The spectacular Italian Dolomites, rightfully now a UNESCO world heritage site, are home to one of the world’s largest ski regions crossing four Ladin valleys and three Italian provinces (Bolzano, Trento, and Belluno).
About 500km (313+ miles) of slopes and lifts are interconnected around the famous legendary Sellaronda, a 26 km (16 miles) circuit of slopes that can be skied clockwise or anticlockwise around the Sella Massif. You can branch off into Val di Fassa, Val Gardena and Alta Badia among other areas at any point. You can also now ski, one way, all the way from Cortina d’Ampezzo, using the hidden valley descent and (literally) horse powered drag lift to reach the Sellaronda. All the ski lifts (well, except that horse-powered one for a few Euros more) are included in the Dolomiti Superski pass with its 1,200km of slopes in the wider region.
There’s already enough skiing to keep anyone entertained for several full ski seasons, but Val Gardena has an additional attraction, its own ‘Val Gardena Ronda’ circuit, also known as the ‘Culturonda’ and described by sa resort spokesperson as, “…one of the most surprising discoveries for skiers in the Dolomites.”
Suited to both adult and children, The Gardena Ronda circuit includes all three villages in Val Gardena and the linked area of Alpe di Siusi.
To ski it, after having left the ‘Città dei Sassi’ behind, you should follow the signpost of the ‘Culturonda’, up to Passo Sella where there are breathtaking views over the Sassolungo, the Cinquedita, and the Marmolada, stretching all the way to the Monte Pana, where you can visit the spherical equatorial sundial with a 2-m diameter.
Continue on the Saslong B slope to reach Castel Gardena (a summer hunting lodge ‘Fischbrg’- built in a Renaissance style between 1622 and 1641 by Engelhard Dietrich von Wolkenstein-Trostburg).
From Col Raiser (where there’s a small private art museum) reach the Alpe di Seceda in the Puez-Odle Nature Park, UNESCO. Here you can take in the 360° view from a dedicated spot just above the Fermeda cable car station.
Next take the ‘La Longia’ slope, the longest in South Tyrol at 10.5 km, and glide down through a canyon, past a frozen waterfall and the renovated Costamula farmstead.
You have now skied the Culturonda!
(pic top credit: wisthaler.com )
