Skiing the Unbelievably Beautiful Italian Dolomite Mountains

Our stomachs did somersaults as the van wound its way up and down, through the many passes on the drive from Venice to San Cassiano, the starting point for a ski touring excursion with Dolomite Mountain s.r.l.

Located in the northeastern Italian Alps, the Dolomites stand out for their dramatic rock walls, narrow deep valleys, and abundant snow—a skier’s best friend. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a stunning geological marvel and home to the world’s top ski resort, boasting over 1,200 km of groomed slopes. And for good reason, the skiing here is simply unmatched.

In Europe, it’s not unusual to find a gondola in the centre of a village, but I’d never experienced skiing from one tiny town into another, taking off my skis, crossing a narrow road, putting them back on, and hopping on a lift to the top of the next peak. With 18 peaks in the area, you could easily spend days exploring from village to village. Back in the day, during winter, ski lifts and trails were the only way to get from one village to another.

Thanks to the Dolomiti Superskipass, you can ski the whole region using all 450 lifts with one ski pass. The pass has a magnetic strip that triggers the turnstile, and later, you can log in to their website to track the total kilometres skied by entering your pass number.

But skiing is only part of the Dolomite experience. Our tour operator, Agustina Largos Marmol from Dolomite Mountains s.r.l., expertly paired our adventure with stops at incredible restaurants and overnight accommodations.

On the first night, we dined at the 2-star Michelin-accredited St. Hubertus restaurant located in the Hotel Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano. Third-generation owner and operator, Hugo Pizzinini, gave us a tour of St. Hubertus’s kitchen. Chef Norbert Niederkofler explained the different types of ovens, including the wood oven, which is used solely for cooking risotto. The food and white-gloved service were exceptional. The foie gras crème brulée, venison, and apple tart were nothing short of divine.

The next morning, we headed down the road with our overnight packs on our backs. We met a helicopter that swooshed us up to the jaw-dropping 3,342 metre peak of the Marmolada glacier. The view from the top is fantastic. The glacier offers a 12 km run with breathtaking scenery. Believe it or not, this is intermediate skiing. The locals all seem to ski in large swoops, like ex-world-cup downhillers racing through invisible wickets.

If off-piste is more your thing, you won’t be disappointed. Our guide, Alberto, provided us with avalanche beacons, and we headed off to try some of the steeper ungroomed faces.

ABOVE: Climbers flock to the world-famous Serrai di Sottoguda Gorge to tackle its stunning frozen waterfalls, while skiers can enjoy gliding right through the breathtaking canyon.

Instead of lunching slope-side, Alberto skied us through the 2 km-long, magnificent Serrai Di Sottoguda gorge, with its sky-high walls of ice. Popping out the other side at the small village of  Sottoguda. We shouldered our skis and walked down the street to a local café for lunch. At the end of our ski day, a “snow-taxi” picked us up slope-side and motored us to a remote, isolated valley and the beautiful remote Rifugio Fuciade, which is not accessible by roads. I can’t recall the last time I experienced true silence. It was magnificent, only to be outdone by the excellent meal that evening. The dining room was busy for a mid-week, end-of-season evening.

We skied the next day between the peaks of Pelmo and Civetta, stopping to view the historic openings in the rock face where the Austrians tried in vain to hold off the Italians during WWI.

Taking in the scenery never gets old; it just keeps getting better. That evening, we stayed at Rifugio Lagazuoi. At 2700 metres, this rifugio literally sits on the peak of a mountain. The restaurant area opens to an oversized deck where, if you dare, you can look over the edge to the valley way, way below. Accommodations are a little tighter, but seeing the sunset on top of the world was magnificent. As is the custom among Italians, the food was great, even at almost 3 km above sea level.

ABOVE: The view from the terrace of Rifugio Lagazuoi.

On our last day — now swooshing down the slopes like the locals — we skied around Cortina-d’Ampezzo, the site of the 1956 winter Olympics and by far the largest of any of the villages visited. Amazingly, there was still not a printed tourist t-shirt in sight. After skiing the World Cup and Olympic runs, there was no hopping across the road with skis in hand. Instead, we caught a city bus to the gondola that services the peaks on the opposite side of the valley. Mid-afternoon, school children hit the slopes in droves. It was great fun to see them all out having fun skiing.

After another fabulous meal at Tivoli, a Michelin guide-accredited restaurant, we spent the night at the stunning Cristallo Hotel, Spa & Golf. The hotel has old-world charm.

Augustina and her staff at Dolomite Mountains went out of their way to give us a memorable week of skiing, food and friendship. The trip was perfectly tailored to our ski level and surpassed our expectations.

Take a break from the beaches and endless buffets of our southern cousins and head to Italy’s Dolomites for an all-inclusive, ski-touring trip of a lifetime. Whole families can be comfortable swooshing down the wide pistes together, stopping here or there for a coffee or for a spectacular lunch on one of the many patios perfectly positioned to enjoy the stunning scenery.

How many times can a person say amazing in one day? We simply stopped counting.

www.dolomitemountains.com