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Where can we go for good snow....not THAT far from Selva?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi all,

We're in Selva Gardena and the skiing is awful in the afternoons and extremely dangerous for a poor skier like me.

In the morning it's great, but the ice in the afternoon as dangerous and I've seen dozens of people carried away on stretchers.

Can anyone advise anywhere to go to from here that could offer better conditions please?

We're flying out of Munich so Austria could be an option.

We have a car and it's full of gas Wink

Thanks in advance.

Nick
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I assume you're referring to 'ice' where pistes have got worn and had any soft snow scraped off the surace?

There are dozens of little ski zones around where you are. Everything that's on the Sella Ronda circuit or directly lift connected to it tends to get well used but as you get further from the loop and more so, all the little areas that require 10-15 minutes on a bus (or more) remain relatively un-skied.
From Selva, why not head past S.Christina to Ortisei then head away from the Sela Ronda into the area called Alpe di Suisi?

Or, ski a little around the Sela Ronda circuit to Campitello / Canazei where you can get a bus 10 mins to Alba. The runs between Alba and Pozza di Fassa always seem underused.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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admin wrote:

Or, ski a little around the Sela Ronda circuit to Campitello / Canazei where you can get a bus 10 mins to Alba. The runs between Alba and Pozza di Fassa always seem underused.


If they have a car, I think the road over the pass via Lupo Bianco is usually open, so they could drive to Alba, and not need to ski any of the Sella Ronda.
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JackAbroad wrote:
Hi all,

We're in Selva Gardena and the skiing is awful in the afternoons and extremely dangerous for a poor skier like me ...


IMHO you would be better served by booking afternoon lessons to learn how to ski the conditions,

also, "dozens" stretchered off - really?

Seriously, I know very well how easy it is to be scupppered by challenging conditions. I don't think seeking out "better conditions" will serve you well in the long run.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Holidauloverxx,

I'm sick of skiing down slopes where, in difficult places, there's hardly any snow. Just a smattering of dandruff!

It really is awful. There are 13 in our group and some of them are considering packing up and going home early.

Yesterday I went from being totally smitten by skiing to never wanting to ski again all within a few hours before and after lunch.

The ice, especially closer to the bottom, is almost impossible for me to ski on. The same for several reasonable skiers with me.

I exaggerated about dozens being stretchered off but I saw at least 6 or 7 and many, many, many more taking off their skis and walking.

If I booked lessons for the afternoon, I'd be wasting my money as I don't want to know how to ice-skate.

It's sooooooo frustrating.
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Ski-ing can be a bit like life - some times you have to take the rough with the smooth. Why don't you ski on the upper part of the mountain and take the gondola down from mid station - thus avoiding dangerous bottle necks and icy hardpack at the bottom in the late afternoon.
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JackAbroad wrote:

If I booked lessons for the afternoon, I'd be wasting my money as I don't want to know how to ice-skate.



It's a real shame when things don't match up with pre-hol expectations, but you can turn them to your advantage. Honestly, you can ski what is there, you just need to learn the technique - an investment rather than a waste of money (I'm lousy on scraped hardpack but sometimes you've just got to deal with it).

have you been to Ortisei & Santa Christina? I would bet the conditions are better there.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
JackAbroad, can't you download?
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JackAbroad, sorry to hear about your predicament, I've been keeping an eye on conditions just over the mountain in Arabba, they've had loads of new snow last weekend, hard to imagine that none has made it's way over to Selva, maybe it was the rain/sleet that fell in resort and on the lower mountain just before Xmas that has frozen just below the surface of the fresh snow and it gets revealed on the steeper runs twd the end of the day. Which runs are affected?

