InTheSnow - South Tyrol

From The UK’s Most Read Ski Mag

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

ITALY Edited by Patrick Thorne “One of twenty people to know in ski”

transfer 1 transfer 2

München

Bodensee

Rosenheim

Bregenz

Innsbruck Vaduz Vipiteno Sterzing Bressanone Brixen Merano Chiusa Meran

Chur

Klausen

Glorenza Glurns

Brunico Bruneck

Val Gardena Gröden

Dobbiaco Toblach Cortina

Bolzano Bozen

Trento

Lugano Milano Bergamo

Brescia

Lago di Garda

Treviso Verona

Venezia

SOUTH TYR Italy’s most northerly region, South Tyrol (also known as Südtirol) is also one of its most enticing for winter sports fans.

Home to the world’s largest fully interconnected ski area, the Dolomiti Superski (1200km), and the world’s second largest interconnected ski area around the Sella Ronda (500km), skiers and boarders can feel that they can ski forever from one cosy village to another, always with the spectacular pale limestone and sedimentary rock cliff formations of the Dolomites towering dramatically above.

The region, located midway between

Verona and Innsbruck, is home to world famous resorts like Val Gardena/Gröden, as well as dozens of other important ski areas which deserve to be better known to British skiers and boarders. Only 2% of the people on the slopes here each winter hail from Blighty, but they’re easy to reach with the major ski tour operators or independently.

Largely undiscovered choices include the gourmet mecca of Alta Badia, already “found”

by Tom Cruise and George Clooney and home to a host of Michelin-starred chefs, or Plan de Corones/Kronplatz with its hi-tech network of gondola lifts serving some of the toughest terrain in the Alps, as well as less

demanding terrain. Wine is another regional strength, with 27 of the region’s wines being awarded the ‘Tre Bicchieri’ (three glasses), prestigious Italian wine award.

Add to this its history as a cultural and geographic melting pot, the region has a varied landscape ranging from alpine meadows and mountains, to Mediterranean palm and the Dolomites above now registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it makes this destination all the more interesting.

There are also three official languages spoken in the region. German is spoken by 68% of the population, 28% Italian and 4% Ladin, a Rhaeto – Romanic language,

The World’s Biggest INTERCONNECTED Ski Area

ROL as their mother tongue. That’s why most places in the region have at least two names to choose from.

Although rich in culture and natural beauty, South Tyrol is also one of the most innovative regions in Italy. Over the past 5 years there have been more than 40 new hotel or spa openings throughout the region, with a particular growth in stylish and design-led hotels. You’ll also find more hi-tech websites, Android and iPhone apps than you can fit in a tweet and last, but not least, South Tyrol is leading Italy’s efforts on slope safety and environmental protection.

You deserve to know it better.

The Dolomiti Superski ski region is the world’s largest fully- interchangeable pass covering 1200km of trails and some 450 lifts above 50+ Italian villages.

All of the major individual ski areas in South Tyrol are included on the pass, so the Dolomiti Superski ticket is valid at all of them – you don’t need to buy another pass if you want to ski a different area each day.

The region includes the Sella Ronda, a 26km circuit of lifts and pistes around the giant Sella massif. This is fun to do on a day trip, but as ski areas like Val Gardena/Gröden and Alta Badia are linked to it, it also forms the hub of a giant wheel of ski valleys. There’s no official measure as to what the total distance of the linked terrain is, but some estimates put it over 500km – making it the world’s second largest linked area.

Snow Guaranteed Almost all (more than 95%) of South Tyrol’s ski slopes have snowmaking cover so snow is guaranteed once temperatures drop below freezing, even in the unlikely event that mother nature isn’t feeling as generous as usual with the white stuff.

Unlike some older snowmaking systems, snowmaking in the region uses low energy equipment that simply mixes compressed air with water to make snow, there are no chemical

additives. Once in contact with the cold environment, the water crystallises instantly, to form high quality natural snow. Even the power for the snowmaking machinery comes from water – it’s hydroelectricity.

