Before it is months later, and nobody cares about this recap anymore, I’d better get it published. As you know, I traveled home to spend time with my family (and belatedly celebrate my birthday with my sister) in March/April. As part of our celebration, I got to spend a week skiing in Val Gardena in the Dolomites again with family (my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew) and another week at my childhood home.
We stayed in Wolkenstein at the same vacation rental (Apartment Wurdengeja) again as in previous years, which is located within walking distance of the slopes.It’s a three-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, living room, and south-facing balcony with a view of the impressive Sella Group and the Sassolungo (Langkofel). Who wouldn’t want to wake up to this view every morning?
In the evenings, we were able to ski down all the way into the town –Wolkenstein’s elevation is 1500 m (5,100 feet) – and walk back to our apartment. It doesn’t get better than that.
We were super-lucky with the weather this year. We didn’t have any fresh snow (and as you can see there was almost no snow in the village), but the temperatures were cold enough for the current snow pack to hold. They did an amazing job preparing the slopes every night and it was sunny for most of the days.
I shared this information before, but as a refresher (or if you’re new here): The Dolomiti Superski is one of the largest ski areas in the world and consists of 12 ski resorts with 1,200 kilometers of slopes, 1,177 km of cross-country ski trails, 30 snow parks and 450 lifts, about half of which are directly connected to each other. They all can be used with a single ski pass, so we were able to ski in different resorts every single day.
I made a little map a couple of years ago (full version here), and I am sharing it again here, so you can see the 12 different resorts, the town we stayed in (blue dot), and the different resorts/valleys – labeled 1 through 6 – we actually skied during our stay. The yellow triangle shows the location of our favorite ski lodge (Baita Panorama) where we usually stopped for a hot beverage at the end of the day before heading back to the apartment.
On Sunday, our first day back on skis, we decided to spend the day in Plan de Gralba/Passo Sella (1). It’s a small resort with plenty of blue (easy) and a couple of red (intermediate) runs to get a feel for the skis again and trigger our muscle memory. My parents admitted they felt a little shaky for the first couple of hours, but felt much better after a few runs. (And yes, my parents are both in their mid-70s and still ski!). It was a beautiful, sunny day and everybody was in great spirits!
Wolkenstein is right around the corner from Cortina D’Ampezzo, where the Winter Olympics were held earlier this year. Competitions were spread out across the region. None were held in Val Gardena itself but the Olympic Torch passed through the area. A wooden torch sculpture was installed at the Dantercepies mountain station. It’s a commemorative piece marking a stop of the torch relay. Of course, we had to take a picture!
One of my friends joked that the torch looked like a giant piece of asparagus at first glance. Haha. I guess I can see that!
On Monday, my parents and my niece decided to take a rest day (maybe they overdid it a little bit on the first day), but the rest of us made it down the famous FIS World Cup slope Saslong (4) which hosts two World Cup races every year – a downhill and a Super G race.
We then decided to “hop over” on the other side of the valley and go up to Seceda (5). It is part of the Puez-Odle Nature Park, and offers a stunning view of the Odle Peaks (Geisler Spitzen). It was a little overcast for most of the day and pretty cold, but we had a great day of skiing.
In the evening, we went to St. Ulrich – another small town in Val Gardena, where my family used to stay during our vacations in the past – for a stroll through town and of course, we had to stop and visit “our friend” who has been guarding this store front since we were little girls.
Originally we had planned to have dinner at “Mar Dolomit“, the restaurant adjacent to the local indoor pool (at which we spent many hours as kids), but unfortunately, the restaurant was already closed for the season and we had to pivot. Luckily, someone recommended another pizza place nearby (which turned out to be a great pick!)
Over the course of the week, we alternated between yummy Brotzeit dinners at home and eating out a few times, and I really enjoyed this delicious authentic Italian pizza with arugula and fresh tomatoes.
On Tuesday, we went skiing on the Seiser Alm (Alpe de Suisi) (3), an Alpine plateau and the largest high-elevation Alpine meadow in Europe. It offers breath-taking views of the nearby Dolomite peaks, the Langkofel Group and the Schlern.
The access to Seiser Alm via gondola is in St. Ulrich/Ortisei. My parents and the kids drove the car over there in the morning and my sister, brother-in-law, and I took the ski bus.