The solution could be to drive up to the car park at Plan de Gralba and ski around Piz Seteur, Piz Sella and up higher twd the Sella Pass/ Col Rodella area where you shouldn't experience the frozen crust, there are some nice easy runs up here, good for confidence building. Or you could drive up from Santa Cristina to Saltria to access the the north-facing parts of the Alpe di Siusi sector. Also, if you get the Dantercepies gondola out of Selva (just above the nursery slopes, there is a car park here too), you can drop off the back down to Colfosco, this turns into a blue lower down so doesn't get cut up, you can do circuits of this using the gondola and the 2 chairs (you need the Superski area pass for this as it falls outside Val Gardena, you can also continue on to Corvara where there are loads of gentle runs). Then you could download the gondola back to Selva when you're finished if the piste is badly cut up twd the bottom. The resort runs into Selva village tend to get cut up at the end of the day at the best of times because of the sheer amount of traffic.

Hope this helps!
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Hi Luigi,

Good ideas but we've tried most. Piz Sella was great, but getting down from there was scary and the worst skiing experience of my life.

We're going to try Alpes de Suisi today. We've also found Col Raiser isn't too bad in the afternoon, but in reality, we're skiing on thin blankets of snow over very deep ice.

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions.

We're thinking of driving to Lech for a few days now and maybe extending our holiday to at least get some decent skiing in.

PS - why don't they turn on the snow blowers during the day where some of the places are really dangerous?? They have done this in other resorts that we have been to.

Regards,

Nick
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JackAbroad, glad you've got the option of going somewhere else if the conditions are that tricky, hope it works out for you.

I'm a bit worried now as I'm out on the 16th to Arabba, hope it didn't rain too much over there.

You said it was OK in the Piz Sella area, the snow is usually nice there and further up to Piz Seteur and those runs in the shadow of the Sassolungo. I'm assuming it is the run back into the village that was icy, that is why I suggested driving up to the car park at Plan de Gralba, its about 3 miles out of Selva on the road that goes up to the Sella pass, this will get you up higher where the snow is good, you can have a nice time and you won't have to ski that run back into the village.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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JackAbroad, wow i really feel for you, must be awful if people are considering packing up and heading home. If i were in your shoes i would move elsewhere like you said. make the best of a bad situation. Hope you get something sorted.
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We eventually stayed in Selva and drove to higher places to avoid the horrible lower level slopes on the way down. Skiing was much better there, but still dangerous as you would be skiing on nice snow, then hit a 10m-20m patch of ice with zero snow on it at all. There were also so many areas of slopes with a tiny thin layer of snowy dust above that LOOKED ok, but really wasn't. There really was little point of skiing after 2pm and it was no coincidence that we saw most of the falls/injuries happen after this time of day. People were falling down left, right and centre.

I still can't understand why they can't identify these dangerous areas and turn on the snow blowers. I've seen that done in other resorts and it made a huge difference.

I certainly won't be going back to Selva in a rush!!

Thanks again to all for your suggestions - especially Luigi whose advice helped us for the last few days.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Avoid the Sella Ronda runs. Ciampinoi and Dantercepies can become very cut-up in the afternoon as they are SR bottlenecks. Go over to Colraiser and Seceda and catch the bus back in the afternoon rather than ski. You'll be fine.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Hi Mollerski,

We're back home from Selva now, but thanks anyway.

You're so right about Ciampinoi and Dantercepies - they are truly awful runs in the afternoon. Sasslong too.

Col Raiser was much, much better and probably my favourite area. If the lifts further up from Col Raiser were "closed" (even with the face-protecting perspex front) it would have been superb. Being so exposed, the wind really gets quite strong and you freeze quickly on the big, long lifts to the top.

There was one problematic area on the way back down to the bottom of the Col Raiser lift which was very hard to ski. I saw so many people fall, slide 20-30 metres, take off their skis and walk or even just crying halfway down that it maddened me. Why couldn't the people in charge add more snow or do whatever it takes to make it ski-able? There was snow on the sides, but it was 90% "bald". I don't think there was any other way down, so poor skiers had no choice but to risk it. I witnessed at least one bad accident there when an out-of-control idiot (who thought he was cool flying past everyone) smashed into a ponderous, careful lady doing her best to get down. He wasn't impressed when I threw his ski down the hill and told him that he would be next.