The water used to produce the snow is drawn from clean mountain sources and respects the balance of the hydrology of the region. Of course, the water is not “consumed” either, but returns to the water table after the thaw in the spring.

November 2011

26|

2011-12 Ski Season Starts South Tyrol www.dolomitisuperski.com

December 2011

02| Christmas Market

S. Cristina, Val Gardena, Bolzano, Merano, Bressanone, Brunico and Vipiteno

11|

Winter Opening Alpe di Siusi

16-17|

Men’s Super G and Downhill Val Gardena www.saslong.org

18–19|

Men’s Giant Slalom and Slalom Alta Badia www.skiworldcup.it

25|

King Laurin Snowpark Opening Alpe di Siusi

Christmas On Ice - Skating Show Val Gardena

UNESCO Rated Stunning Scenery Did you know (and this could be a useful line to start a conversation in an après-ski bar) that the Dolomites were named comparatively recently, after the 18th-century French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu who was the first to study their limestone structure?

Not fascinating enough? Well how about the fact that part of the reason that the Dolomites have their pinkish hue, is that they were once a giant reef below the ocean and you are, in fact, skiing on a former barrier reef!

Locals often referred to this exquisite

range as the Pale Mountains and other ranges do pale beside the beauty of this unique mountain landscape. In the words of mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner, “they may not be the highest, but are certainly the world’s most beautiful mountains.”

Others have been equally enthusiastic

28|

January 2012

07| Moonlight Classic Cross Country Alpe di Siusi

14-15|

Pustertaler Ski-Marathon Alta Pusteria www.ski-marathon.com

07-15| Dolomiti Balloon Festival Alta Pusteria www.ballonfestival.it

15| Val Casies - Knödelmarathon

Alta Pusteria

(dumpling marathon)

SAFETY For the past few seasons the Dolomiti Superski region has stepped up their onus on slope safety and now leads the world in promoting safety on the slopes, under the campaign “Safety is not a game.” Italy was, after all, the first country to bring in a law requiring children to wear helmets.

Last season the area asked skiers and boarders what they thought was most important, and the top answer was “Respect for others and awareness of one’s own limits”, so that message is at the heart of this season’s campaign.

KICK START 2012

£640 PER PERSON SAVING £75 Depart 14 Jan 2012 7 Nights Half Board 3 Hotel Flora, Selva

www.neilson.co.uk

over the years. A famous architect, Le Corbusier, once stated “They are the most beautiful architectural construction in the world”, and the climber Emil Zsigmondy defined them as “a precious stone set in the Alpine landscape.”

The colour show becomes more spectacular still at sunrise and sunset when the pink hues turn fiery red or dark violet – known locally as “Enrosadira.” The most beautiful performances are given on clear winter evenings on the Catinaccio/ Rosengarten, the Rotwand/Croda Rossa, and Sella, but it’s pretty good everywhere.

The alternating gentle lower slopes and “rifugi” (traditional mountain huts) dominated by steep limestone masses above is a unique, incomparable view. Rocks with bizarre fissures reach 3342m up into the skies, transforming every ski run that passes through the terraced slopes into a panoramic descent.

UNESCO included the Dolomites among the 207 World Natural Heritage Sites in June 2009 and with seven natural parks covering a third of the whole region it also has protected status.

Well Connected Along with package tour options South Tyrol is easy to reach by independent travellers via air, road or rail, or a combination of these.

This enables you to take advantage of special deals on accommodation, with lift tickets and other bargains sold direct by accommodation providers, often through the region’s tourism websites.

You can fly to Verona, Bergamo, Brescia, Munich, Innsbruck or Venice – all typically 90 minutes to 3 hours from most South Tyrolean destinations – with British Airways,

bmi, EasyJet, or Ryanair. Rental cars or bus transfers (from as little as €29 return) are available from most airports.

