A new lift being built to connect a previously separate ski area to the Sellaronda network in the Italian Dolomites has placed the enlarged circuit closer to the title of world’s largest lift-linked area.
The Sellaronda is best known as a remarkable circuit of lifts and pistes encircling the stunning Sella Massif and is generally publicised for being an exciting day trip for skiers based in one of the resorts on the loop.
However if you add together all the skiing in all the valleys linked by the Sellaronda, including Val Gardena, Alta Badia and parts of Val di Fassa the linked area is undisputedly one of the largest in the world.
The question is, how large? And that’s what’s disputed. For political and marketing reasons, an officially tally of the linked terrain is rarely published. In one brochure published a decade or so ago a figure of 500km was suggested. But the area crosses two separate Italian provinces which market separately and although all are included within the Dolomiti Superski pass, that giant ski area prepares to concentrate on the huge 1200km figure for all the runs in its area.
For 2015-16 a new Doppelmayr ‘Funifor’ cable car Alba-Col dei Rossi will connect the hamlet of Canazei and the ski area Ciampac to Belvedere ski resort meaning that the ski areas of Pozza-Buffaure, Alba-Ciampac, Canazei-Belvedere and Campitello-Col Rodella will be all connected to each other by ski slopes or by cable cars and chair lifts, a total of 73km of terrain.
The question is, can we add 73km to the old 500km and make 573km, tantalisingly close to the 600km claimed by the 3 Valleys in France, a figure which has not changed for much of the 40+ years it has been in existence?
There’s remains no official total. Ski expert and cartographer Christoph Schrahe who has built a reputation for using digital mapping to accurately measure ski area sizes and recently launched a service to provide an official seal of independent size verification for ski areas believes the enlarged Sellaronda ski region totals “around 350km,” – he has not yet had chance to run detailed calculations. Mr Schrahe notes he excludes the Alpe di Suisi area from his calculations, among other small areas which are not quite linked in, but may be included in that ‘official’ 500km figure.
A 350km stat would continue to place The Sellaronda in third position according to Mr Schrahe’s calculations, behind Paradiski and the 3 Valleys, although Mr Schrahe believes the latter’s total piste km count is closer to 500km than 600km
Whatever the maths, the new lift will certainly add a further dimension to this huge ski area (however huge it actually is) and provide easier access from villages like Alba, Penia and Pozza di Fassa where guests no longer need to take a ski bus.
The new lift is 2,260m long and climbs 883m at an average ascent of 42% and a transport capacity of 1,120 persons per hour. Each cabin carries 100 people at a time and takes about five minutes to make the ascent.
The new ultra-stable funifor lift will also act as an important joining link with the Buffaure ski area for skiers heading from other resorts in the other direction. The black slope “Vulcano” drew the attention of many skiers last winter, while the opposite side of the valley will be in the spotlight next winter: starting from December.