The Seiser Alm offers a nice round trip route, the Alpe di Siusi Ronda, and starts and ends at the top of the gondola. You never have to take off and carry your skis anywhere! Except for lunch, which we had at Baita Zallinger. My sister and I shared the bacon dumpling soup and the Kaiserschmarrn, which was absolutely amazing.
On Wednesday, we decided to spend the day at Edelweiss Valley(6) in Colfosco, which was only the next valley over. The weather was supposed to be a little volatile, so we wanted to be able to head home quickly if the weather was going to change. In the end, however, it was an all-round beautiful day and the weather played along.
Despite any fresh snow, the slopes were well groomed and offered perfect skiing conditions; hard but grippy! We even went down a black diamond!
As most days, we ended up at Baita Panorama at the end of the day to enjoy a hot (or cold) beverage.
On Thursday, my sister, my brother-in law, my nephew and I circumnavigated the Sella massif (2). My Mom and Dad had opted out of this long ski trip, and my niece also took a breather.
The loop is called the “Sellaronda” and can be done clockwise and counterclockwise. Thanks to well connected lift systems and slopes, you can ski about 18 miles of slopes in one day and you almost never have to actually get off your skis or pass any of the routes twice. It’s a really fun trip and can be easily done in a day.
Well, it wasn’t quite an “all-day” trip, as we were pretty quick and finished the loop in about four hours. We opted for a late lunch break at Baita Panorama. My sister and I split another bacon-dumpling soup (they’re just so good) and the waitress was really nice and served it in two separate bowls.
We did a couple more near-by runs before heading home in the early afternoon and decided to meet up with everyone to do a little last-minute (souvenir) shopping. We ended up having a quick dinner at home and then spontaneously decided to go and check out a local ice hockey game at the ice hockey ring in town. (Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go ice skating this time.)
Friday was our last day. We decided to spend the last day again in Plan de Gralba and make our way to the Friedrich August hut near the Sella Pass, a high mountain pass that separates South Tyrol from Trentino.
I had been thinking about renting a snowboard all week. I hadn’t been on the board for a long time and – to be honest – was a little wary: can I still do it? Can I keep up with the others on skis? I kept waffling about what to do, and finally my sister said: “I know you’re not going to rent a snowboard. You’re going to take your skis. I know you.”
Well, that was probably the nudge that I needed, because in that moment, I thought to myself, ‘now I’m definitely doing it.’ If I don’t try again now, I might never try again. So, I rented a snowboard for the day.
Of course, I had to ride one of the platter lift, first, which can be a little tricky on a snowboard, but I thought to myself, “What’s the worst that can happen? If I fall off, then at least I exit to the beginner’s slope!” Haha. (But I didn’t fall off, in fact, it went surprisingly well.)
We then took the Piz Sella gondola and I enjoyed the view for a moment, before I got up and – slowly but surely – made my way over to the Gran Paradiso lift, where we were to meet up with the others. They say skiing – and snowboarding – is like riding a bike: even if it’s been a long time, the body remembers how to do it. And it’s true. I did a few practice runs on the Gran Paradiso’s wide and gentle slope, and felt more and more confident on the snowboard again as the day went on!
I was a bit slower than I would have been on skis, and my sister was gracious to be my “guide” off the chair lifts (that can be a tricky situation when there are 6-8 people getting off at the same time and you’re stuck in the middle).
Snowboarding is definitely much more of a “workout” for me. I am a much better skier, so it takes way less effort for me. With a snowboard, it’s different. You have to constantly strap in and strap out with one boot. You also sit on your butt a lot more, and you have to push yourself up into standing position frequently. My main goal was to keep up with everyone and not have any bad tumbles on the last day (and I didn’t). I felt really good at the end, and I am so, so happy I gave snowboarding another shot!
We made the most of our last day and stayed on the mountain until the lifts closed. We might or might not have spent some extra time at the ski lodge drinking one (or two) last hot chocolate(s), and really squeezed every last minute out of this skiing vacation.
Our time in the Dolomites was amazing once again! Nobody got hurt, we had a lot of fun, and I am so thankful I got to spend this precious, quality time with my family in a place that is near and dear to all our hearts! Until next time, Val Gardena!
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