Skiing in the Dolomites

We went on a ski holiday in the Dolomites in northern Italy at the end of March.  We flew to Innsbruck just across the border in Austria.  The descent to the airport was quite spectacular; the snow covered peaks are very dramatic.

Historically a mixture of Roman and Germanic cultures, the province of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol has a complicated history, passing from Austrian control to Italy after World War I.  More recently, the region has gained some autonomy under the Italian constitution.  The practical effects, for us, of these complicated historical contortions was that there was an interesting mixture of Germanic and Italian culture.  For instance, all public signs are posted in both languages.  Not really speaking any of either German or Italian, I was never quite clear which language to use when trying to communicate with people.

We stayed at this hotel in Versciaco/Vierschach.  We were very happy with the hotel.  It was clean and comfortable with almost a Scandinavian decor.  Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

There was an indoor pool that connected to an outdoor pool through these sliding glass doors.  We generally played in the pool après ski.  There was also a game room and a cinema for the kids.

Perhaps my favorite part of the hotel was the food, which was superb.  Even better, though, I didn’t cook any of it.  For a whole week.  Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking, but it was great to have a holiday.  The kids loved it too, especially the Italian noodle soup which they devoured every night.   Exercising all day certainly left us with good appetites, though several nights Sage was so tired she didn’t want any dessert.

We found some time to relax in between ski and swim expeditions, though there was never quite enough time in the day.

Frequent buses ran from Versciaco/Vierschach to San Candido/Innichen.  We made several trips there to stock up on supplies and once to try the ski slopes just outside of the village.  This rococo cupola graced the top of a church in the main square of the town.

The skiing was great!  The weather was sunny and warm all week and though the snow at the bottom of the mountain was slushy by the end of the day, it was in great condition again by morning.  There was even several of inches of fresh snowfall a few nights.

The view from the top of the mountain was stunning.  The Dolomites could possibly be the most beautiful mountains in the world, as the climber Reinhold Messner claims.

The kids picked up skiing pretty quickly.  River had been once at Blandford in Massachusetts several years ago, but Sage had never tried it before.

We showed them the basic idea and then they joined the ski school each morning for a couple hours while Molly and I explored the mountain.  They soon made it up to the top where there where a number of nice, suitable runs.   By the end of the week, we had all gotten much better.  River even went down some of the most difficult black routes.  Then it was time for a break:

It was a wonderful holiday and we’re all looking forward to skiing in Vermont next winter!