We've been to the area twice, and are going again in January. We stayed in Corvara (twice) and Campitello (once).
The Sella Ronda is surrounded by four major townships, and a few smaller villages. Selva / Val Gardena (in the north west), Canazei (south west), Arabba (south east) and Corvara (north east). Colfosco is next to Corvara, Campitello and Alba surround Canazei. Alba recently received a cable car connecting it to the Belvedere region. It's a cooperative region, and they churn profits back into the infrastructure - the investment in lifts and snowmaking is simply amazing.
Here we are skiing into Corvara one afternoon, with the Sassonger looming above town.
As has been mentioned above, the area is mostly about green and blue runs on piste. Most locals are bombing around on narrow carvers, GS cheater skis, slalom cheater skis or narrow all mountain skis - that kind of thing. You won't see a lot of big, fat powder boards. The Dolomiti Superski pass includes 450 lifts, and they groom 1,200km of piste every night, so you're certainly not getting bored lapping the same run all day. Most days are all about going somewhere (and trying to get back) rather than bouncing up and down the same hill. It's easy to be 25km away from home having lunch (the lunches are fabulous by the way) and then have to plot a course for home, hoping to make it before last lifts so you're not stuck in the wrong valley and needing a taxi home. Even if you do get stuck just head for the nearest bar and celebrate the fact there are taxis to take you home. It's a lot of fun.
The below map is about 50km wide. Lifts are in red, runs are in blue. The Sella Massif is in the very center of the map with a square of lifts and runs surrounding it - that's the Sella Ronda. The Marmolada Glacier is toward the bottom, center-right. You can get from almost any lift on that map to almost any other lift on skis. The very lower left section (surrounding the included photo) would require a bus trip there and back. And the Falzarego Pass (the Hidden Valley at Lagazuoi) which is on the right edge of the map requires a bus to get there, although the gypsies pull you out of the valley afterwards behind a horse-drawn sleigh.
The below shot (dragged off the web) is a view to the Marmolada Glacier (above the lady in red) taken from the Alta Badia hills above Corvara. The mountain at right is the eastern face of the Sella Massif.
This next shot is one I took from the top of the Marmolada, looking down the groomed piste as you ski down the glacier. This piste is actually in the first panorama shot - the shaded slope beneath the saw-toothed ridge at the top of the mountain above the two people on the left. Just to give you an idea of how it all works, you can ski from one place to the other inside a few hours.
There's something like ten Michelin starred restaurants in the area if you're a foodie. Otherwise there's a long list of fabulous rifugio (mountain huts) to choose from. And they all seem to have great food (and the house red is usually worthwhile as well).
If you feel like a challenge there are off piste adventures skiing off the Sella Massif itself (among others). The Massif is accessed from a cable car at Passo Pordoi. Get yourself a local guide and there are couloirs galore, allowing you to get 'extreme' if that's your thing.
German is spoken about as widely as Italian. The local dialect is called 'Ladin' and is different again.
There's no shortage of accommodation, and it's a matter of deciding how you're getting into the region, then choosing a village. I find Arabba loses the sun early behind the Marmolada, and it gets cold and icy. Mind you, that keeps the snow in good condition. Val Gardena is the largest of the local towns. Canazei and Campitello are down in a valley and lose the sun reasonably early as well. Corvara gets the sun later into the day.
If you wanted to spend a day or two skiing Cortina d'Ampezzo then it would be best to stay in Corvara. Buses run between the two regularly each day. Corvara is also best placed to access an area known as Kronplatz to the north east.
You can probably tell we love it. The on-piste skiing isn't challenging at all- there are only a handful of black runs in the area - but everything else is just fantastic.
Hope you enjoy your trip in 2018/19.
The Sella Ronda is surrounded by four major townships, and a few smaller villages. Selva / Val Gardena (in the north west), Canazei (south west), Arabba (south east) and Corvara (north east). Colfosco is next to Corvara, Campitello and Alba surround Canazei. Alba recently received a cable car connecting it to the Belvedere region. It's a cooperative region, and they churn profits back into the infrastructure - the investment in lifts and snowmaking is simply amazing.
Here we are skiing into Corvara one afternoon, with the Sassonger looming above town.
As has been mentioned above, the area is mostly about green and blue runs on piste. Most locals are bombing around on narrow carvers, GS cheater skis, slalom cheater skis or narrow all mountain skis - that kind of thing. You won't see a lot of big, fat powder boards. The Dolomiti Superski pass includes 450 lifts, and they groom 1,200km of piste every night, so you're certainly not getting bored lapping the same run all day. Most days are all about going somewhere (and trying to get back) rather than bouncing up and down the same hill. It's easy to be 25km away from home having lunch (the lunches are fabulous by the way) and then have to plot a course for home, hoping to make it before last lifts so you're not stuck in the wrong valley and needing a taxi home. Even if you do get stuck just head for the nearest bar and celebrate the fact there are taxis to take you home. It's a lot of fun.
The below map is about 50km wide. Lifts are in red, runs are in blue. The Sella Massif is in the very center of the map with a square of lifts and runs surrounding it - that's the Sella Ronda. The Marmolada Glacier is toward the bottom, center-right. You can get from almost any lift on that map to almost any other lift on skis. The very lower left section (surrounding the included photo) would require a bus trip there and back. And the Falzarego Pass (the Hidden Valley at Lagazuoi) which is on the right edge of the map requires a bus to get there, although the gypsies pull you out of the valley afterwards behind a horse-drawn sleigh.
The below shot (dragged off the web) is a view to the Marmolada Glacier (above the lady in red) taken from the Alta Badia hills above Corvara. The mountain at right is the eastern face of the Sella Massif.
This next shot is one I took from the top of the Marmolada, looking down the groomed piste as you ski down the glacier. This piste is actually in the first panorama shot - the shaded slope beneath the saw-toothed ridge at the top of the mountain above the two people on the left. Just to give you an idea of how it all works, you can ski from one place to the other inside a few hours.
There's something like ten Michelin starred restaurants in the area if you're a foodie. Otherwise there's a long list of fabulous rifugio (mountain huts) to choose from. And they all seem to have great food (and the house red is usually worthwhile as well).
If you feel like a challenge there are off piste adventures skiing off the Sella Massif itself (among others). The Massif is accessed from a cable car at Passo Pordoi. Get yourself a local guide and there are couloirs galore, allowing you to get 'extreme' if that's your thing.
German is spoken about as widely as Italian. The local dialect is called 'Ladin' and is different again.
There's no shortage of accommodation, and it's a matter of deciding how you're getting into the region, then choosing a village. I find Arabba loses the sun early behind the Marmolada, and it gets cold and icy. Mind you, that keeps the snow in good condition. Val Gardena is the largest of the local towns. Canazei and Campitello are down in a valley and lose the sun reasonably early as well. Corvara gets the sun later into the day.
If you wanted to spend a day or two skiing Cortina d'Ampezzo then it would be best to stay in Corvara. Buses run between the two regularly each day. Corvara is also best placed to access an area known as Kronplatz to the north east.
You can probably tell we love it. The on-piste skiing isn't challenging at all- there are only a handful of black runs in the area - but everything else is just fantastic.
Hope you enjoy your trip in 2018/19.
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