Help/Advice Needed please..Cortina

A snowHead

Goodday everyone...

Every year i organise a skiing trip for my friends and family that fly in from South Africa, as they spend alot of money and time getting here and while here, I try and organise things as efficiently as possible. The trip this year has been decided on Italy and CORTINA as the ski resort.
I know this is a broad request but any advice or "local hints" on the resort is greatly appreciated, more specifically, VERY central accomadation close to main lifts/gondolas and preferably in walking distancce of nightlife or town. Specific areas to ski being the first time there and only for 6 days, the little bit of research i have done has led me to believe that there is a main ski area connected to Cortina but also another HUGELY VAST area connected via a bus that 1 ski pass covers, so would the main ski area of Cortina be vast enough to enjoy for 6 days or would we need to venture further out to the other areas??Specific ski schools etcetc???we will have 4 beginners with us this year.
We will be doing a tour of Italy first with the last stop being Venice and have sourced a transfer from there already.

Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to respond or share any experiences of Cortina, look forward to your responses...

Brendan

A snowHead

mmmmmmm....Is it safe to assume that Cortina is not an overly popular resort????

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brendan88, sorry, i've never been, so i can't help you out. from the little i've researched, it's noted to be an expensive poser's resort. hope it helps. friends have taken their rsa family out to cervinia and loved that. is that another option for you guys?

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Cortina is part of the Dolomiti Superski region - over 1200km of pistes, but it is not linked to biggest sections of it. I have not skied Cortina, but have visited in summer - for skiing we have gone elsewhere in Dolomiti Superski. Cortina is quite a large town rather than just a ski resort, and the lifts seemed to be quite a long way apart, and from the town centre. In summer at least it gave the appearance of "faded chic". I must admit it is not the place I would choose for a ski trip - there are much better in the Dolomites.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Martin Nicholas, We chose Selva and were very pleased with it, I would also have no hesitation in staying in Arabba or Corvara, (or San Cassiano, or La Villa, or Ortisei), as they are all really nice places, with linked access. I would probably also choose Val di Fassa, and maybe one or two of the other less well linked areas ahead of Cortina - but it's just my opinion, others may like different things and choose differently.

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Martin Nicholas, We chose Selva and were very pleased with it, I would also have no hesitation in staying in Arabba or Corvara, (or San Cassiano, or La Villa, or Ortisei), as they are all really nice places, with linked access. I would probably also choose Val di Fassa, and maybe one or two of the other less well linked areas ahead of Cortina - but it's just my opinion, others may like different things and choose differently.

After all it is free

RobinS, Grazie - thinking of a New Year trip - have you ever beeen at that time to the Dolomites? Any comments

I visited Cortina as part of a wider (and not mainly ski) trip with non-skiing friends. We stayed in a village some miles away because Cortina was absolutely rammed. I did a few hours skiing one day, going up in a very busy gondola but skied mostly over lunchtime and the pistes were pretty deserted. I can't remember much about it, really - it was a few years ago. The apres ski "passegiata" in the town is interesting - more mink coats than you can shake a stick at and very expensive coffee and cakes. Good for window shopping; very chic clothes etc. It's not a destination where "ski convenience" leaps to mind - as noted above, it's quite big and busy and the lifts are a bit spread out. If your accommodation is near one of them, it'll be far fromthe others. The scenery all around that area was stunning - we had a car and drove quite a lot, enjoying the bewildering change of language from one small village to another, and noting a number of nice (but extremely small) little ski areas dotted around.

I'd say it was a place for a holiday where skiing wasn't the main focus, maybe linked with a visit to Venice (that's what we did). I must say that it wouldn't occur to me as a beginner's resort - a fair bit of hassle for them, maybe.

We were there in March. Snow cover was poor, which made for excellent driving conditions but I would have been disappointed if skiing had been the main purpose of the visit.

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Another thought - if you change the thread title to make it clear that you want information about Cortina, you might get more replies. As it stands, it could be about anything.

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Martin Nicholas, We went late January, but I wouldn't hesitate over a New Year trip. If you do a search there was a massive thread about the Sella Ronda over the winter - lots of info and ideas from lots of fans of the Dolomites

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brendan88, If you go to Cortina you will need a full length fur coat to walk up and down past all the posh shops and a very small dog under your arm, and thats just the blokes. There are lots of better places to go skiing in the Dolimites than Cortina.

You know it makes sense.

brendan88, been to Cortina March 5 years ago. Beautifull and great skiing.
At that stage they had white week offers that included transfer from Treviso or Venice airport , ski pass and accommodation.. Good deals to be found. We stayed just on outskirt of town close to toboggan run,closest you will get to slope, great access to bus and run next to toboggan Olympic run. Easy walk into town.
Skiing is all out of town with bus mostly. Bus to beginners areas. Wide good beginner runs and good options to join for lunch. Skiing is enough for a week, we skied the Sela Ronda from there with only one short taxi trip on the way back. Great and challenging day out.
There are organized day trips to other parts of Dolomites.
Good Supermarket in town, other stores in town prohibitively expensive, especially in Rands!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I have skied one day in Cortima, so I can't claim even to know the whole area. But I enjoyed the day we had there. We were staying in Colfosco, in the main Sella Ronda area. We were there in March too (2002) but the snow was fine that year. The main area of Dolomiti Superski is bigger but, for beginners, I expect the area would be fine (although the slopes are a bit away from the town, I think, as others have said). We had the advantage of having our own transport, so it was easier to move around. As I wasn't in the town in winter, I cannot comment on others' opinions that Cortina is an up-market spot. It has, perhaps, a reputation that was based on the Olympics there. But that was in the 1950s - I suspect things have moved on a bit!

