 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello All
First time posting on the forum, though long-time reader (thanks for all the many tips)...
I am looking at Alta Badia in Feb half term 2025. We have been to France on self-drive / self-catering trips in late March / early April with Peak Retreats fopr thje last 2 years, but GCSE's have put a stop to thsat next year.
We are a mixed ability / mixed age group ( 2 x 50 - something dads and 3 x teenage boys, 13-15). Abilities range from very seasoned / expert to lower-ish intermediate second timers. One of the teens is a snowboarder and prefers to avoid button / drag lifts if possible.
From what I can make out, the region is a good choice in terms of balancing crowds / range and variety of ski terrain / value - as well as being very beautiful and with great food.
Accomodation-wise, I like value and comfort (no pleasing some people!), with the mix of self-cateing with spas/ indoor pools we found in France wiht PR to be perfect as the boys could have something to do while the oldies relaxed. The set up in Italy is different (more hotel-based I gather) . My questions...
1. anywhere in the area fit this bill? (good value, self catering with access to family / teen -friendly spa/ pool)?
2. I am looking at the Mezdi in Colfosco which looks good. Any comments?
3. They also have apartments in San Cassiano; are there any public / hotel spas or pools we cd access in San Cassiano as paying customers, does anyone know? I can see from Google maps there is a public pool in Badia I think, but that's quite a hike.
4. Staying with San Cassiano - what are the lift connections like? Some talk about queues for the gondola / bubble out and slow chairs at the of that, but I'm not too bothered by that. More interested in how quickly we can launch ourselves on the big network of pistes around Corvara, as the San Cassiano offering seems a bit limited for our group. I can see you can access thje Hidden Valley fairly easily from there which wd interest some of us, as well as the Ella Ronda as well as (more challenging?) Arabba, but I think it would be good to have a good collection of well connected cruisey reds and blues which Corvara seems to offer.
5. Finally, re the area in general and the snowboarder's dislike of drags / buttons....will this be a problem, does anyone think? He's pretty good (off piste as well as difficuly blacks), and though he won't be demanding these all the time he will want variety - and so the ability to move around easily - to prevent boredom.
All tips welcome as ever, please excuse typos etc.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You can usually pay to access most of the hotel spas. Email a few and see what they say ?
San Cassiano is fine to access the sella Ronda and beyond - yes there can be a Q first thing but once you are up the lift system is pretty slick and there are very few draglifts all of which can mostly be avoided usually.
Doesn’t take ever so long from San cass to be in Corvara (for SR anti-clockwise) or campolongo pass (clockwise towards Arabba)
Maybe look for a hotel with a nice pool / spa but which also has self catering apartments ?
The Posta Zirm in the centre of Corvara might fit the bill ?
https://www.postazirm.com/en/home
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks very much , much appreciated. Hadn't thought of the hotel / spa / apartment combo - inspired. will check out the Posta Zim.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| AllonsY wrote: |
| Thanks very much , much appreciated. Hadn't thought of the hotel / spa / apartment combo - inspired. will check out the Posta Zim. |
these are not uncommon and there are a couple in the area, just make sure the pool will be open in winter. Try the local tourist office as the search should narrow things down for you
https://www.altabadia.org/en/hotel-alps/hotels-accommodation-online-search.html
there are no mandatory drag lifts so you can easily manage without taking any.
San Cassiano, some people on here like it but we tend to avoid skiing down to it because of the variable queues. Last year there were 15 mins+ queues a couple of times during the day in January  but it is cheaper than e.g. Corvara and Colfosco so that may compensate. It's effectively the same ski area as Corvara but takes a bit longer to get to other areas.
Value is all relative but using the site above I see a week in a 2/3 bed apartment with pool access will be somewhere around Eur 5.5 to 6.5k, take the pool filter off and you're more like Eur2-3k some of which will have a sauna and Jacuzzi.
There is a public pool in La Villa, we've not used but it's right by some ski lifts in a central location. https://www.altabadia.org/en/info/swimming-pool-la-villa.html
we stayed in this place in La Villa which had lovely apartments but was a 10min walk/short bus from the ski slopes, the pool is closed in winter but it's walking distance to the public pool https://www.dolomit.it/en/la-sajun.asp
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Having stayed in San Cassiano at half term (2018, so a few years ago now) the queue for the gondola seems to be minimal at 9, a bit busy for ski school meeting at the top at 10 but much busier from late morning to mid-afternoon with skiers coming through from the hidden valley.
The red 12 down from Sorega is lovely. San Cassiano to Corvara is 2 lifts, La Villa to Corvara is 3, but the view from Piz La Ila is pretty excellent (among the general world-class views). The red and black to La Villa are also great.
Apparently there is a public pool in La Villa. We there in 2022 but our hotel had a (fantastic) pool and was a bit out of town.
