SUMMER FUN IN THE DOLOMITES
Hoping to exercise her body and inspire her mind, NATALIE BOWEN seeks out wellness in the mountains and river valleys of Val di Fassa
HOW many of you know Breton folk dancing?” asks musician Alasdair Fraser, temporarily setting down his fiddle.
Filled with amateur enthusiasm, a couple of thousand hikers and I rise to our feet from blankets spread on the Malga Canvere grassy plain, 1,975m above sea level in the Italian Dolomites.
We have walked for almost two hours to watch Fraser and cellist Natalie Haas play Gaelic folk music.
Now, we eagerly attempt to follow the duo’s instructions to link fingers and dance with strangers on top of a mountain.
Our clumsy attempts are more funny than flowing, but as hundreds of groups turn roughly in time to the reel, overhanging storm clouds hold back their threat of rain.
I’m at the Sound of the Dolomites, a summer-long festival now in its 25th year. A day earlier, I’d flown to Verona, then taken a 2½-hour transfer to the village of Canazei in Val di Fassa, one of the venues.
Earlier that morning, I had taken a cable car to Le Cune, in the Alpe Lusia, a popular skiing resort in the winter. We trekked down a red run then followed a trail before spreading our picnic blanket.
The ski slopes are grassy green or earthy brown, with wildflowers dotted yellow, blue, pink and orange through the verges, and cow bells ringing clearly over the fields.
A herd of stocky, chestnut Haflinger ponies graze, barely registering us as we pass. Relaxation need not involve sunbathing on a white-sand beach – mountain air and scenery have the same effect.
The beauty of visiting the Dolomites in summer is how easy they are for people of all ages to access. Even without the motivation of a festival, cable cars remove all the strain of struggling uphill, so hikers can set straight off on the network of trails that ribbon across the ridges and summits.
My home for the week was the family-run Hotel Cesa Tyrol, which looks like it has been plucked from the Austrian Tyrol, and is blissfully subdued.
Until 1918, this region of Italy was part of Austria-Hungary, and the influences are seen from the buildings to the menus; one day I tuck into schnitzel and chips, followed by apple strudel.
My host, Marta, explains: “We say our mind is Austrian and our heart is Italian. We feel more like mountain people.”
And Val di Fassa does have its own people – the Ladins, who speak their own language and are fair-skinned and pale-eyed. Many work winter and summer seasons, switching from pistes to pedals as the snow falls or melts.
Stefano Davada, from Bikeasy, who we meet for an e-bike mountain trail the next day, is one of these. He leads us on a 15km electric cycle ride from Canazei climbing roughly 850m up to 2,300m to Val Duron. With a liberal use of Turbo, this isn’t anywhere near as arduous as it could be, although a few stops to “admire the view” are still necessary.
We stop for lunch at the familyrun Rifugio Micheluzzi, at 1,850m, where only the antipasti platters of cheese and cured meats remind me we are in Italy.
That evening, we visit the nearby QC Terme Dolomiti spa, which offers glorious views of the mountains from its outdoor pools and hot tubs. Entry without a treatment starts from £33.50 and I spend hours enjoying its themed saunas, relaxation pools and hot/ cold sensory experiences. Most memorable is a shoulder-deep pool that mimics being outside in a storm, with thunder, lightning and rain.
On my final day I trade my e-bike for a standard one and cycle along the Avisio River, which eventually reaches Trento, on an asphalted path. The terrain is flat and our guide, Nicolo Cincelli, threads us around young families on two wheels and older hikers. It is an enjoyable, sunny ride to the Buffaure ski lift, which whisks us up towards the waiting blue skies at 2020m, above Val San Nicolo.
The Lino Pederiva ridge walk stretches for two kilometres before us, directly towards another ski lift and the chalet restaurant Rifugio Ciampac Hutte. While the track is never too narrow, it is single-file only. When we stop for antipasti at the summit of a particularly steep climb, those with vertigo in our group have to look anywhere but down.
This adventure is a summer pleasure, because even off-piste skiers wouldn’t get to replicate the journey, as ice and snow would render the path unusable.
So yes, it’s known for its snow and ski runs – but there’s a summery smile about the Dolomites that shouldn’t be missed.
The highest point on the Dolomites is the Marmolada at 10,964 feet (3,342 metres)