Northern Italy’s South Tyrol region is one of the most stunning ski regions on the planet. The mighty Dolomite mountains tower above endless ski slopes in one of the sunniest corners of the “big four” Alpine ski nations. It’s no surprise that the area has been made a UNESCO World Heritage site.
For skiers and snowboarders it’s always nice to have spectacular scenery to enjoy as we whizz down the slopes, but the South Tyrol has several more aces up its sleeve, many of them courtesy of the fact that its slopes lie within the world’s largest ski area, Dolomiti Superski, with its 1200km of slopes served by nearly 500 lifts, all on one lift ticket. This means you can ski on and on, from village to village, on wonderfully prepared smooth slopes with something for all levels of skier and boarder.
In fact Dolomiti Superski have done some maths and found that their area is so big that if you add up all the piste kilometres all the visitors last season skied between them, it comes to 239 million kilometres of slopes covered – almost the distance from the Earth to the Sun and back.
To put it in context, the average vertical gain covered by a person in a day was above 4000m and the average distance skied by an individual was 25.5km of slopes. Perhaps more interesting still, because there’s so much piste and so much choice, people are able to head in many different directions each morning, so the average rate of lift use was only 2.4 times for the same lift in an entire week.
Statistically speaking, this means that users with a weekly Dolomiti Superski ski pass did not use the same lift more than 2.4 times during 6 days. Assuming there are 450 lift facilities within the whole carousel, this data demonstrated the extensive offering the client can choose from and their choice of undertaking long journeys with their skis, crossing from one valley to the next without having to take the same lift.
When you’re ready to take a break, the South Tyrol is also famous for its numerous homely mountain restaurants. They’ve also built a reputation for offering very high-quality cuisine at very affordable prices. That’s something that continues in the various villages of South Tyrol, where you’ll find a wide-ranging choice of accommodation, restaurants, nightsports and shops but all with a more human feel to them than many ski resorts around the Alps. These are traditional year-round communities which have grown to embrace winter sports, not purpose-built centres that only exist (in terms of having any inhabitants) in the winter.
New For 2015–16
Set against this majestic splendour, homely restaurants and hotels, and strong traditional values is a hi-tech world with virtually all of the ski slopes covered by a massive hi-tech arsenal of snowmaking guns and fast, comfortable lifts with hi-tech lift passes and apps helping to make the experience ever more seamless.
Credit – Tschurtschenthaler-
Christian
But each winter further improvements are made to the giant Dolomiti Superski network, even with new runs added to give even more choice of pistes, and 2015–16 is no exception.
Kronplatz is just one of the ski regions within the Dolomiti Superski region, yet it already alone operates more gondola lifts than almost any other ski area on the planet.
There’s another new gondola being installed for the coming season, but this time it’s a €7 million replacement of an existing one. The new Belvedere lift will have big cabins with 15 seats in each, and every cabin will also have wi-fi.
Kronplatz is also opening a new run, “Variante Ried”, on the lower part of the “Ried” run and enlarging the Alpen piste on the hillside above Valdaora with new snowmaking too at a cost of another €2 million.
Over in Alta Badia, the La Fraina quad chairlift is being upgraded to a high-speed detachable six-seater chairlift with an uplift capacity of 2400 people per hour. The 738m-long lift has cost €4 million.
There is also a new snowmaking system on slope 9b (Pralongià above San Cassiano), and a new snowmaking reservoir has been created capable of holding 60,000 cubic metres in the Braia Fraida area. The two initiatives combined have cost €3.3 million.
In Val Gardena and Alpe di Siusi, the old “Comici 2” double chairlift is seeing a big upgrade to a fast six-seater chairlift with loading via a mobile carpet conveyor. The new lift can transport up to 2200 people per hour and has cost €3.5 million.
There’s also a new slope, “Paprika”, as a variant of the existing Seef run down from Piz Sella to Plan de Gralba. The just-over-1km-long run descends 294 vertical metres from its start point 2239m up and has an average steepness of 29.17%, and a maximum of 35.46%, meaning it’s classified as a black. It has cost half a million euros to create.
Ski World Cup – Dolomiti Classics 2015
For an added dimension of excitement, there’s little to beat the thrill of witnessing World Cup downhill racing as part of your day on the slopes of the South Tyrol.
The great classics of the Ski World Cup in Val Gardena (18–19 December) and Alta Badia (20–21 December) are back in the area next month, and there are all-inclusive packages including accommodation, ski pass and entry to these major events of the international ski contest season available.
For Alta Badia, 2015 is the 30th anniversary of staging World Cup races, and to mark the occasion, three events – the Men’s Giant Slalom (20 December), the new Men’s Giant Parallel Slalom by night (21 December) and the Giants’ Ski Challenge with former champions taking part – will all be staged for a long weekend of skiing, entertainment and excitement.
Guests can choose to watch the races from the Leitner VIP Lounge, where local Michelin-star chefs Gerhard Wieser and Martin Obermarzoner will prepare sublime culinary creations on Sunday 20 December. www.skiworldcup.it
Ski South Tyrol Deals 2015–16
Dolomiti Super Première 2015
You can be the first on the slopes this season and enjoy a free hotel night and lift pass for one day when you pay for three, as well as getting special rates for rentals and ski school. Dolomiti Super Première 2015 runs from 28 November to 20 December 2015 in participating hotels.
Dolomiti Super Kids And Dolomiti Super Sun 2016
There are also free holidays for children up to 8 years old and half-price for children aged up to 12 with Dolomiti Super Kids from 19 March to the end of the season 2016 as well as special rates for rentals and ski school.
Dolomiti Super Sun 2016 offers one free day for all included when booking 7 nights over the same dates.
For more information on Dolomiti Superski, go to dolomitisuperski.com/en
For more information on the South Tyrol, visit suedtirol.info