’s a pizza restaurant (recommended) with an outside terrace – a sunspot for the late afternoon sunshine and welcome watering hole on the schlep back to the hotel
The Eta Beta bar is the liveliest, but there really were so few people in the resort that it never really got rocking with the exception of the karaoke night. And even then things only got going when we decided that the bar owner had overstayed his welcome on the machine and I and one other started belting out the Italian songs he was also singing. Ever tried singing foreign karaoke with no idea of the tune? After a few beers and Williams chasers it’s thoroughly entertaining  And resulted in us all getting a sing song in our native tongue as the bar owner relented and handed over the mike 
We were all still laughing at breakfast, not to mention nursing a few hangovers
Which leads onto the Kapriol. In an effort to be balanced, the best one can say is that it is basic, clean and the food acceptable with decent portions. It is featureless, dated and with zero character. The beds (twin rooms) are small and not that comfortable. The bathroom (shower only) was small, but well-fitted with a great head of water making for a good shower. Size-wise, the bedroom was adequate with plenty of storage. The hotel staff acted as though they would rather have been somewhere else. No-one was rude exactly, but everything seemed to be too much trouble – amazing when one considers the place was probably 20% occupied. Perhaps that was the problem or maybe the resultant lack of tips under occupation must mean. Oh! And they don’t take credit cards or allow tabs. Cash is king, payable on order. The red wine is €12/bottle, local and decent. The house carafe at €6 is well worth steering clear of – real screech!!
I wouldn’t go back there. Even at the price paid to be honest. There are other hotels with pools and wellness centres that I’d pick, and happily pay more for.
Folgarida 1400 is livelier and larger. Now, being a mere 100 metres higher one might be forgiven to believe a short hike in an evening would provide more choice for those looking for the odd night out. Wrong I did the hike and it took me 25 minutes of uphill striding along the main road. OK, quicker coming back, but probably not worth the effort IMO.
One other point worth mentioning. There is a cash point machine. One, serving 1300 and 1400. If it breaks, which it did, make sure you have plenty of folding 
Rocketski: The rep was excellent, though with so few people, not much going on really. This was my first experience of Rocketski and I would certainly use them again based upon this trip.
The airport was at Verona Bescia – small and efficient, but in peak times it could get a bit frenetic I imagine. The transfer on modern coaches took about 3 hours.
The Val di Sol ski pass provided a day at Passo Tonale with free transfer. Wish I hadn’t bothered  Although high, with excellent snow depth, I thought it was a dull resort with up and down slopes mostly adjacent to one another. Probably great for beginners. I did take the bubble up to towards the glacier and skied the red and then black back down. With about a foot of fresh it should have been a fun experience, but with the wind right up and 2 hours of skiers/boarders chopping things up it wasn’t the thrill we were after  Everyone, even instructors, were skiing cautiously down the first and steepest section of the black in poor light and chopped up spring snow. Still, at least I now know not to book a holiday there. Last year it was a toss up between Livigno and Tonale. We made the right choice IMO.
Which leads onto one of life’s odd coincidences. At Gatwick, on the flight out we arrived to a short check in queue. Right in front of us were Bert and Angie – a couple we met in Livigno the year before. A nice surprise as we’d had a great laugh with them at the Baita Cuisini. They were going back to Livigno and it was fun to spend some time together at the airport there and on the way back
OK. Skis. I pre-booked some gold “performance” skis and was given a pair of Atomics. One hour in and I popped a ski off, trying to slide to a halt, rather too much in the back seat. Oddly, the heel plate on the binding came completely out of its fixing and couldn’t be encouraged back in. Mutter, mutter, curse, curse and a chance to see if I could ski down half a mountain on one ski. Well almost and mostly in one direction on the downhill foot. PM Sci hire were fine. A bit non-plussed and more than a bit impressed at the attempt to ski one legged!! I took the Volkl P60 next.
The Volkl P60 GC: Brand new – 1 week into their life as hire skis, so in great nick. I could be tempted to buy a pair. Really stable, great for GS carving, not devastatingly heavy and thus avoided breaking into a sweat with jelly legs after caning halfway down the piste. Very responsive and good edge to edge with plenty of grip. The thin waist isn’t ideal for off-piste, but I did manage a bit. Also cut through late pm crud and chopped up slushy stuff at resort level with ease.
Favourite run: Red 13. A roller-coaster piste with dips, steeps, cambers, from up high and then down through trees, the whole works. The whooping at the end must have made the lifties think I’d won the lottery.....about 3 times.....in succession. Bloody marvellous. Bloody, bloody marvellous
Maddona di Campiglio: Well, well worth the extended pass. Easy to get to and fro with one red (number 10) there to negotiate, but to be honest it’s more like a blue with one steepish 150m section that is very wide – 30m I’d say.
Probably had the better snow and some very picturesque tree-lined runs lower down. Also host when we were there to a long, and quite challenging GS run on what would normally be a red run.
