J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Wanderer

Tony_H wrote:Looks fab apart from all those people on the slope.
Is that somewhere that can be avoided or did you say it was an essential link?
Arabba and selva are high on mrs h's list for next season

Tony. Don't be put off by the picture of the crowds above Arabba. This was only an issue for a short pitch off the top which is a key link on the Sella Ronda. Lynn has suggested that there may be an alternative to it but I dont know about that! Apart from that one pitch, we did not really encounter any particularly crowded pistes - certainly not compared to some of my experiences in France and Austria :wink:. Even then, it was very busy the 1st time we did it but fine later in the week when we did it again as part of the Sella Ronda. Given that it was a peak week, I thought the slopes overall were very quiet and a joy to ski :lol:. We did the whole Sella Ronda on the Friday and never waited for more than a minute or two at any lift :mrgreen:

Tony_H wrote:

Wanderer wrote:I must get on to Fila. My lovely bright Yellow jacket is beginning to fray at the cuffs. I mean, it is only about 15 years old :shock: :shock: :shock:

Seriously, it is great to hear positive stories of good customer service :-). Well done to Europa and well done to you Lynn for giving them the well deserved praise :wink:

Blimey
I haven't seen fila gear since the glory days on the terraces early 80's

Here it is:


It was an emergency purchase in Italy around 1997. When my dirt-cheap onesy :oops: disintegrated on a trip, I had to but some gear. This jacket was the official Italian ski team colours that year but as the season was nearly over and the outfit would be changed the following year, they had it on sale at half price. It was still quite expensive - €150 back then :!: but it has served me extremely well. It has held its colour :roll: , its really warm and breathable - it must have been leading edge technology at the time :shock: . More importantly, my mates love it as they can see me for miles on the mountain :wink: . In fact, any suggestion that I might upgrade is met with horror: "how will be find you if you in a different jacket?" :lol:

Gaz C wrote:Great report Wanderer. So glad you enjoyed it, although I kinda knew you would. Don't go telling too many people about Lusia. -) Was it possible to ski all the way back to Moena from there? Moena isn't the greatest of bases for the Sella Ronda, but I think it would be better if you had a hire car. I also know from experience how much more difficult it is to make that first lift when you have two young children to get ready. As you say, any of the villages giving direct access to the circuit are a good bet. Lots of people recommend Corvara/Colfosco for families because of their gentle pistes. Also really pleased to hear that the kids completed the circuit. I'll bet they were almost as 'chuffed' as you were! -)

Just seen the first photo. Keep 'em coming :) .

Thanks Gaz and thanks for all the advice beforehand. It really helped me get my bearings on this vast ski area :wink: . The run down to Moena was open and I skied it the day I was in this area. It was absolutely fine and a quick way down. However, it does leave you at the top end of the village and it can be a bit of a walk out depending on where you are staying. Still, it beats the skibus :wink:

Anyway, now that I have figured out photos, here is a selection. Enjoy :lol:



A guy ice climbing near Campitello!

A view of the river in Moena

a view back towards Sella and Sass Pordoi from Belvedere

A crowded piste down to Lupo Bianco lift above Canazei :lol:

Looking down from top fo Cablecar above Arabba

Another view from above Arabba.

This is the initial pitch from Porto Voscovo above Arabba. It is a steep pitch, rated Red but probably more like a Black but because it is an essential link on the Sella Ronda, it gets a lot of traffic of all standards. Mogulled and busy, it is not that pleasant :x

On the long run down to Falcade.

San Pelligrino at sunset :D

View of the mountains near Corvaro

An old shephard's hut built into the rocks above Gardena.

My 10-y-o daughter and myself in San Pelligrino with Cime Uomo in background.

I must get on to Fila. My lovely bright Yellow jacket is beginning to fray at the cuffs. I mean, it is only about 15 years old :shock: :shock: :shock:

Seriously, it is great to hear positive stories of good customer service :-). Well done to Europa and well done to you Lynn for giving them the well deserved praise :wink:

Thanks. Selva or Arrabba are probably better bases but to be honest, any of the villages on the Sella Ronda would be good. From what I saw (only 200km out of the total available of 1,200km :shock: ), Arabba would have the most demanding slopes but there is a good selection in most places :lol: .

There did seem to be a fairly long queue in Campitello once the ski buses start arriving from about 8.45 onwards but I suspect around 9.30 would be the worst. Don't forget, this was a peak week with schools off in several countries, including Italy. Unfortunately, the skibuses didnt get you there early enough to beat the queues so you needed a taxi to be sure of getting going quickly. Feel free to pm me if you want any detailed info :wink: .

Anyway, here goes with a few pictures:

This is a view from the top of the Sass Bece lift in the Belvedere area above Canazei.

... more to follow!

I would have to go with St Anton as well but I do get where Wickers is coming from. While the skiing in St Anton is fantastic (not to mention the amazing apres ski), the resort is not without its flaws. The resort is generally a bit up itself and seems oblivious/indifferent to its shortcomings :evil: . The skibus service is poor, especially the links to Lech which are completely inaquate - maybe Lech rations the number of St Anton'ers it will let in :roll:. The apparent monopoly on ski hire means it is probably the most expensive in the alps :evil: . Overall costs are extremely high by Austrian standards :evil: . While overall lifts are high quality and efficient, there are still a few old, slow lifts around the place :evil: .

.... did I mention that I am planning on going there in about 3 weeks if I can find accommodation :lol: :lol: :lol:

Got back from the Dolomites on Saturday after a fabulous week. Here is a flavour of our trip. We were based in Moena which is a very pretty little village. However, it is not directly on the Sella Ronda.