Flights to one or more of these airports are available direct from London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Bournemouth Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester in England, and Shannon and Dublin in Ireland, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland and Edinburgh in Scotland.

For more info go to both: www.suedtirol.info/transfer www.flytovalgardena.com

A Mecca For Gourmets The entire South Tyrol is famous both for its superb wines and for its wholesome cuisine, which relies heavily on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.

South Tyrol now boasts one of world’s highest concentrations of Michelin stars, with 18 stars between 15 restaurants. However the valley of Alta Badia has taken this reputation several notches higher and is carving a name for itself not just as a great winter sports holiday destination, but also as a global player for its gourmet credentials too.

But what really differentiates Alta Badia from other gourmet food destinations is that there’s no snooty side to fine dining here. In fact the very opposite is true, as the region and its great chefs strive to have fun with their talents and bring good food to all, with a variety of season-long culinary initiatives including a “gourmet tour” of 11 mountain restaurants featuring Michelin starred dishes.

And this winter, visitors can also enjoy high-altitude South Tyrolean breakfasts every Tuesday and Thursday morning from December to mid-March. The Col Alto refuge will be offering a breakfast of typical local produce – including speck sandwiches and slices of strudel – at 2000m above sea level.

Guests are picked up from the Col Alto cabin lift in Corvara by snowcat, departing at 7.00am and 7.30am, for an epicurean morning of pre-piste fuelling amidst the peaks.

JANUARY 2012 (CONT.)

22|

Ciasp Snowshoeing Race Val Gardena

22-29|Swing On Snow Alpe di Siusi www.swingonsnow.com

ALTA BADIA

February 2012

05|

35th 42km Classic Cross Country Race Dobbiaco – Cortina

Tour de Sas Ski Mountaineering Race Alta Badia

05| 10|

Sellaronda Ski-Marathon Val Gardena/Alta Badia www.sellaronda.it

March 2012

18|

South Tyrol Wine Ski Safari Alta Badia

24| Helmissimo – The Longest GS Race Alta Pusteria

April 2012

Alta Badia is one of Italy’s longest established ski areas, with a reputation not just for its great skiing located right on the Sella Ronda circuit, but also for its gourmet cuisine, excellent wines and superb accommodation (you’ll see Alta Badia features prominently in our separate entries on these key South Tyrol themes!).

Alta Badia is made up of six picturesque alpine villages: Corvara (1550m), Colfosco/ Kolfuschg (1650m), La Villa/Stern (1430m), San Cassiano/St Kassian (1540m), Badia (1320m) and La Val (1350m). Local people here are proud of their roots, cherishing their village architecture, unique Ladin language and cultural traditions for centuries.

On the slopes, a state-of-the-art snow-

making system means that even if the usually abundant natural snowfall arrives late, connections between the villages of La Villa, San Cassiano and Corvara will open in late November, with other ski links opening as soon as snow conditions permit.

There’s terrain suited to all standards in the largest single ski area in South Tyrol.

Experienced skiers will be able to tackle the famous World Cup black run, Gran Risa, and Bamby 2 and Alting – training slopes for the international giant slalom and men’s slalom.

These are all also open from the seasonstart with World Cup races staged shortly before Christmas.

Alta Badia’s gourmet credentials truly are world class, and the area now has a variety of season-long culinary initiatives

01|

South Tyrol Gardenissima Race Val Gardena www.gardenissima.eu

15|

WINE ON THE S

22| 2011-12 Ski Season Ends

The same favourable climate that brings abundant snow to South Tyrol each winter, also brings perfect weather for wine producing during the warmer months and this, coupled with fertile soil and a millennia old love of winemaking,

2011-12 Ski Season Ends Most of South Tyrol www.dolomitisuperski.com

Kronplatz www.kronplatz.com

SPRING BREAK

£589 PER PERSON SAVING £50 Depart 17 Mar 2012 7 Nights Catered Board 4 Chalet Hotel Al Pigher Fly From 7 UK Airports Breakfast, Afternoon Tea & 5-Course Evening Meal With Unlimited Wine

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to highlight the winning combination of winter sports and fine cuisine it offers. These include gourmet breakfasts in mountain huts, and the so-called “Gourmet Ronda” circuit, which allows skiers to hop from one hut to another, savouring the selected Michelin-starred South Tyrolean dishes.

