Poster: A snowHead
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I have stayed at Canazei for a week – it was okay, plenty of restaurants and bars in fact one really nice restaurant called El Pael if I recall the name correctly.
Downside I found was it is not ‘slopeside’. You have to get the Pecol telecabine/gondola up and it was very busy at peak times when we were there, but this was Feb half term week. Also as far as I am aware you can not ski all the way back down to the town. The red that comes back stops quite well short of the town and leaves a healthy slep in your ski boots to the nearest bar/town.
Personally I would choose Arabba if I were to split a holiday into two centres. But Arabba may be a bit quiet for you at night, but that’s another matter.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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JHBGerry, I've stayed in Canazei twice, returned only 2 weeks ago from there. Both times I have stayed at la Croce Bianca - not cheap but a truly great place to stay.
You do have to take the gondola up from town but you can ski down to about 200m from the centre of town. Canazei is well-placed for the Sella Ronda, Marmolada, and doesn't take long to get to Selva.
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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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Freddie Paellahead, 200m? Is there another route down? The way we took was a good 10/15 minutes walk back to the Pecol lift. I have a feeling we may have missed something here or maybe the route you mention was closed/unskiable?
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I stayed in San Cass with the Mountain Sun lot 2 years ago - it was fantastic value. I think Jimmi still dishes out the skis (they operate their own ski hire) and is always up for a sherbet or twelve. There is a club of sorts within 50 yards but the villiage is a 5 min walk. If you are flying try to go via Innsbruck - quite a trip from Venice - ask my 16yr old son and the poor bus driver who had to clear up after him (after my own limited efforts!) I would base myself in SC for the 2 weeks - its only 20 min ski to Canazei and the accomodation in San Cass is just about the only ski in/ski out option in Alta Badia
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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.
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The only place I have stayed in the Canazei area was a 4 star hotel in Campitello which was very nice but pricey and not great value. I would not recommend it for that reason. As to skiing down to Canazei, if you turn left at the last bit of Wacky Races before Lupo Bianco (coming down from the lovely slopes of Belvedere) you take a pleasant red which delivers you into the streets of Canazei not too far from the gondola. There may be queues for the gondola, but it has huge capacity and the queue moves at walking pace. It is also a perfectly acceptable descent, as is the cable car back to Campitello. I never have a problem with taking a lift down, but then, I have been to Val d'Isere a time or two.
This area is not 3V style perfectly-linked ski machine (and I love that too) but a chance to explore all sorts of places and experiences. Like Austria, you get a sense of travel rather than just skiing up and down (down then). You never know what you are going to find next.
Afterthought: You are going some if you can get from San Cassiano to Canazei in 20 minutes! Did you mean Corvara?
edit as I got left and right mixed up again!
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Fri 27-01-12 11:02; edited 1 time in total
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simonmj66, As I'm still waiting for MS together back to me about ski hire, any chance you can give me a heads up? I just want a bit of info about choice, quality, cost etc so I can try to work out whether to use them or go to the Skiset shop down the road? Cheers
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Thanks CP - the advice is much appreciated.
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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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Thanks also to Freddie and Simon. It seems that I may well stay in San Cass the entire two week period, as they only offer 7 day options. I have now been contacted by Mountain Sun, and they fortunately do have accommodation for me.
Simon, I may have to fly to Milan, as to fly to Innsbruck or Venice is going to cost me an additional 300 Pounds.
I was thinking of moving to Canazei in order to have access to more of the Superski area. Is it possible to access most of it from the San Cass side, or would it take too long to get to the different areas every day?
Freddie, would you recommend the move? A bit of walking every day does not bother me too much. Is there a place to store ski's and boots near the Gondola?
Gerry
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Scarlet, would you let me know if Simon does not respond publicly, as your query would interest me too. The Skiset shop also appears (based on the map) to be quite far from the Albergo?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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JHBGerry, I am really not sure that the move to Canazei gains you much other than a change of scenery, and a larger, more busy town. The Sella Ronda is so well-linked and the lift system so good that wherever you are, you can get to the opposite side (either clockwise or anti-clockwise), investigate that bit and then hehad back, all in a day.