One other thing - what is it with Italians and Italian kids who seem to not understand how to queue at lifts? They get their kids to push in to the front and then the kids call over to "Mama" or "Papa" to come to them. There were some serious arguments going on in many different languages. It didn't bother me too much as I didn't mind waiting an extra minute or two, but I could understand why others lost their cool.

Ps - the food in Selva was VERY special!
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
JackAbroad, glad you were able to find some nice snow to ski on. New Year is always a scrum, the kids usually back down with a well-placed pole.Toofy Grin

I'm hoping for some fresh snow this week to cover up the icy patches before I head out next weekend!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
It started to snow yesterday but then rained straight after, so I wish you luck.

One other fault with Selva and Val Gardena in general was the stupid lift system. To get to a good, high point, you would have to take several lifts and often walk several minutes or try and cross-country ski to get the the next one.

We all spoke of the huge amount of time wasted going from one lift to another in many of the areas around Selva. It doesn't seem well thought out, especially on the Alpe di Suisi.

Overall, I was quite disappointed with the organisation of Val Gardena's slopes. It's quite possible that it gets a lot easier when you're a repeat visitor or local who knows the short-cuts, but most tourists either don't have the time to learn by their mistakes or haven't yet realised how much information is available on this site!!!
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JackAbroad,
Are you sure it was Selva you visited? Very Happy We've been to the area once or twice a season for the last 10yrs and not done too much walking. wink I think you're right, it's knowing the area. Having skiied other areas inc. the 3v's, I've always reckoned the Val Gardena area infrastructure to be modern and well thought out.
However, I've known less confident skiers to be put-off by late afternoon conditions around Selva, low temps help, as this lessens the likelyhood of the snow being pushed off of the base ice into moguls on the heavily trafficked areas. A less busy week would also be preferable.
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Hoping that next week will be a "less busy week" as we're off tomorrow, maybe some snow forecast so keeping fingers crossed.
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Steve, do your research before you go or you'll waste a LOT of time. If you have a car, you can avoid a lot of hassle lower down the slopes.
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stevew, should be a lot quieter, the kids will have gone back to school, the Russians will have gone home after their Xmas hols, so mostly adult Germans and Italians plus your usual smattering of nationalities....

Snow is now looking very likely on Monday night, local forecast for Arabba side is 20+cm and down to 1200m, so all slopes should see a covering. Keep your fingers crossed.

http://www.arpa.veneto.it/bollettini/htm/dolomiti_meteo_en.asp

If the icy patches that Jackabroad describes are causing a problem, try some of the suggestions, stay higher and consider downloading where possible to avoid the worst affected areas.

Have a good trip!
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Quote:

I still can't understand why they can't identify these dangerous areas and turn on the snow blowers. I've seen that done in other resorts and it made a huge difference.

JackAbroad, it's not possible to blow snow unless temperatures are low - despite those fatuous ski brochure comments about snow being "guaranteed" by snow cannons.

I understand your frustration - I spent the morning on some very hard packed pistes steering my way between patches of mud and grass (though I saw remarkably little actual ice - the shiny blue stuff). I'm quite an experienced skier but I still found it difficult and not very enjoyable. Technique on slopes like that is very different - need to be very conservative in use of edges, for example. An ability to side slip (something taught by all good instructors) is very useful; I sideslipped a long section this morning, on a not-very-difficult red slope I usually take at some speed.

I didn't see anybody over 4 years old fall over though - and the ability of some evidently not very experienced skiers to cope well with the conditions made me feel a bit of a twit!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
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JackAbroad, IMV, Selva is well sorted, well maintained and pretty tame. I think if you struggled with such conditions in Selva, you could've been in bigger trouble in many other resorts. Returning to Meribel, for instance, late afternoon, can be not unlike skiing on a 45 degree ice rink. Confused
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Cheers feel a lot perkier now - off to the airport in half an hour - excited!!!
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Quote:

Returning to Meribel, for instance, late afternoon, can be not unlike skiing on a 45 degree ice rink.