PROs

Huge, huge area with endless skiing

Fantastic for intermediates

Modern, effective lift system and perfectly groomed slopes

Probably the most beautiful scenery I have seen anywhere in the mountains

Friendly people

Great food in the mountain restaurant and very good value

Cons
- Very poor skibus service

Travel was smooth with an early flight to Venice and a taxi ride up to the resort. We arrived in the Sport Hotel S. Vigilio around 2pm, had a leisurely lunch and then sorted out ski hire and lift passes.

Day 1, Lusia: We took a (free) shuttle from the hotel to the local Alpe Lusia ski area. It's a small area with a claimed 40km of slopes. Conditions were perfect – blue skies and great snow conditions. While the area was small it had a nice selection of blue and red slopes which were perfect to get back the ski legs. The area also had a couple of snow parks, a little path through the trees and a timed slalom course to keep the interest going. The run back to the valley starts with a reasonably demanding red and is then a fairly steep black down from mid station. It was a lovely run down on the day but I could easily imagine it being sheet ice in less favourable conditions. A very nice start to the holiday :lol:

Day 2: Sella/S Chistina area: We took the skibus to Campitello to get the Col Rodella cablecar up onto the main Sella Ronda area. It was cloudy and very cold but visibility was ok. The skibus was scheduled to take around half an hour but actually took nearer double that :evil: . Then because we were hitting the lift later than expected, the queue was very long – it took a about 50 minutes to get up the mountain. A horrible start to the day :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: . However, once we got up the mountain the skiing was fantastic :mrgreen: . We made our way over towards Santa Christina/Ortesia. Some great skiing on near empty pistes. Alpha (black)and Bravo (red) pistes off the Monte de Seura lift were particularly good. Skied pretty much to the last lift and then took the Cablecar down (no ski option to valley) to discover that the last skibus had gone so a fairly expensive taxi ride back to Moena :twisted: .

Day 3: San Pelligrino ski area: As the weather was pretty poor, we decided to stay local and headed up to San Pelligrino. Cloud cover was very low and we had very poor visibility at times. Still managed to get up to the top of Cime Uomo and did the lovely Red down from there. Given the poor conditions, did not head over to the Falcade side and finished early. Back down in Moena, they were celebrating Carnivale with a fancy dress parade and a lot of loud music :shock: . It was mainly teenagers cutting loose but a bit of fun. Typically Italian, the town was still dead as a doornail by 10pm when I headed out for a post-dinner pint.

Day 4: Belvedere to Arraba: Couldn't face the skibus to Campitello again so bit the bullet and ordered a taxi. The journey to the top of the mountain took less than half the time of Day 2 :wink: . This time we headed anti-clockwise. It was a bright sunny day though again very cold. We spent some time enjoying the lovely Belvedere plateau before making our way as far as Arraba. After lunch there, we made our way back. The top section off the Porto Vescovo was chaotic with a steep pitch, well mogulled and extremely busy. Not much fun but only blip and an otherwise great day. :lol:

Day 5, San Pelligrino: Another bright sunny day :D . Skied on the San Pelligrino side for a couple of hours in the morning enjoying the lovely Red and Black of the top of the Cime Uomo before heading over to the Falcade side. Started with the 9km Inamorati ("the Lovers") piste :shock: . Very appropriate as it was Valentines Day :mrgreen: . While the scenary was beautiful, the run involved a lot of polling, especially for the kids who couldn't get up enough speed to get past the flat bits :roll: . After lunch skied a variety of the runs around this area – mainly relatively easy Reds which were great fun. Finished with the long Red run down to the San Pelligrino valley – a quite demanding run but very nice, especially as it was completely empty when we did it. Overall, a great day :mrgreen: . Soured slightly when we got down to the bottom to discover that the last skibus had left 20 minutes earlier while the lifts were still running – bizarre :shock: .

Day 6, Sella Ronda: For our last day, we booked onto a guided tour of the Sella Ronda organised by the hotel. The cost was €20 per adult and €10 for the kids (this included transport to and from the slopes). This proved the bargain of the week :wink: . Our guide, Claudio, was wonderful. The queue at Campitello was already very long when we got there at about 8.45 so Claudio simply turned around and headed further up the mountain to Pian de Fractaces where we walked straight onto a lift. From there it a wonderful tour around the mountains that included most of the Sasslong World Cup piste. Having a guide meant we didn't have to worry about getting lost or whether we were on schedule. We were able to take our time and stopped for coffee at the bottom of the Sasslong and had time for a leisurely lunch, possibly at Dantercepies – we were so much in Claudio's hands that I am not sure where we were. One of my best ski days ever and make extra special as both of kids completed the circuit comfortably - cue very proud Dad :mrgreen: . It completed a wonderful weeks skiing, helped by probably the best ski conditions I have experienced.

Overall, a truely epic week. The only downside was the very poor skibus service that made getting around the different ski areas a bit of a pain :roll: . The queues at Campitello were also long but at least this forced us to get our act together and get going early :wink: .

I would go back to this area in a heartbeat but would probably look to stay in a more convenient location, even though Moena is a beautiful little town.

p.s. Can somebody remind me how to post pictures and I will put a few up :oops:

Just watching highlights on Eurosport. Conditions very difficult with low flat light after several postponements due to fog. Lindsay Vonn had a horrible crash:( Right knee seemed to collapse on landing after a big jump. Helicoptered off the piste :( . She has suffered a torn ACL and MCL in her right knee and a lateral tibial plateau fracture :x :x :x

More than 20 skiers not allowed start due to poor light. Only 30 finishers - one of which was Chemmy who finished in 24th place.