But there’s lots to do off the slopes too as Alta Badia offers many activities for non-skiers including curling, snow-shoeing, Nordic walking, ice skating, horse riding, ice climbing, and sledging – a favourite for all the family.

The exciting 3.5km Trú Liösa Foram toboggan run starts at Piz Sorega (2003m), reached by gondola from San Cassiano and descends 450 vertical metres through pine forest and meadows to the edge of the village, with safety barriers in the woods.

The Two Horse Powered Ski Lift South Tyrol is a world leader when it comes to sustainable living and tourism. The area has a target of 70% of the energy used in the region being renewable by 2013, and is implementing various schemes to make living or staying in this alpine region as sustainable as possible.

Along with the more usual efforts to reduce power consumption and CO2 emissions, South Tyrol has some more unusual ideas, such as the two horse powered ski lift operating near Armentarola, which it

SLOPES are all responsible for the region’s excellent wines which are there to be enjoyed all winter long.

If you’re on Alta Badia on the 18 March 2012 you can enjoy the best of the regions wines up at 2000m on a special

day of tasting accompanied by speck ham, bread and cheese from South Tyrol.

Four mountain refuges will each focus on a local wine-producing area. “Be careful when skiing afterwards,” warns a spokesperson for the area.

brings you back to San Cassiano/St. Kassian.

The “lift” consists of a long rope that skiers hold on to and a sledge powered by a “green” engine – a pair of Avelignese or Noriker horses! The lift runs on hay and fodder, and there’s a similar system on the ski run from Santa Croce to Badia connecting the run to the Oies/Tana dell’Orso restaurant.

If you’d like a 100% eco-friendly holiday in South Tyrol you can book into the new environmentally-friendly residence in the old village of Fistì at Pedraces. The Residence Rosarela (www.rosarela.com) was built

by Christine Dalleaste and Ulrich Foppa, and has been awarded a “casa clima AAA” classification (basically the more A’s there are, the lower the energy consumption).

Constructed mostly from local wood, but using the latest techniques to minimise internal heat loss, it is of traditional design outside, but power is produced by a 95m² installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the adjacent hayloft which produces sufficient energy to cover the needs of the entire building.

Drop-in Freestyle Days

Freestyle is ever more popular with teenagers, but the problem is getting from being a complete beginner to become a safe and competent user of the terrain park.

The answer across the Dolomiti Superski region are twice-weekly “Drop-In Freestyle Day” for 12-18 year olds who wish to try this exciting new experience on skis or board, maybe even upside down with a specialist freestyle instructor in a small group.

one of the best loved resorts in the world

VAL GARDE Probably the most famous ski area in the whole of South Tyrol, and one of the best known and best loved resorts in the world, Val Gardena/ Gröden is made up of three charming alpine villages – Ortisei at 1236m, Santa Cristina at 1428m, and probably the best known in the UK, Selva at 1563m.

The ski statistics for the area are impressive, with 115km of piste served by more than 80 lifts, including some of the most modern, hi-tech installations anywhere, but while the superb skiing is of course a major asset, most people would probably not list it as their first choice for taking a winter holiday here.

More likely they’d refer to the stunning scenery of the surrounding mountainscape,

or maybe the wooden chalet-style buildings, the ambience, the friendliness of the locals, the timeless quality of life here – all the classic ingredients of a South Tyrolean ski holiday.

Of course skiers aren’t “limited” to the 115km of runs around Val Gardena (175km together with Alpe Di Siusi), they can carry onto the Sella Ronda circuit (see separate review), which is a network of 26km of pistes and lifts circling the 3151m-high Sella massif linking up with other valleys to create one huge linked ski area, all included on the Dolomiti Superski pass.