I spent a day in Meribel two winters ago with my son, who was working there. Snow conditions were prettty good - we had an excellent day - Mont Vallon was great. However, Mollerski's description of returning to Meribel rings a bit of a bell. We were parked at Rondpoint. The last run down needed great care. It wasn't ice, but it wasn't great snow either and it was very, very, crowded compared to what I'm used to (the Mont Vallon pistes had been busier than any piste here is in mid January, with quite a few people falling as it was a bit mogully). Then there are some other pistes coming down and crossing, aren't there? With dafties who are not fully in control taking the whole area too fast. I was quite relieved when I reached the car without anyone crashing into me - and without crashing into anyone else.

There's some great skiing around, but Meribel itself? I'd not recommend it to beginners. Mottaret would be better (we spent a week there when I was quite a beginner, and we found some good runs for us), Courchevel better still.
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Pam, thanks again for the ideas.

I know Andorra's not trendy, but we had a superb time there. We avoided the main tourist slopes by going to a lesser known area called Arcalis, or something like that. All the lifts and equipment were brand new and the area was very quiet - we never had to queue for the lifts and would often ski 20-30 minutes without seeing anyone. I'm actually looking forward to going back there again once we've tried a few other areas first.

Moller - I can only guess that we were unlucky with the ice and obviously over-skied slopes (due to the holiday period) from halfway down. We were a group of 13 people and most are very experienced skiers - many of them were really disappointed with the condition of the slopes and the strange lift systems. Some were so disillusioned that they left early and went back home. The people that ran our hotel said that this period (Dec/Jan) is the worst time for skiing as the mountains hide the low sun for a long time. March is the best, they said.
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Quote:

March is the best

true of almost anywhere, actually.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
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I had a fantastic week in Corvara in March. even the dreaded run off the Champinoi and Sassalong were very nioe indeed (not like in February the previous year). I don't think I'd go back to Selva - there are plenty of other places in the Dolomites that aren't Sella Ronda bottlenecks
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
JackAbroad, we are based in Canazei where we had pistes in very good shape ane some nice powder, but we skied over to Selva a couple of time over the New Year week with our guests and I have to agree that the conditions were very bad. I'm an advanced skier and I service my skis myself so they have very good edges but if I was a lower level skier those slopes would be extremely off-putting for me. I have to say that the slopes that week in Selva had some of the worst conditions that I have skied for a long time.
I hope that it didn't put you off the Dolomites and spoil your holiday too much (I hold Andorra in high esteem so I know where you are coming from Smile ) but I think that you were just very unlucky with the conditions.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I was staying in San Cassiano on the 1st and 2nd and don't recognise the conditions described (we skied as much of the area as we could reach).

It's worth saying that the hard base is a result of the artificial snow, not that the artificial is a remedy for the hard base.

Leaving aside the numerous advantages of the area, I am unlikely to return as I dislike the slopes being so comprehensively bashed (didn't see a mogul all week) although the other half loved it as she learned during the bad years and is adept on sheet ice as she is in the pow! (although I was blamed for packing her B2s and not the carvers)
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

It's worth saying that the hard base is a result of the artificial snow, not that the artificial is a remedy for the hard base.

Not necessarily. During the time under discussion I skied a number of slopes here which had very, very, hardpacked snow - so much so that they had "neige verglacée" signs at the top. Most of them had no snow cannons - indeed the cannoned slopes were in better nick, as they'd built up more of a base during the very cold weather a while ago. As I said in my post earlier, I skied them with great care, and slowly - and I'm a reasonably good skier who knows the slopes well. They weren't nice (they weren't ice either, on the whole - a few patches of green shiny stuff were well marked).

