After leaving Innsbruck on an expensive (20 Euros in Tolls) but very scenic drive, we arrived at the winter playground of Italy’s upper classes, Cortina D’Ampezzo. Cortina, unlike nearby Val Gardena, is primarily a domestic, very Italian tourist destination. Fur coats, or shiny puffy down jackets are the order of the day when walking down Corsa Italia. There were few foreign tourists and I don’t think the Italians were too bothered about this, I think they are content in making Cortina their own secret. While most resorts have changed with ski-in ski out condos/ hotel spread on a mountain-side without character and a standard base area, Cortina refuses to change and has older independent hotels catering to Italy’s affluent classes. It is a rather large ski town and most ski areas must be driven to or take a bus to.
Cortina hosted the 1956 Olympics, and fifty years on much of the infrastructure is still here. The Olympic stadium is still used for its original purpose. I think it has actually aged quite well, even with the new roof on it. The gondola to the Olympic pistes doesn’t look like it has changed much in 50 years, the bobsled run is still there but a little worse for wear and the ski jump is still standing but has been abandoned. The Olympics here were a success except for one thing, a lack of snow. The Italian Army was brought in to truck snow down from higher elevations for the skiing to take place. We too experienced snow scarcity, I think this a common theme in the Dolomites. Nonetheless most of the runs were open. On the flip side we had fantastic weather, never a cloud in the sky and enjoyed the spring skiing in the +15C temperatures.
Stadio Olimpico then and Now
We got the Dolomiti Superski Pass which allows you to ski on an incredible 1200km of pistes. The same distance of London to Oslo or for Canadians Toronto to Halifax. With so many ski areas, on-piste ski touring is the order of the day here. Unlike Austria, where people seem to skin up pistes, Italians prefer to install moving walkways to help them up the uphill parts. The Grande Guerra retraces a World War 1 Battle line, but involves a few short bus trips. We did the Sella Ronda, which involves skiing around the imposing Sella Massif on easy Red and Blue Runs. It is a must do for those visiting the Dolomites, and one must also take breaks at the numerous rifugis on the route and sample the cuisine. We started the Sella Ronda from the Ski town of Arabba which has some great skiing on the gondola served runs. In fact the drive from Cortina, to Arabba is a highlight of the day and has to be one of the most scenic hour long drives in the world.
Ski touring - Italian Style
We actually found the best skiing to be around Cortina, with the large Tofana area and Faloria area on the opposite side the best days skiing we had this year. Tofana, has great views and a wide variety of intermediate skiing. The 1956 Downhill course, which is still used as a women’s FIS Downhill tour stop, is great, it starts with a steep descent between two Dolomite “towers” then is a challenging red run to the bottom. We spent the morning in Col Rosa where the conditions were great.
Downhill Course Start
Faloria didn’t look promising from the lift station, but as we explored the area more the more impressed we were. It is a small’ish area with a lot of variety of runs cutting through a pine forest. Even though it was at least 15C the runs held up quite well as the area is more or less North facing. It was so warm, when I had a break in my deck chair with an iced tea, it felt more like a beach holiday than a ski holiday.
Me skiing the crowded Cortina Slopes
The weather we had in Cortina was simply amazing, the best I have experienced skiing, if anything it was too hot and sunny! Best of all there was still snow on the slopes, although I don’t think it would be around much longer.
An interesting side note for linguists, Cortina D’Amprezzo has a population that continues to speak Ladin a derivative of Vulgar Latin. According to Wikipedia there are only about 15,000 native Ladin speakers.
Skiing: Silver
For intermediate skiers and families, this place is without a doubt a gold. There are so many ski areas to explore in the Dolimiti Super Ski Pass. Most are small and not linked- as I mentioned in my Innsbruck entry, I don’t mind small areas. All of these areas have great cruising runs in spectacular scenery. The linked areas, such as Val Gardena and Arabba, where we did the Sella Ronda, were noticeably busier than those near Cortna and had a more international crowd. However, many of the unlinked ski areas are small and must be driven to but the reward is no lines and runs that are not chewed to pieces by midday. Even areas in Cortina had limited lines as it seems the locals only ski for a few hours then leave after having lunch.
For the advanced skier, lack of challenging pistes might cause boredom, there are very few black runs in the area. (I think this is due to the topography, it appears it is either sheer cliff or gentle slopes). Most of the runs could be bombed down with minimal turning required to stay in control. For all skiers, lack of snow may cause problems apparently this has been a recurring theme in the Dolomites, and compared to Austria, the scarce snow was very noticeable. We came up with a new piste classification, “The Italian Brown Run.”
Apres Ski: Silver
There are lots of things to do in Cortina, if you have a few hundred Euros burning a hole in your pocket each night, for those with a more limited travel budget (like your truly) your options are somewhat more limited. Cortina and the area has lots of high-end restaurants, some Michelin starred. We ate a few nights at a reasonable pizzeria complete with a wood-fired pizza oven. For traditional Northern Italian (Trento) cuisine, we went to 5 Torris restaurant. Regional cuisine here is more like German food than Italian food that can be found further South. It is simple, but I enjoyed it. We also seemed to always have a cake available at breakfast with the ubiquitous cheese and some sort of cured pork meat that always seems to make an appearance at every meal on this trip. It goes without saying the coffee in Italy was excellent, however the service… not so much. At meals, things would start okay and then at some point during the meal the table service would inexplicably seem to stop, particularly when it was time to pay for the bill or be offered coffee/ desert.
Apparently things really start kicking off around 2300, but I prefer après ski starting soon after you are done skiing, like Chamonix & Val D’Isere. The pruchetto bar we dined at (easiest meal in the world: take cured leg of pig, thinly slice said leg into 6 pieces, cut 2 slices of crusty bread, put on plate, charge patrons 10 Euros, + service charge) granted the pruchetto was really good… anways I degress… the pruchetto restaurant complete with numerous pig legs hanging in the window turns into a Cocktail bar with a DJ spinning tracks late in the evening. There are few other small dance clubs.
One night we watched the local hockey time SG Cortina play fairly low quality hockey, which was entertaining. Fefreshments at the intermission consisted of mini pizzas and mulled wine (vin brule)!
In short, designer clothing stores, expensive restaurants, night clubs that start at 2300, and people walking in fur and designer ski suits/clothes isn’t my scene but if it is, Cortina is the place for you.
Overall: Silver
Marc says: “If these rankings are based on natural beauty, Cortina D’Amprezzo comes out tops, it also comes out tops for the sheer variety of intermediate cruising runs, and weather. I loved driving around here too and the Olympic venues were relatively un altered. The village has the similar traditional feel as Chamonix with many ski areas nearby but not immediately accessible but the village itself lacked Chamonix’s lively atmosphere. A car is essential for a ski holiday to Cortina, if I could do it again I would probably get half-board.”
Mike says: “The skiing is awesome, there is nothing like this in North America. I would come back here but probably stay at Arabba or Corvara. Marc’s rating system is right out of 'er. To equate Cortina skiing with Nagano and Innsbruck is misleading! It is more on par with Val D'Isere"
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