Art in the area and its Ladin cultural heritage are other Val Gardena strengths which are fun to discover, not in dusty museums but through the area’s impressive

and diverse gastronomy, ranging from Michelin-starred gourmet restaurants to cosy alpine rifugio serving simple Ladin cuisine.

Whether you like to dine on fresh seafood, apple strudel or sip homemade grappa, Val Gardena has a mountain refuge or hut to suit all tastes. The tasty gourmet cuisine combines the best of the Italian, Tyrolean and Ladin flavours of the region.

Special choices include the Sophie Hütte (www.seceda.com), on the Seceda mountain which has built a reputation as the best place in the area to go for spare ribs. Baita Daniel (www.seceda.cc) has a tasty and varied wine list, as well as a terrace with spectacular views of the Dolomites. Or, for what many consider the

Ski Selva

Hotel Savoy €1395 p/person +39 0471 795343 / www.hotel-savoy.it

£735

A small luxury gourmet and spa hotel in the centre of Selva/Wolkenstein with unique ski in/ ski out access. Facilities include heated pools, sauna, gym and beauty treatments. 7 night gourmet half-board package with ski safari, heliskiing tour, wine tasting & balancing massage.

PER PERSON SAVING £80

Available: 28 Jan - 4 Feb 2012 Book via www.suedtirol.info/savoy_uk

Depart 24 Mar 2012 7 Nights Half Board Hotel Alpino, Selva Includes Flights, Transfers, Ski/Board Hire Or Carriage & Lift Pass!

www.crystalski.co.uk

HOTEL lA PERLA €695 p/person

DENA apartments or remote mountain refuges means there is something to suit every taste.

Families are particularly well looked after in Val Gardena. As well as free skiing for children up to 8-years-old in common with the rest of South Tyrol, there are great hotels such as the 4 superior Family Spa Grand Hotel Cavallino Bianco in Ortisei (www.cavallino-bianco.com), which operates a “families with children only’” policy, offering a wide variety of play areas and a theatre, and during the winter children aged 3 years or over can take part in the hotel’s own ski school with nursery slopes outside the hotel.

More offers for families at www.familienhotels.com

The Hotel La Perla in Ortisei/St Ulrich is a small hotel with a fantastic wellness area and superb regional cuisine. The hotel offers a seven day “Ski and Wellness” package, which includes half board, with a massage and 2 snowshoe hiking tours.

Available: 11 - 25 Dec 2011, 8 Jan - 22 Feb 2012 Book via www.suedtirol.info/laperla_uk

Hotel Sella €695 p/person +39 0471 795182 / www.hotelsella.it

All prices are based on double occupancy

best fish in South Tyrol, visit Rifugio Emilio Comici (www.rifugiocomici.com).

As one of the largest resorts in the region, Val Gardena has much more to offer non-skiers. Besides 42km of crosscountry trails there are 50km of wellprepared winter walking paths and trails, as well as facilities for snow-shoeing, ice climbing, indoor/outdoor ice-skating, horse riding, sleigh riding, paragliding, curling and sledging. Indeed the 6km Ortisei toboggan run on Rasciesa is one of the most thrilling in the Alps.

Spa and wellness facilities are also extensive, and the wide range of accommodation options from every category of hotel to B&Bs, self-catering

+39 0471 796421 / www.laperlahotel.info

The Marzola family hotel in Selva/Wolkenstein is adjacent to the ski lift to the Sella Ronda, and new to this season is a “sauna relaxation chalet”. The hotel’s 7 night Winter Dream half board package includes a snowshoe hiking tour with a traditional Alpine Hut Evening.

Available: 3 - 23 Dec 2011, 7 - 14 Jan 2012 and 10 - 31 Mar 2012 Book via www.suedtirol.info/sella_uk

One of Europe’s Best Ski Areas REVEALED

Kronplatz Plan de Corones/Kronplatz deserves to be better known in Britain. Its popularity elsewhere in Europe is hard to ignore, thanks in large part to its astonishingly impressive facilities, including more than 20 gondola lifts – one of only a few resorts in world to have so many of these fast, comfortable all-weather lifts.