victoriac, useful - and interesting post, after people telling the OP that Selva always has lovely ski conditions and he must just be a hopeless skier. rolling eyes Some knowledgeable local input is just what was needed.
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having a great time in selva slopes freshened up yesterday and some good snow to be found yes some icey bits but mostly avoidable
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Does anywhere in Europe have good snow atm? Most places around Innsbruck seem to currently have a thin layer of slush mixed up with exposed rock. I've done more skinning the last week than skiing as I'm fed up with the amount of core shots I've taken whilst skiing!
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Kaltenbach was nice up top on Saturday (and it's not excessively high there), but sightly damp on the last 200m or so in the sun. Sunday was "loose castor sugar on firm base", and no damp slushy stuff. Certainly not thin, and certainly no exposed rock, nor any stones and pine cones dragged up by the piste bashers. Sure I've skied better, but it was "perfectly adequate". Hope it doesn't degrade though for the other snowHead that are there for the remainder of this week.
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[quote="pam w"]
Quote:


victoriac, useful - and interesting post, after people telling the OP that Selva always has lovely ski conditions and he must just be a hopeless skier. rolling eyes Some knowledgeable local input is just what was needed.


Having spent many weeks in and around the Selva area over the years and experiencing most types of snow condition, I still reckon that it's largely only the Sella Ronda bottle necks that suffer. If you know the area well enough, these can be avoided from early afternoon onwards.
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stevew, thanks for the update!!

Please post any more reports on the Italy thread in the Snow reports section, there are a few heading out next week who would like to know what the damage is from the mild spell.
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Well that was certainly a pretty scathing report about Selva. However I do agree about some of the negative comments about the area (especially the Italian children). My biggest gripe with Selva is how difficult they make it to get to the Plan De Grabla and ALpe Di Siusi areas if you don't have a car. The ski bus goes no further than the hamlet of Plan which means you then have to get an expensive taxi to continue to Plan De Grabla. Otherwise you have to ski to it on that awful red run from the top of Ciampioni. And trying to get to ALpe Di Siusi area is another pain which involves a slow ski bus trip to Ortisei and then catching the gondola or getting that slow 2 seater chair lift from St Christina and then another bus transfer from Monte Pana. Having a car would make a trip to Selva much more convenient and to be honest I probably wouldn't visit Selva again unless I had a car. A real shame as the area has so much going for it but is let down in my view by the lack of investment in the lift and transportation systems.
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Isn't it interesting how different people's experiences of the same area can be. As a relatively recent convert to the area, I do find some of these comments quite hard to understand.

I struggle to understand the idea that it is difficult to get from Selva to Plan de Gralba - it is just one lift (Ciampioni) and one red run (which you describe as awful - OK it has a short steepish section at the top which beginners might find daunting, especially if the snow is a bit hard-packed, but otherwise is more like a French blue run with a number of different possible routes). Why you would feel the need to get a taxi there is beyond comprehension, unless you are a complete beginner (in which case I suspect you'd be better off basing yourself in Corvara rather than Selva).

And whilst it is a bit of a trek to ski to Alpe Di Suisi area, it is a really nice ski via Co Raiser and Seceda down to Ortisei. One of the great joys of the Dolomite area is the ability to travel huge distances on skis and try out various different areas. Personally, I don't find taking the odd short bus to enjoy different areas a particular problem, but we are all different.

Each to their own!
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RG1 - As I was a beginner when I went there, I did find the experience quite daunting. Maybe when I am more experienced I will find the trek to Plan de grabla a lot easier. However most brochures highlight Selva as being a good resort for beginners. This may be true for the nursery areas but then when you want to progress to the longer runs which ideally are at Plan De Grabla and at Alpe Di Siusi I didn't find them convenient to get to. It wasn't impossible to do so but certainly not convenient. I just feel that with a bit more investment in the lift/transport infrastructure these areas would be much more accesible to beginners wishing to progress. During my lesson with the ski school we were taken by mini bus to Plan de Grabla. The instructor had no intention of taking us up to Ciampioni and taking us down that red run to get there.
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jimmybog,

That would explain the different experience - I would agree with you about Selva not being ideal for beginners - in the immediate area it is a bit of a jump from the nursery slopes to the next stage. I think beginners would be better based in Corvara, Colfosco or San Cassiano, where the progression onto nice easy long blues seems to be much easier. For someone reasonably confident with a couple of weeks under their belt, Selva becomes a much more attractive proposition, I think, and the areas you mention become much more easily accessible.
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