Marilleva 1400: A concrete hell I’m afraid. Great skiing above the resort, but ugly and worth avoiding IMO.
Newbies: The bubble out of Folgarida 1300 provides access to the nursery slopes – gentle downhill area with a slow 2 man chair and further 2 “enclosed” areas served by a drag lift – great to progress to and hone the new skills. This area has 2-3 restaurant bars adjacent to the slopes for stopping and resting those muscles that you never knew you had. Perfect area for learning IMHO.
The next progression is to take the fast 4-man chair up and tackle the blue back down. It’s a mostly wide run with a consistent gradient half of which winds through the trees and ends at the afore mentioned nursery slope and bar area. Early morning before the lessons start, it’s quite a good warm up run too.
Lockers: If staying at one of the lower hotels in Folgarida, and the thought of lugging your skis uphill each morning whilst wearing your boots is unappealing, there is an option to hire a locker at the top of the bubble lift. The lockers are new and heated and are opened by using the ski pass on a swipe panel. Hire was €33 for 5 days.
Lessons: Cost €35/hour which is good value. I had an hour to iron out a few bad habits and found that the instructor had sufficient English to describe the technique changes required very clearly – basically sorting out a rotation issue which had manifested itself in a rather spectacular crash on day 3. Still at least the now wrecked rotator cuff on my left arm matches the one on the right which I managed to get 5 years ago! Back to the Diclofenac I suppose
Well, that about wraps it up. All in all, a great week of skiing in a very pleasantly surprising area on an amazing amount of snow
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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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Super report - sounds like you had a great time.
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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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Great report. I hope to be there for a week next season.
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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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Butterfly and rob@rar, thanks.
rob@rar, good luck with that plan - it really is a super resort, probably second on my list of favs to be honest.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Chasseur,
I have printed your post off and passed it over to the owner (not the manager) of the Kapriol. I asked that they look at it and let me have a response; I will post it here if I get one.
Just one little point from our (the resort) side. This not aimed at anyone specifically but just a general feeling from our side of the fence.
If any other Tour Operators are reading please note as this applies to all ski resorts in Europe; when a hotel is screwed on prices to such an extent that that they are basically just looking after clients as a method of providing turn-over (as apposed to a reasonable mark-up for the services provided) the feeling of resentment felt by the management toward some company's clients may just filter down.
I understand that this forum will always be biased toward the end-user (i.e., the tourist) who is looking for that elusive “good-deal” i.e. pay cheap get more. But sooner or later this mind-set will filter down. Not only will this have any effect on (as you will understand) the level of service you receive but also, ultimately, on reducing the amount of available stock available for hire/use. This means that if you keep screwing out the “best possible deal” you will, in effect be putting up future prices due to a simple supply and demand equation. If hotels, ski hire companies, ski schools, chalet owners, airlines, bus companies, etc are not able to grow with a decent mark-up then they will close and this can only lead to a cost increase as the remaining companies claw back previous year’s losses.
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Wayne, you make a valid point...IMHO you always get what you pay for.
Chasseur, I would recommend a hotel in Madonna De C, Hotel Milano which is bang in the centre of town.
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| northantsred wrote: |
Chasseur, I would recommend a hotel in Madonna De C, Hotel Milano which is bang in the centre of town. |
As long as you can speak Russian?
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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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Wayne, well that's kind of you to offer. I really wasn't looking to make a fuss, more an observation with some reasoning.
To honest, if the the Kapriol, for example, were unhappy with the deal with the TO, that is down to them to manage from top to bottom through their business. If they get rave reviews and high customer satisfaction that could strengthen their negotiating hand.
Although the deal I got with Rockectski was very good, I rather suspect they were offering it to get something back on a higher commitment they'd made. As we paid less than half price for the advertised, normal price, that would seem a reasonable assumption.
northantsred, why would you recommend that? Do you know me? Or have some insight into what I look for in a skiing holiday?
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Chasseur, well you make it apparent that the hotel you stayed in was not to your liking and all I am saying is that we had a fantastic time when we stayed in The Milano. Russian wasn't a requirement Wayne, or are you indicating the clientel have changed? The location is good, the staff were freindly and the food was historic....this was 3 years ago so maybe things have changed.
Chasseur, I am sorry I mentioned anything at all reading your reaction 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Wayne,
We stayed at the Kapriol (6 of us) in January and were very pleased with it, would probably go back too, as for the money it's hard to see how it could be beaten.
We found the staff friendly and approachable, the food was excellent and the rooms, whilst basic, were clean and comfortable. Any issues we had (we'd asked for 2 doubles and a twin but got 3 twins) were dealt with immediately. The bar was a bit souless and it was irritating that everything had to be cash rather than slate, but other than that, no complaints at all.
Feel free to pass on my comments should you be so inclined.
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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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FAQ
Now the skiing over till November (last day of the season yesterday in Zermat 