The resort will open yet another this winter 2011-12, as well as something even more rare in the modern era, a new piste – and a 7km long one at that, the longest new

run in the world for the coming winter.

The new “Ried” slope will descend more than 1300 vertical metres, from 2275m to 935m, and be served by yet another new gondola (a 10-seater with heated leather seats), one of the world’s longest ascending 4.3km and rising 805 vertical metres, while carrying 3200 passengers per hour. It takes the total skiable area to 114km.

Kronplatz is one of Italy’s larger ski regions with more than a dozen towns and villages linked on to the huge Plan de

Corones ski mountain.

Brunico/Bruneck is one of the few large towns to be found right next to a ski area, and thus offers the range of facilities which others can only dream of. Skiers can conveniently use the train for their daily transfer to the slopes avoiding having to rely on the ski bus or their own car. There’s also a direct connection between Kronplatz and the Sextner Dolomiten ski resort with trains running every 30 minutes.

Not everything about Kronplatz is hi-tech

DOLOMITI SUPER DEALS however. Dating back to 1680, Oberegger Alm on the descent to Valdora/Olang offers the best Knödel (traditional dumplings) on the slopes. Or you could sample wholemeal pasta with mountain cheese or spaghetti with tomato and basil, followed by an apple strudel at the Marchner Hütte, which can be found on the valley descent to the Marchner lift. Another treat is the great grilled meat at Ücia Bivacco finishing off your meal with some of the best grappa in the valley.

The extensive slopes offer a great variety

of terrain, indeed a better choice than most, including “The Black Five” – as Kronplatz is one of only few skiing resorts in the Alps that boast five black slopes, including the super steep Piculin run which pitches at up to 72% over its 2km length.

The Snowpark Kronplatz is another cool attraction, spread over 75,000m² with four lines of different levels of difficulty, using 100,000m³ of snow to create features including three kickers in a row of 14-22m.

Dolomiti Super Première 26 Nov - 23 Dec 2011 At the start of winter get a 1 day ski pass and a night in a hotel free when you pay for 3 days or more. Special deals on rental and ski school too.

Dolomiti Super Kids 18 Mar - 9/15 Apr 2012* Free holidays for children up to 8-yearsold and half price for kids up to 12 years when they share their parent’s room. Special rates for ski rental and ski school courses.

25 Mar - 9/15 Apr 2012*

SCAN QR CODE TO WATCH VIDEOS

At the start of spring get a 1 day ski pass and a night in a hotel free when you pay for 6 days or more. Special deals on rental and ski school too.

www.dolomitisuperski.com

* End date depends on individual ski area

Dolomiti Super Sun

Alpe di Siusi

For Beginners, Families and Nature Lovers Alpe di Siusi/Seiseralm, located right next door to Val Gardena/ Gröden, has positioned itself as a winter wonderland for families, beginners, and anyone looking for a more relaxed winter holiday experience.

The largest high mountain plateau in Europe is also one of the most peaceful, safe and environmentally friendly, as cars have been banned from the area and instead the ski lifts and gondolas form all necessary transport links.

The Alpe di Siusi mountain plateau is great for beginners, with its gentle slopes and spectacular vistas of the Dolomites to enjoy while you learn the basics. Ski teachers especially trained in teaching

families are available here. Neighbouring Val Gardena also offers special ski schools for children.

But it isn’t all easy stuff, so the most experienced skiers and boarders needn’t feel left out. There are some tougher slopes to be enjoyed, extending, of course, to the full 1200km of the Dolomiti Superski region.

But whatever your ability you can equally enjoy the great mountain restaurants on the slopes of Alpe di Siusi. The chef at Gostner Schwaige, Franz Mulser, for example, creates dishes using flowers from Alpine pastures in a tiny 8m2 kitchen, or for the best view of the Sassolungo/Langkofel (one of the major peaks of the Dolomites) and the best cakes in the area eat at the Sanon Hut (www.sanon.it).

