Hallo Dear Friends, ther’s a great new for snow and ski lovers: it’s everything white in Cortina and in its spectacular Ampezzo Basin! A lot of natural snow that, in recent days, held to baptism the opening of the first ski lifts, like the Falzarego Chairlift that leads to Col Gallina. A preview of the season that fans cannot resist!
The seasonal skipass is valid immediately or you can buy the other solutions on site (daily adult 36 euros, morning 29 euros, afternoon 28 euros; Skipass Office is open every day).
Wandering around Refuges
Up there, among the Dolomiti d’Ampezzo, around Cortina, clinged to the rocks or settled on small tablelands, almost suspended in the void , there are dozens of Refuges, where you can stay close to the mountain.
Inside their wood-lined rooms, among shelves full of wines and grappe, kitchens that emit inviting parfumes, rooms with castle-beds and warm eider-downs, you can enjoy a simple but genuine hospitality. It’s an experience that you can’t miss during a vacation in the Conca Ampezzana, a wonderful sunny valley surrounded by Dolomiti mountains, Unesco Heritage, with monumental peaks named Cristallo, Tofane, Cinque Torri, Pomagagnon, Becco di Mezzodì ….
The highest is Rifugio Lagazuoi at 2755 meters, on the peak of the homonym mountain. It can be reach by cableway from Passo Falzarego. From its terrace the view is fantastic: dozens of peaks run in front of your eyes; they are so high that seem to be hanging between world and clouds.
The Refuge is not only a comfortable base for skiing, but alsofor discovering the open air Great War Museum (the walks system, blockhouses, trenches, galleries dug inside the mountain by the Italian troops during the First World War to combact the adverse Austrian army) or for pleasant excursions in the Natural Park of Dolomiti d’Ampezzo or in the connected Fanes and Sennes Park, inside Val Badia (Alto Adige).
At Rifugio Lagazuoi Restaurant you can taste many delicious tipycal foods like polenta with roe in salmì and strudel. And if you want to sleep, you find both rooms and spacious dormitories with castle-beds and clean sheets ready to be used.
Rifugio Averau (2416 mt) lies on Forcella Nuvolao. It can be reach by skis, by foot or by chairlift from Passo Giau. On its terrace the sight on Marmolada and Civetta Mountains is fantastic. The cuisine of the restaurant is very refined, it’s the result of the mastery and the continuous search of the owners, Paola and Sandro Siorpaes, who propose Cappelli d’Alpino, a raviolo stuffed with cheese and walnuts with fresh small tomatoes; timballo of crespelle with hop and pheasant meat; croccantino semifreddo cake with almonds and many other specialities. The refuge has also 19 beds in the two dormitories, with showers and services.
Directly on the ski run, Rifugio Scoiattoli (2225 mt) is a privileged place to admire the Five Towers and the other white peaks from the terrace, or plungigng in the warm water of the great tub of fir that the Lorenzi family, owner of the refuge, has placed nearby to offer a relaxing break close to the nature, at half afternoon. A wood stove always maintains the well warm water under the tub and a glass of champagne is also offered to the hosts. A curious show indeed, that becomes surreal when an abundant snowfall is the background. Besides a very good cousine (the special dish is Speck in crust) and dormitories with clean sheets ready to be used use, the refuge also organizes an evening slope by illuminated chair lift, a typical supper and the return by sled to valley.
For more informations: Cortina Tourism
Correlated post: Skiing in Cortina d’Ampezzo