A snowHead

I plan to drive to Cortina Ampezzo myself in Jan 2010. Should be able to stay at a distance to sample the skiing of the surrounding area and spend an evening or two to see what the place is like. Did the same in Zermatt, Ischgl, Lech, Davos and St Moritz. I believe it is only expensive if one stay right inside the town and specify a hotel at a walking distance from the chairlifts. Let's see if the fur coats longer and whiter in Cortina Ampezzo than in St Moritz.

The ski pass can be bought for the whole region and cannot be muct different from rest of Italy.

I suppose for the consideration of value for money, facilities and snow condition, crowd etc an informed skier, for the first visit, would choose Sella Ronda area which has 510 out of the 1220km piste. It is at least a lot bigger and well linked between 4 areas of Alta Bdia (Area 3), Val Gardfena (Area 4), Val Di Fassa (Area 5) and Arabba (Area 6) instead of going to a rather isolated of Contina Ampezzo (Area 1). Based on the information provided by the Snowheads this was what I did a couple years back so going to Cortina is my second attempt to sample the Dolomites. I am going for two weeks and will spend the second week in Sella Ronda to have my second bite of the cherry there.

I suppose for a group of overseas vistors with 4 beginners Cortina Ampezzo isn't a bad choice to claim "having been there". Visitors going to Sella Ronda have the opportunity of skiing the biggest skiing loop which is a non-stop skiing in a day for many skiers/boarders. That is clearly beyond the capability of the beginners. In my last trip to Engelberg I estimated there were about 10 to 15% non-skiing visitors using the cable car to the top of Klein Titlis. All they wanted was to stand at the edge of the glacier, take photos of being at a 3026m peak, have lunch at the mountain top restaurant, buy some souvenir there and be transported by the world's first rotating cable car. If there is a bit of skiing too, why not? They may even be able to tell that they start skiing at Cortina Ampezzo that everybody knows where is located.

A snowHead

Thank you for all your replies, it led me to a whole new search and some very interesting outcomes, being the Sella-Ronda, Val gardena and Selva, which is now our new destination, Selva Gardena, found quite a few Garni / BnB's that have ski in ski out, right next to main lifts, close to meeting point of ski schools, direct access to Sella Ronda and within 10 mins walking of town centre. On top of seeming to have absolutely beautiful surroundings the immediate ski area seems quite good for beginners and "advanced" intermediates. Also relatively easy to get to from Venice which will be our last Italian city stop before skiing. Would love to hear more comments or experiences on Selva if anyone has any...

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brendan88, I think Selva is a very good choice for your group as it has very good nursery slopes for your beginers and some good red and black runs into the village and is on the Sella Ronda. The village is of a reasonable size with a few clubs for those who want the nightlife. I am based in Arabba for the first two weeks of March, when is your group there.

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Thanks riverman, nightclubs not really an issue, but some good restaurants and the odd late night pub for those crazeeee evenings are always a bonus, we will be there first 2 weeks of January.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

brendan88, One of my favourite runs in the Dolimites is the Dantercepies piste down into Selva which gives you a choice of black or red with a vertical drop of 700 metres +

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The Santa Christina, which is linked to Selva, has a loop of its own. It starts at the funicular, goes up Seceda, down to Ortesei, crosses the valley to the opposite side (small walk through town centre), passes most of the Alpe de Siusi before ending with a bus ride back to Santa Christina. It is nice skiing in its own right. I mention Alpe De Siusi because it is marketed as a "family resort" with a huge flat terrain and thus suitable for the beginner at the two end of the bus ride.

The drawback of Selva is it can be crowded in the morning so get up early.

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brendan88, the www.valgardena.it website has lots of accommodation, and if you look in the sections for the individual villages there are jpg and pdf maps, so you can see exactly where each apartment is in relation to lifts and the village centre

After all it is free

RobinS, Thanks alot, I am currently using that site and www.val-gardena.com as my main sourse of information, both extremely similiar, I have relayed all the info over to the group in South Africa and have them all very excited about the trip, it really does seem like a wonderful area. Altho im happy anywhere with a mountain that has snow Very Happy

brendan88,

Since you elected to go to Sella Ronda there is a massive thread with loads of information.

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brendan88, Excellent choice. IMO the views are every bit as good as Zermatt!

The good skiers could quite easily ski over to the Hidden Valley and therefore Cortina. I would suggest though on that day ski the empy slopes and avoid lunch.

Restaurants in Selva are good and quite inexpensive. You will have a blast.