I did TRs for both but only the photos from the later one survived due to a website tidy up.
The food on the mountain is amazing and try the kids on Skiwasser if they haven’t had it before!
The ski lifts are generally gondolas and 6-8 man chairs. Few even 4 man detachables left.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks very much, all super -useful stuff.
Am looking at various places all over the Alta Badia now. Focusing on Selva / Santa Christina / Ortisei now. There seem to be one or two of the kinds of thing I am looking for there.
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Hotel Evaldo in Arabba has apartments close to the lifts and I assume you would have access to the hotel pool.
A bit more challenging slope wise than Alta Baddia but not far away.
May not be what you're after not much nightlife
Thought I would throw in the mix for you anyway
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@Garfield, Thanks for that. You must have read my mind, was just searching Arabba (and Canazei/ Campelito), but I hadnt come across the Evalda apartments...they look pretty good.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@AllonsY, Arabba is probably not great for a 2nd year skier, you either have blacks into the resort or a couple of red/blue runs on the SR which are unpleasant at the end of the day, well probably from midday depending on the weather...
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@richb67, Thanks for that. More mind reading here.....as that was my next question. Actually mistake on my part, this will be Year 3 for the less able skiers. They were fairly comfortably handling reds (pisted not mogul-y, some ice, few people) in Les Arcs this year. From what I can make out, Italian piste grading is less severe than French - so is it possible they would be equipped for the steepness challenge of these black runs? Unless they are notably icey / moguly / steep?
Point taken about the SR return routes ( I assume the unpleasantness is as much from the crowds as from the snow conditions)?
From the piste map =, it looks like the only lift in /out of Arabba on the Burz side is a chair, so I assume this means riding that back down is not an option? (Whereas on the other (Porta Vescovo) side I can see a Gondola and a Cable car by the looks of it). is that right?
On another point, I am also looking at Canazei and Campelito; from looking at the piste map there, it looks like you can't get up the Ciampac side without gettibng yourself somehow (bus? ) to Alba the 131 Gondola. Does anyone know if that's right? Is that a bit limiting, or is it more the case that the bigger area (and access to the SR and possibly the Marolada glacier) is up the other (Recol) anyway?
I also notice the runs on the Ciampac side are mostly red; are these tough , relatively speaking, or not...?
BTW just wanted to reiterate my appreciation for all the help... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@AllonsY, Canazei to Alba or Campitello by bus? - yes (it is a frequent and efficient service ; buy the weekly pass).
Italian reds are easier than French ones - the Ciampac ones are not difficult and less mogulled than the Ronda ones (less traffic)
Pecol bubble to access the Ronda : Belverdre area is a nice bowl to ski in, but can get busy with peeps doing the Sella Ronda tour
Campitello - you have to take the Cable Car up and then down again at the end of the day
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@AllonsY, later in the day any SR route is likely to have moguls and/or icy so that is the challenge for an inexperienced skier with tired legs. You cannot imagine how much traffic the key SR pistes get during a day compared to a piste basically linking the same two places but without a SR signpost 
re towns
we've stayed in Canazei and always took the gondola back down as the only piste into town was not good at the end of the day. Buses run regularly along the valley. Less expensive resort but still nice and right on the SR. We enjoyed our trip and I was a lower intermediate at the time, so happy on reds but not blacks.
Corvara, there is one section on the blue from the Alta badia area (Pralongia) which is unpleasant later in the day and is regularly covered with fallen learners making there way back into town, it can be avoided but it's a long way around, you can't take a lift back into town. That and Selva are probably the most expensive resorts on the SR. We think Alta Badia is a bit quieter that Selva but they both have their honey pot runs/lifts.
La Villa, you can take a gondola down - we stayed there for a week with a nervous lower intermediate skier and they did that most days but there is also a blue that takes you most of the way down and joins a red at the bottom, can be a bit bumpy at the end of the day but generally not too bad and she managed this fine once she had a couple of days under her belt. This person really liked that area as there are lots of blues and reds. Also, there is a small area of reds/blues which is very quiet which she enjoyed later in the day.
San Cassiano - again there is an option to take a gondola down or an easy blue, maybe a bit bumpy for a short section at the end but not a big problem (accesses almost the same area as mentioned above for La Villa).
Arabba, you can ski down to the village from either side and walk across the main road to accommodation/bar if required.
We chose La Villa when going with a mixed group, it worked well for everyone and was within budget. If just my wife and I go we prefer Corvara but have never stayed in Val Gardena, Ortisei is a lovely little town with access to Alp suis which is an area with plenty of straightforward runs.
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Thanks both, much appreciated .so much detail here. reckon i can start making my deicsions pretty soon now, and feel confident i've done all the homework. Thanks again!
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