Skiing in Italy brings into the mind the slopes of highest in Europe Alpine peaks, and curious forms of Dolomites, which are almost the trade mark of sport in Italy.
Surprisingly, many of top Italian sportsman grew in the small ski resorts, not well known abroad, like Abetone ( Alberto Tomba ) in Appenines, Chiesa Valmalenco, or Santa Caterina Valfurva in Valtellina, Solda and Tarvisio.
But the magnet, which pulls the tourists both during winter and summer are the fantasy shapes of Dolomites.
The mountains, which this year they became the spot included in World Heritage List of Unesco are divided into two groups.
The Western Dolomites are called Dolomiti di Brenta, with the leading mountain the same name, at the bottom of which is famous Madonna do Campiglio,
once visited by Austrian Royal Families, today by temporary celebrities including Michael Schumacher and Paris Hilton.
The Eastern Dolomites belong to three administrative districts Veneto, Trentino and Alto Adige, and sometimes are called accordingly to the district, but we can use one name the Dolomites ( Dolomiti ).
The ski resorts in Dolomites are located in 12 groups, that all together form the ski carousel Dolomiti Superski, advertising 1200 km of
The tourists, who want to use most of the runs prefer locations in ski areas around famous SellaRonda, the mountain range almost in the middle of the Dolomites, of the shape resembling the saddle (Sella ).
There are four ski areas around Sella, which are lift connected : a winner of numerous Italian travel awards – Val Gardena, also extremely popular Alta Badia, Val di Fassa, and Arabba, which is also the perfect base for those, who want to ski on the slopes of the highest Dolomite mountain – mystic Marmolada ( 3 342 m ).
There are several other ski resorts situated in more separated areas, including the most famous here Cortina d’Ampezzo – the resort for rich and famous featuring in numerous movies and San Martino di Castrozza made popular by British alpinists some hundred years ago.
All of the ski resorts offer plenty of possibilities for cross-country skiing, the popular areas are in Dobbiacco ( over 200 km of trails ), around Moena, which connects Val di Fiemme with Val di Fassa, and in Val Gardena.
[Plateau Rosa, Cervinia photo courtesy of joao maximo]