Off the ski slopes Alpe di Siusi is also a great best place to try out the slower winter activities such as snowshoeing, and horseback riding.

Spa culture is also strong in Alpe di Siusi – the Alpina Dolomites Gardena Health Lodge and Spa (www.alpinadolomites. com) is a 5 health-themed bolthole which opened less than a year ago on 15 December 2010. The 56-room hotel offers eight different types of accommodation, each with a balcony or terrace to take full advantage of the jaw-dropping location, similarly the indoor and outdoor swimming pools offer views of the surrounding mountains.’

Luxurious yet genuinely health-focused, the hotel’s spa satisfies health fiends with tepidarium-style herbal bio saunas (which allow users to adjust heat, moisture and lighting settings) and aromatic steam baths. The rooms and suites combine modern necessities with an emphasis on wellbeing (Jacuzzi tubs and infrared saunas) and the environment, with ethanol-burning “bio fireplaces”.

First For Families

CROSS COUNTRY SKI 1

£860 PER PERSON

Ski The Seiseralm Plateau 7 Nights Half Board 4 Posthotel Lamm, Kastelruth

www.inntravel.co.uk

The South Tyrol provides a wholesome and inspiring base for a family ski holiday. Resorts work hard to be as welcoming as possible to families and wherever you stay there are special prices too.

Children do not pay for lift tickets at all until the age of 8 years (born after 26th November 2003) in the Dolomiti Superski region. This is much more generous than most resorts where children often pay 60 – 80% of the adult ticket price from age 4 or 5 years. Prices are then discounted to age 16-years-old – again more generous than many resorts where the full adult price may be payable as with airlines from age 12-years-old. There are further discounts when families buy passes for the same duration at the same time.

Don’t forget the South Tyrol puts safety first too (see our section on slope safety), and child protection is top priority; safe fun can also be found in the terrain park for teens with the region’s freestyle Drop-In days each week.

Rich In Culture & Tradition The South Tyrol has a rich heritage with different cultures and traditions all meeting here to bring the best of Austrian, Italian and Ladin influences in architecture, cuisine and everything else.

The Ladin culture is particularly strong in the area, having been in existence for almost 2000 years. Thanks to the isolated position of their villages, it has been possible to keep languages, customs and traditions alive to this day, and 18,000 locals still speak the Ladin language in South Tyrol, which has its roots in popular Latin.

The area’s ski history is rich too. As early as 1895 the first skiers could be seen on the snowy slopes of Val Gardena/Gröden, and in 1912 a young Italian, Peter Böttl, took 2 days to ski around the Sella massif. Today, Alta Badia and Val Gardena host spectacular World Cup ski tournaments, attracting many visitors from all over the world every year.

Valley of THE five villages

Alta Pusteria Alta Pusteria/Hochpustertal, known as the land of the “Three Peaks”, is one of the least well known destinations in South Tyrol for British skiers and boarders, but it deserves to be better acquainted with. Its snowy hills shelter five traditional villages: Sesto/Sexten, San Candido/Innichen, Dobbiaco/Toblach, Villabassa/Niederdorf and Braies/Prags.

Together these resorts offer 77km of well-groomed slopes served by 31 lifts – all state-of-the-art following a big investment in the region – and there is something for every

level of skier here, from the beginner slopes to the intermediate terrain above Waldheim, Braies or Dobbiaco, to tougher runs from Monte Elmo/Helm down to Versciaco/ Vierschach, one of the most adrenalinefuelled black runs of Alta Pusteria.

One of the great attractions for skiers is the “Tour of the Peaks’”– a day trip which allows you to visit seven highlights of the region’s slopes via the new connection at the Comelico ski area – including the legendary Giant Mountains, the “snowmen” at Croda Rossa/Rotwand, the Haunold hut at Baranci/Haunold before finally

enjoying the incredible view from Monte Elmo, which also features a cosy new snowpark.

