Leave me STRESS-LESS
Think being in the heart of the Dolomites is all about action? A five-star spa shows it can be a haven of relaxation too
FORGET whiteouts on the mountain summit, a blizzard lashing at your frozen cheeks, knees knocking with terror on near vertical slopes that are shrouded in fog.
Instead, imagine yourself languishing in a vast outdoor heated swimming pool while feathery snowflakes melt across your bare warm shoulders, enjoying mountain views from the comfort — and safety! — of a glass-walled panoramic Finnish sauna, followed by a refreshing dip in an ice pool.
A blissful non-ski afternoon of unashamed pampering also takes me inside a cavelike salt grotto, before stepping into the tepid hypersaline stress-busting waters of a flotation lake, ending with a relaxing phytotherapy preparation of selected herbs and plants to energise my kidneys and other organs.
Then it’s time for another rest, lying flat-out in one of the sumptuous chillout areas, sipping a delicious herbal brew. Soothing mud therapy, tension-relieving massages and other invigorating apresski treatments beckon.
Emerging from the labyrinth of wellness zones, a middle-aged woman in skiwear remonstrates her bathrobeattired male companion. ‘I know why you’ve been hiding away in here the whole day instead of bombing down a ski run — this is so tempting,’ she tells him.
Welcome to a new world of winter sport, one in which senses and soul are regenerated within a temple named Lefay Resort Spa Dolomiti (lefayresorts.com) spread out above the northern Italian town of Pinzolo. This luxury hotel resort Shangri la covers a massive 53,820sq ft, surrounded by the majestic Brenta Dolomites, a Unesco World Heritage site, located within Trentino-Alto Adige’s famous Madonna di Campiglio ski area.
A dizzying array of energytherapeutic paths, encompassing wellness for body and mind, blending Eastern and Western methods of natural healing and energy together, are on offer. Apart from that wonderful Italian kaleidoscope of colour and design style — think bedrooms that are the last word in comfort with virtual wall fires and deep bathtubs — environmental wellness is also key to Lefay’s philosophy, using local larch, chestnut in natural materials, blended into the surrounding countryside.
The resort — which opened in 2019, then closed again for a year at the height of the pandemic — is a leader in the use of renewable green energy and latest-generation technologies, designed to reduce energy and water consumption.
The sheer scale of the award-winning spa itself is pretty mind-blowing. I get lost amid the labyrinth of four seasonal zones that surround a large light-flooded whirlpool, enriched with magnesium salts. From this central point you choose some or all of the zones, each linked to different body organs, designed to help restore individual yin/yang balance and energy levels.
The bio-sauna Green Dragon zone represents spring with a focus on the liver and on relieving restlessness and anger while the Finnish sauna Red Phoenix embodies summer with the heart as the target organ to help release the flow of energy from the chest to the surface.
Then there’s the steam bath White Tiger, which represents autumn and puts the focus on the lungs and reducing inflammation and sadness. Finally bomb winter zone Black Tortoise aims to shift kidney blockages which can cause lower back pain and lead to feelings of inadequacy and fear.
New age? Maybe a little, but I am going with the flow anyhow on my personal ‘energy-therapeutic path’, whether floating in the Black Tortoise’s salt-water lake or admiring spectacular scenery from the panoramic sauna. The idea is to follow a bespoke programme that takes you from your chosen sauna to the 22-room treatment floor for either a signature massage tailored specifically to your energy requirements, a vigorous body scrub, wrap, or nourishing facial using the Lefay alpine skincare range.
As we’re also here to ski, duty eventually calls, lured away from indulgent wellness to be kitted out with boots and skis at the inhouse ski hire shop beside the lobby. What a relief not to have to lug heavy material along icy paths. That’s what sets the five-star ski experience apart, aided by uniformed staff who shoulder equipment from the ski room lockers as we pile aboard the resort’s shuttle van bound for the nearby Pinzolo cable car station, from where we are spirited up into a magical Dolomites landscape.
The rocky summits of the Dolomites, which can reach heights of up to 3,000m, could have been plucked from a fantasy film, like the teeth of an enormous dragon snapping at the clouds. The first-time visitor is gobsmacked by their grandeur, once the clouds part to reveal towering surreal shapes.
