Dolomites late April (some snow interest)

A snowHead

Cathy and I got back 3 days ago from walking in the Dolomites (after 2 days in Venice).
We stayed at Hotel Cesa Padon near Arabba, which I highly recommend if you have transport - it is very good value, the food is tremendous and the views arent bad:

After a bad start to their ski season they had heavy snowfalls in April just as their season was ending, and then another 10cm 2 days before we arrived.
The pistes in Arabba looked skiable

and there was a ski track down the edge of a piste near Passo Pordoi (not sure if you can see it)

The Pordoi lift reopened on our second day (though most of the rest don't open till late June) Still plenty of snow up there

and views

We followed the tracks of 2 skiers and a snowboarder till we could see the refuge and we could see that they had climbed up from there:

We did the Sella Ronda by car- this is approaching Passo Sella

We did a splendid horizontal walk from the pass

and the next day after visitin Cortina did another from the pass just north of it up to a lake

There were 1st world war remains by the path - tunnels into the mountain and blockhouses.

However our best and hardest walk was the next one from Passo Giao north to Cinque Torri and then east back down to the road where I thumbed a lift back to the pass where we had left our hired car. The views were splendid as usual (this was near the start)

and as always there was a profusion of many kinds of wild flowers

sometimes we had to wade through snow

and sometimes it was steep (see the vertical slot between the rock faces in the middle of the photo, ending with a patch of snow at the top (over crude very steep log steps) which was a bit hairy). The rock tower central on this photo was by the top of the Cinque Torri lifts.

The next day was wet and we went to Bolzano which has a beautiful pedestrianised centre with many houses dating to the 16th and 17th centuries in a Tyrolian style (the Dolomites used to be part of Austria but was given to Italy after the first world war. The people mostly speak German in Bolzano).

There are also some fine churches - one with these cloisters

On the way home the rain turned to heavy snow half way up going over the Passo Pordoi

On the final day we did another walk near the Marmolada mountain and as we headed off to Venice airport we passed below the ski area where there were 3 ski tracks doing hundreds of turns all the way down the glacier and on down as far as we could see in the new snow (though the lift was still closed). But the battery on my camera chose that moment to go flat.

A snowHead

Just realised that 2 photos hadn't registered. OK now.
Not really much for anyone to respond to but I find it interesting walking where I have skied (or not, in the cases where it was still too snowy!).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

snowball, looks great, thanks for the pics, must have been interesting deciding which paths were OK or not given the amount of snow still around.

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snowball, Apart from anything else, just lovely pictures to look at Very Happy

And I can see what you mean about the contrast between skiing and walking/

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Forgot to mention we saw lots of wildlife - especially marmots and 4 chamoix close-up, two a mother and young we came over the top of the steep climb at Cinque Torri and discovered just starting down a gully on the other side.

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Mm. Very nice. Looking forward to being back in the Alps in summer. just love all the flowers!

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Great pictures. I'd love to go back in the summer to do some walking. Cinque Torri was an Italian artillery position firing at the Laguzui and Sasso stri during WW1. Even in winter you can see some of the restored emplacemnets just to the left of the 4 person chairlift , just before the top.

After all it is free

Peter S, also at the top of the Laguzuoi cable car there are trenches and emplacements you can visit - especially if you stay the night in the refuge up there and ski down off piste. See Horizon's TR on TGR of our Dolomites ski holiday from a few years ago: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/50606-TR-Dolomites-17-25-March?highlight=Dolomites (probably most of you have seen it before).
pam w - more flowers:

The summer I worked in the Dolomites was the best summer of my life ... truely special; all of it. Looks like you had a wonderful time.

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Dolomites late April (some snow interest)

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