Enjoy

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Roy Hockley,

Can one ski from Cortina Ampezzso to the Hidden Valley and take a bus back? What would be the best arrangement if I can drive either to Cortina or Hidden Valley?

The Dolomites has some 12 areas. Is there some strategic locations to stay to maximise coverage?

Currently I am thinking of staying near Dobbiaco so that I could travel to Krontplatz (Area 2), Pusteria (Area 7) and Cortina Ampezzo (Area 1) and then move the camp to somewhere near Arabba to cover the South East corner (opposite Selva Gardena) of the Sella Ronda.

I think you are making the right choice to go to the Sella Ronda. Cortina is a big town and the skiing areas very dislocated around the edge. I didn't take to it as a place to ski. Sure the surrounding mountains are spectacular but that is true of the Sella Ronda and the Dolomites generally.

The toughest skiing on the Sella Ronda is around Arabba (which gives access to the Marmolada), where I have stayed a couple of times, but Selva sounds a good choice if that's not what you are primarily looking for.

Cortina is a long drive to the hidden valley but you could do it, saikee. Then ski around the Sella Ronda to get back to your car. I don't think there is any way to ski from near Cortina. Personally I would stay at Arabba and take a day trip to Cortina if you have to. I cannot comment on the areas you mention near Cortina.

You know it makes sense.

saikee, You cannot ski from Cortina to the hidden valley . There is however a ski-bus from Cortina up to the Paao Falzarego go up the cable car to the start of the hidden valley. You then catch a taxi/bus back to the Passo and catch the ski-bus back to Cortina, you cannot ski back to Cortina.
Arabba is a good base as long as you are not looking for nightlife.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

saikee, someone had told me that the Hidden Valley was the same as the stunning Val Mesdi, which starts from the Passo Pordoi cable car (after a short climb) and cuts a diameter across the circle of the Sella Ronda.
So Ignore what I said about that - the Hidden Valley is actually not that far from Cortina. I've set out to ski it twice - once there was not enough snow and once too much.

A snowHead

Have a look at the Sella Ronda piste map so Hidden Valley at Lagazuoi has two runs; one red to get out of the valley terminating at Armentarola and the other black run to return back to the cable car base station.

I take it there will always be taxi or bus available at Armentarolan?

The piste map seems to indicate that if I start at the bottom of Arabbaat 1602m level I could ski or take the chairlifts to the top of gondola No. 11. Would I be able to ski from there to Armentarola? so that I can take a taxi or bus to the bottom of Lagazuoi cable car and ski from the Hidden Valley all the way back to Arabba?

A snowHead

saikee, Yes there is taxi or bus all day at Armentarola, at busy times there will be a wait. Yes you can ski all the way from Arabba to Armentarola. You can ski all the way back from the Hidden Valley except for a flat section at the bottom of the Hidden Valley where you are met by a pair of horses which pull you about a mile or so to Armentarola at a cost of 3 euros where you connect into the lift system back to Arrabba.

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riverman,

Good information.

When I look at the piste map alone there is no way I could find out how the system works. This forum is a big help. It does add some mysteries to the Hidden Valley too. Think I have seen snowcats being used as an equivalent to a "chairlift". Never thought a pair of horses can do the same job.

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saikee, You would take the bus from Cortina to Laguzoi. On the way up you can ski at the Cinque Torre area which is beautiful and usualy deserted!

IMO you could get over to Cortina and ski back to Selva. I agree that you would not do all the runs. But is posibible to "tick the box's"

saikee, The horse drawn lift is unusual. One time we did it there was not enough snow and the taxi took you back to Armenterola. Enjoy the area it is beautiful.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We managed to do the trip staying in Cortina and skied over to Sella Ronda, did the circuit plus few extra slopes, all within good time. Just had to take the one short taxi back- just like SA, have to wait till taxi full! You should be able to do the reverse and get a good feel for Cortina. Just be sure about your turnaround time, maybe ask skiguides or school. We found the advice good and friendly, much easier to sort it once you are there with a good map.
Enjoy.

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Can you give me a url for a map of the area (I'm not having much success so far via Google). Where is Armentarola? The route we were going to ski ends up near Cortina.

You can also ski off piste from Cinque Torri to near Cortina -but you do need a taxi (or in our case a pre-parked car) to make the link into town.

brendan88 you may not have seen this Arabba/Cortina TR though almost everyone else on here is probably sick of it.

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Roy Hockley, Last season they opened up a new chair lift which connected the Cinque Torre area to the Laguzoi which may make the Cinque Torre area more popular, as you say its beautiful area to ski and very quite with a very good resturant at the top of the chair.
I dont see how you can ski from Cortina to Selva unless there is a route I have missed.

After all it is free

riverman, Maybe it was my fault in explaining not the main Cortina slopes. I meant to say you would be able to get over and back in a day. Coming home take the bus and ski the cinque torre area and you can ski around there and up to Laguzoi. Go down the hidden valley into Armenterola. Drag lift up and ski down to San Cassiano. Bubble lift up and ski down to Corvarra. From there up to the top of Dantercepies and home!

Roy Hockley, Sorry I misunderstood your post.

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Help/Advice Needed please..Cortina

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