The outline resembles a gigantic pink-tinged lizard’s tail, one of my companions says, while us ant-sized humans gape up at them from the vantage point of Dos del Sabion. The peace is heavenly, the snow conditions are perfect and it is hard to imagine the brute force of nature that created the Dolomites millions of years ago, transporting coral barriers out of the sea beds. Today evidence of that upheaval is seen in rock hard sea snails and the remains of sea dinosaurs.
Madonna di Campiglio’s extensive snowmaking, long scenic red and blue intermediate slopes make it one of Italy’s favourite winter sport destinations, especially for families and snowboarders — there are four snowboard parks — offering 150km of picture perfect terrain, covered by a single ski pass to explore wide trails winding down wooded valley sides and all brilliantly connected by gondolas and chair lifts.
Other winter activities organised by Lefay’s concierge team include snow hiking, cross-country skiing, dog-sledding, paragliding and snowshoe excursions.
On my first day’s skiing, with excellent snow conditions and knees that work as they should, thanks to the previous evening’s pre-ski massage and workouts, my mojo stays in place, even on a trickier steep gradient.
South Tirol’s Dolomites cuisine scene is nearly as famous as its awesome slopes. Crisp white tablecloths, a wine list spanning
the length of a ski piste, with menus to match, beckon at chic Stoppani-Groste gourmet restaurant in the heart of the Brenta Dolomites, offering wooden platters of locally smoked meats, cheese specialities and innovative pasta dishes.
Mountain food in Italy is a way of life and the Dolomites figure high on this worldclass cuisine scene. Grual, Lefay Resort & Spa’s fine dining restaurant, presents a culinary journey that pays homage to the Trentino region taking you on a gastronomic ‘walk in the mountains’.
Every ingredient is linked to a specific altitude, from the valley floor. Arctic char and saddle of roe deer with red cabbage and crunchy polenta, ended in the ‘undergrowth’ with a dessert of chestnuts, juniper, cranberry compote and vanilla ice cream, all reflecting mountain streams, woodland and pastures.
Snowshoeing — hiking in the snow — has come a long way from the era of strapping tennis racket contraptions on to the boots of intrepid explorers. One of the fastest growing winter sports, I can see why, after spending three magical hours in the middle of nowhere, treading on virgin snow, following in the tracks of hare and deer. Led by multi-disciplined alpine guide Giovanni Ghezzi, we catch the cable lift to Patascoss and after huffing and puffing up a steep slope, our walk brings us deep inside Adamello Brenta Nature park.
Gio encourages his charges onwards into the unknown telling us to say ‘goodbye to civilisation’, helping us to put on our plastic snowshoes before entering a forested paradise. We end much higher up a couple of hours later at mountain hut Malga Ritorto, a former summer alpine farmhouse, where the cows used to be milked and bedded down at night. Today, it’s one of several cosy lunch stop-offs, showing off character and local cuisine.
Affordable and incredibly simple to do, snowshoeing is a great alternative to enjoy being out and about in powdery snow, without careering down the slippery slopes on skis. Our guide Giovanni alerts us to the presence of the park’s famous brown bears, introduced years ago but now enjoying their winter hibernation and also to wolves, who arrived without an invitation off the Slovenian mountains.
More than 400km of intertwined paths wind through the park, different levels of difficulty, there are specially designed itineraries on offer, such as guided meditation, barefoot walking, tree hugging, yoga and breathing activities along eight of the routes once the snows melt.
Gio also tells us that early 19th century Dublin-born geologist and politician John Ball, who gave up politics to devote himself to natural history as an alpinist, discovered innumerable climbs and journeys, enabling him and others to find and map out routes into once remote Dolomities terrain.
If you get the chance, take a stroll into Pinzolo to admire beautiful outdoor frescos on both churches and also to pick up local specialities at family-run Alimentari Caola delicatessen, a veritable Aladdin’s cave of olive oils, mountain cheeses, dried meats, jams, honey, wines and grape spirits.