Alta Badia

Alta Badia lies in the very heart of Dolomiti Superski, the world's largest ski area, and thanks to this central position it is an excellent base for the best-known and most scenic ski routes in the Alps. The pistes of the famous Sellaronda are close by: a 26 km scenic circuit around the Sella massif (almost 40 km including the sections covered by lift), which can be skied both clockwise and anticlockwise. There is also an excellent link to the Marmolada pistes, the best known of which is probably the 10 km Pista Bellunese. From Alta Badia you can set off on a ski tour along the routes of the First World War. On skis, by lift and by ski bus you cover 82 km in one day around the Col di Lana massif, where fighting took place from 1915 to 1918 and where many relics of that period remain to this day. Of those more than eighty kilometres, almost a third is downhill skiing alone (about 30 km). Other panoramic routes in the Alta Badia area, no less interesting though perhaps less well known, are Santa Croce, Lagazuoi and Val Stella Alpina. Something interesting is always happening on the slopes of Alta Badia. The whole winter season is packed with events: World Cup races, the famous Sellaronda Skimarathon and a host of regular events organised by the local ski schools (demonstrations of various skiing techniques, torchlight descents, always with music and mulled wine). A regional curiosity is the so-called hay-sledge competitions. They hark back to a tradition from the early twentieth century, when bringing hay down from high mountain pastures in the winter months was a real challenge. It was done with horse-drawn sledges. Today the competitors, dressed in traditional costume, have to complete a marked slalom course with a load of hay. Good fun and an interesting spectacle. As for après-ski, the Alta Badia area really has a lot to offer. Corvara certainly comes out best in this respect; the smallest and quietest village, Pedraces, naturally has the most modest offer. But you will not be bored there either. Everywhere you can try Ladin specialities; those interested can even take a course in regional cooking... Longest piste: Vallon-Corvara, 4.3 km long, vertical drop: 973 m. Winter walking trails: about 80 km. Toboggan runs: the natural toboggan run "Trù Liösa Foram" in San Cassiano, 3.5 km long; the Punta Trieste-Corvara toboggan run, 2 km long; the Pralongià/Störes to Armentarola/San Cassiano run, 3 km; the Spëscia/La Val to Armentara to La Crusc run, 10 km. Ice skating: indoor ice rink in Corvara, frozen Lake Sompunt in Pedraces.