Back in the resorts it’s a tough choice to decide where to base yourself. Some of the key choices include Sesto, South Tyrol’s most easterly valley, which is famous for the “natural sundial” formed by the Dolomite peaks that tower above it, while San Candido lies in a spectacular position at the centre of the Sesto Dolomiti Alps Natural Park, an ideal destination for families. Dobbiaco, at the entrance of the wild and romantic Landro Valley, is the most established tourist

A-Listers ON THE SLOPES South Tyrol is increasingly a favourite with the international jet-set although one of its most famous visitors in some 5000 years old!

Tom Cruise and George Clooney have opted to stay at the luxurious Hotel Rosa Alpina (www.rosalpina.it) in San Cassiano/St Kassian, Alta Badia, and Elle Macpherson has also been among visitors to the area.

But long before these modern superstars, Ötzi the Iceman left southern Austria and began to cross a glacier into South Tyrol 5300 years ago. Sadly for Ötzi he did not complete his trip alive, and his body was quickly covered by snow, then ice, to be perfectly preserved until his chance rediscovery by Alpine hikers 20 years ago.

Cross Country Ski 2

£919 PER PERSON

Ski Dobbiaco 7 Nights Half Board 4 Park Hotel Bellview

www.headwater.com

Pusteria destination in the region with 100 years of tourism tradition and breath-taking views to the famous “Three Peaks”.

It’s also worth noting that the wholesome reputation of Alta Pusteria’s villages are reflected in the green efforts of its resorts.

Dobbiaco and San Candido are communally heated throughout using wood chips and biomass technology, and the district heating plant also has a visitor centre (www.fti.bz), which is the first of its kind in Europe, where visitors can learn about generating energy in the most eco-friendly way.

Ötzi now resides in South Tyrolean capital Bolzano/Bozen (which he may have been heading to anyway) in a special icy chamber which can be visited – The South Tyrolean Archaeological Museum (www.iceman.it) is currently running a special exhibition to 15 January 2012. Brad Bitt is such a fan he has an Ötzi tattoo on his arm.

Moving Mountains While the centuries-old assets may be its main attraction, South Tyrol is also at the forefront of the new technology revolution.

This winter the region’s main companies are going increasingly mobile. Dolomiti Superski bring a wealth of live information to the very small screen via their mobile portal (www.dolomitisuperski.mobi), and their apps for iPhone and Android.

These integrate a new social network “SkiBeep” where lovers of the region can do everything from “check-in” at specific

spots, use the “ski route planner” or “check ski performance” options, or simply check conditions and buy a lift pass. Users can share their experiences on Facebook and Twitter.

That’s just the tip of the cyber iceberg – Dolomiti. AR is an ‘Superski Augmented Reality’ app which gives a real image of the mountain, and the 3D Dolomiti Superski app which simulates a flight over the mountains.

You can get online for free too at wifi hotspots located around the region’s ticket desks.

Not Just Skiing...

Useful Websites

Christmas Markets: Widely available Cookery Lessons: Alta Badia Curling: Alta Badia Horse Riding: Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm Ice Climbing: Alta Badia Ice Skating: Val Gardena/Gröden Sledging & Sleigh Rides: Widely available Snowshoeing: Widely available Tobogganing: Widely available Cross-Country Skiing: Widely available

Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm: www.alpedisiusi.info Alta Badia: www.altabadia.org Alta Pusteria/Hochpustertal: www.altapusteria.info Dolomiti Superski: www.dolomitisuperski.com Family Hotels: www.familienhotels.com Plan de Corones/Kronplatz: www.kronplatz.com South Tyrol/Sudtirol : www.suedtirol.info Val Gardena/Gröden: www.valgardena.it South Tyrol Offers: www.suedtirol.info/ukoffers South Tyrol Transfers: www.suedtirol.info/transfer