Dolomites - Moena Report

Looks fab apart from all those people on the slope.
Is that somewhere that can be avoided or did you say it was an essential link?
Arabba and selva are high on mrs h's list for next season

That was a Brit half term week though wasn't it?
I know France gets mega busy aaround this time. Italy must have peak weeks too.

I love the look of that area. Wherever we go next year it won't be France (famous last words). Done France for last 9 or 10 trips and fancy a change. Nothing to do with the hosting situation!

Lovely photos (particularly like the ice climber) though not helping my ski addiction, especially when I keep getting powder alarms and posts on Facebook telling me there's a last minute cancellation and a free apartment for next week! Lottery ticket on the way home I think....

The 'nasty' slope (red 1 from the top of Porto Vescovo) looks horrendous (I thought it was bad when I was there!) :shock: It is a key Sella Ronda link but I think that it can be avoided by taking the 2 man chair our of Arabba and skiing down to a six man but I've never done it so don't quote me on that. Down side is the 2 man chair is nasty - metal bits crack you in the back of the legs for one, it's always in the shade and slow which = cold and is probably not a good idea for anyone iffy with heights as there's quite a sharp drop to one side when you get further up. Must admit I didn't like this lift, though doing it on my own about quarter past 4 on a cold day probably wasn't one of my smartest moves (excuse was trying to avoid slope in question).

The bit you see is the only problem section, the rest of the slope is easy, ish. There's no need to do this in an afternoon from Arabba, would actually be your first slope on the Orange Sella Ronda in a morning. More of an issue for those trying to get back to Selva or Canazei but if you're skiing reasonably quickly could easily get this out of the way by lunchtime.

Tony_H wrote:Looks fab apart from all those people on the slope.
Is that somewhere that can be avoided or did you say it was an essential link?
Arabba and selva are high on mrs h's list for next season

Tony. Don't be put off by the picture of the crowds above Arabba. This was only an issue for a short pitch off the top which is a key link on the Sella Ronda. Lynn has suggested that there may be an alternative to it but I dont know about that! Apart from that one pitch, we did not really encounter any particularly crowded pistes - certainly not compared to some of my experiences in France and Austria :wink:. Even then, it was very busy the 1st time we did it but fine later in the week when we did it again as part of the Sella Ronda. Given that it was a peak week, I thought the slopes overall were very quiet and a joy to ski :lol:. We did the whole Sella Ronda on the Friday and never waited for more than a minute or two at any lift :mrgreen:

Now you're talking. Mrs H is really keen on going here. I'm trying to sway her to try Verbier. Which probably means we will end up in Soelden.

Some nice piccies there Wanderer. I too like the one of the ice climber. Those guys aren't lacking in the 'cojones department' :) . I also really like the sense of 'sheer altitude' on the Portavescovo pictures. It's hard to imagine that the Malga Ciapella is another 900m higher.

Tony, I am surprised!!! You usually 'talk a better game than that -). Don't worry, it's not as steep as it looks. I'm sure you'd cope -) :lol: .

Gaz C wrote: Some nice piccies there Wanderer. I too like the one of the ice climber. Those guys aren't lacking in the 'cojones department' :) . I also really like the sense of 'sheer altitude' on the Portavescovo pictures. It's hard to imagine that the Malga Ciapella is another 900m higher.

Tony, I am surprised!!! You usually 'talk a better game than that -). Don't worry, it's not as steep as it looks. I'm sure you'd cope -) :lol: .

The ice climber was amazing. As you can see from the picture, he was quite a bit up. I can only assume it would be pretty certain death if he fell from there :( . Serious cojones all right :wink: .

The wires of the cablecar seem to give a great sense of depth/height to the piccies from Portavescovo. I am pretty pleased with those ones :lol:

Gaz C wrote: Some nice piccies there Wanderer. I too like the one of the ice climber. Those guys aren't lacking in the 'cojones department' :) . I also really like the sense of 'sheer altitude' on the Portavescovo pictures. It's hard to imagine that the Malga Ciapella is another 900m higher.

Tony, I am surprised!!! You usually 'talk a better game than that -). Don't worry, it's not as steep as it looks. I'm sure you'd cope -) :lol: .

Excuse me. I was talking about the number of people on it. Gradient is not an issue ***cough***
Seriously, I've had an experience of quiet slopes and I liked it :wink: