Emmanuel Tresmontant - 2012-01-03

 

The other face of the Alps…
At 1.5 hours from Innsbruck (Austrian side) and Bolzano (Italian side) by car, the Alta Badia ski area is one of the South Tyrol’s most beautiful surprises. The easiest way to get there is to fly to Verona and hire a car. During your 2-hour drive, you’ll cross the impressive Adige Valley (South Tyrol is the other name for the Alto – or Upper - Adige) which links Italy to Austria via the Brenner Pass. Note that you’ll be taking the same historic route from Bolzano to Cortina d’Ampezzo (210 km) which was the main trade axis between Venice and Germany beginning in the Renaissance period.

 

The ski area of the Dolomites which attracts the most tourists is probably Val Gardena, whose towns of Selva, Santa Cristina and Ortisei are known for their craftsmen skilled in the art of wood sculpture.

 

Somewhat ‘ritzier’, Alta Badia is a vast ski area comprising of six villages which can all be reached on ski in the course of a day. In summer, hikers and mountain bikers happily roam the many marked trails.

 

The largest of the six villages is Corvara, at 1,568 metres. It is appreciated for its skating rink, golf course, tennis courts, chic boutiques, as well as for its prestigious hotel and gourmet restaurant, La Stüa de Michil - one star in the Michelin Guide.

 

Further up, at 1,645 metres, you’ll find the village of Colfosco, an ideal starting point for magnificent rambles in search of the prairies where the legendary edelweiss flower can be found from July to September. Down in the valley are San Cassiano (1,535 metres), famed for its cheese; La Villa (1,433 metres) which boasts a pretty restaurant specialized in regional Ladin cuisine; La Val (1,348 metres), renowned for its choirs and folk groups; and Badia (1,324 metres) whose rustic charm and traditional architecture are well worth discovering.

 

When you arrive in Alta Badia, the geographic change of scenery goes hand in hand with certain gastronomic and linguistic particularities! Trentino and Alto Adige have been granted a special autonomous status which gives their inhabitants the right to speak any or all of three official languages: Italian, German and Ladin. The Ladins were the first to live in the region, well before the arrival of the Romans, who never quite succeeded in subjugating them. Despite the invasions and the centuries, they’ve stubbornly held on to their language which is still quite alive today, just like the Romansh spoken in Switzerland, and the Friulian dialect spoken in parts of northeast Italy. To get a feel for this surprising culture, head for the medieval castle of San Martino in Badia and visit its Ladin Museum.

 

For the spiritually-minded
In May and October, a walking pilgrimage takes place along the Way of the Cross which connects the village of San Leonardo (1,371 metres) to the baroque Church of Sant Croce (2,045 metres) where a superb altar-piece dating from 1570 has been preserved. In winter, you may take the chairlift up and come back down by foot or on snowshoe. With its magnificent panorama over the Marmolada and Sasso Lungo (3,181 metres), it’s a calm and luminous spot: perfect for a bit of meditation!

 

Three good reasons to head for Alta Badia
First, Alta Badia gives onto a magical panoramic view of the entire range of the Dolomites, and especially the Marmolada Mountain which is its highest point (3,342 metres). The ‘Monti Pallidi’ (Pale Mountains), as they’re referred to locally, connect Veneto to Trentino-Alto Adige. They’re (predictably) composed of dolomite, a white limestone which takes on fiery tones at sunrise and sunset. With their chiselled silhouettes, small crystal-clear lakes and innumerable marine fossils (this corner of the earth was covered by the sea 150 million years ago); their forests, orchids and edelweiss, the Dolomites are truly a splendid destination for mountain climbers, hunters, skiers and ramblers alike.

 

Also, benefiting from a microclimate which favours snowfall, the Dolomites - and Alta Badia in particular - get plenty of snow every winter. When we went there last January, it snowed uninterruptedly for three days in a row, eventually piling up to 1.3 metres in the resort and 2.2 metres on the pistes. With its 500 km of ‘easy’ slopes dotted with picturesque shelters, Alta Badia is the perfect place for a ski holiday with the family. Also, for the past 23 years, the Alpine Ski World Cup has been held here; the black run called La Gran Risa is considered one of the most difficult giant slalom runs in the world.

 

Finally, the village of Corvara, where Italy’s first mechanical ski lift was built in 1947, has a renowned ski school where you might work on your technique under the guidance of such exceptional instructors as Ivo Rudiferia, world snowboard champion in 1996, or Maria Canins who, following a career in competitive cycling (two Tours de France alongside France’s iconic Jeannie Longo), now focuses on rambling and cross-country skiing (15 km of trails between Corvara and Colfosco).

 

 

Ski pass
Daily: € 40 (adults) and € 28 (children)
6 days: € 201 (adults) and € 141 (children)

 

Equipment rental per day
Beginners € 14, mid-level €16, experts € 22, children € 10. Ski boots may be rented for € 7 (adult sizes) and € 5 (children’s sizes).

 

Corvara Ski School
Tel: 0471 836 126
www.corvara.altabadiaski.com

 

Ladin Museum
Tor 72
39030 San Martino in Badia
Italy
Tel: 0474 524020
www.museumladin.it

 

Of the 14 hotels comprising the village of Corvara, the La Perla Hotel, owned and run by the Costa family, is far more luxurious than any other in the region (rooms start at € 300).
Col Alt, 105
39033 Corvara in Badia
Italy
Tel: 0471 831000
www.hotel-laperla.it

 

The Posta Zirm Hotel is gentler on the budget. Both comfortably modern and charmingly rustic, it has four storeys and 57 rooms. Whether in terms of the price (between € 168 and € 213 per room), service, cuisine, bar, spa or the panoramic view of the Dolomites, this is a perfectly recommendable hotel.
Col Alt, 95
39033 Corvara in Badia
Italy
Tel: 0471 836175
www.postazirm.com