From Canazei, for example, we skied to Arabba, got ourselves up the Marmolada and down again, back down via Canazei to Campitello for lunch when skiing with a relatively fast group.
On another day we got ourselves to the Corvara/Colfosco area for a morning's pootling, lunch near Selva and then completed the anticlockwise tour - and I must point out that that particular group could not be described as "expert" - some were struggling with some of the steeper reds.
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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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Thanks Freddie, that is exactly what I wanted to know about. It makes my decision a simple one: stay put!
I was just concerned, as I have no knowledge of the area, that I would have to make long bus trips to get to the Sella Ronda or other decent skiing areas.
Thanks again,
Gerry
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JHBGerry, no bus trips required on the Sella Ronda itself, only if you want to go further afield e.g. Alba/Pozza would make a good day out for you - ski to Canazei, take 5min free ski bus to Alba, ski up and over to Pozza and back, bus back to Canazei, ski home.
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You know it makes sense.
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JHBGerry wrote: |
Simon, I may have to fly to Milan, as to fly to Innsbruck or Venice is going to cost me an additional 300 Pounds.
Gerry |
If you can't afford the extra 300 pounds to fly to Innsbruck or Venice then try Verona or Brescia. Verona is about 1hr 50 minutes closer than Milan is. I assume you will be hiring a car to get to/from the resort? If not then you can use public transport from Verona but it can take a while to get to San Cassiano. Will involve 1 change of train and then change onto a bus. Otherwise you'll be facing a very large private taxi bill. As far as I can see neither Colletts or Mountain Sun do transfers from anywhere else apart from Venice and Innsbruck. And Terravision transfer company only go to resorts in the Val gardena valley (Ortisei, San Christina and Selva) from Milan and Verona airports.
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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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Thanks Jimmy, much appreciated. May just have to pay the extra 300 - scales of economy and all that!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm just back from a week in Selva. There hasn't been much fresh snow lately, but they were doing a grand job with the snow-makers and all the main pistes were open nearly all the time. We only saw brown spots in thin snow in a couple of places.
San Cassiano is off the main 'ring road' of the Sella Ronda - very easy to reach Lagazuoi, or Santa Croce. It was 20 min from Corvara to San Cassiano, and 40 min to get from San Cassiano back to Corvara.
(You do need to pay €5 for a bus to Lagazuoi, and €2 for the horse-drag back, but it should not be missed)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cannot comment on accomodation but have just returned today from Arabba which is close by and took the aforementioned trip to Alba in mid week reaching Canazei (ie we were going down to Canazei to catch the bus to Pozza around 9.30) and there were long lift queues to come up via the only lift (bubble) and someone we met who has stayed in Arabba says a 20 min wait in the morning is the norm.
Arabba may be a better option with 2 direct access points to the Sella Ronda much smaller queues in the morning...but its a much smaller, quieter village. depends on what you fancy.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Can anyone comment on what the snow record is like for this area in early January???
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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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kitenski wrote: |
Can anyone comment on what the snow record is like for this area in early January??? |
I've been to the Dolomites (Canazei & Arabba) 3 out of the 4 last Januarys and had no problems finding decent snow on piste due to extensive (85%) snowmaking laying down a good base in the early season.
In a poor year, maybe some outlying pistes have been closed due to lack of cover and the off-piste is iffy, but all the main pistes will be groomed to perfection from mid Dec onwards.
Not the place to go if you want freshies every day or extensive off-piste (try the Arlberg), but for sunny skiing, awe-inspiring scenery, fun atmosphere and excellent food at reasonable prices, you can't beat it!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Early Jan is fine. If there's not been much natural snow then the off-piste will be limited, but the cannons will ensure that the vast majority of the pistes will be open.
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cheers both, have now booked flights, accom to sort next!
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