Pssst! The pistes No one knows about
When I told my family of lifelong skiers I was off on a trip to the 3 Zinnen Dolomites, none of them had ever heard of it.
Yet, it is only a couple of hours’ drive from South Tyrol favourite Val Gardena, where I remember holidaying with them when I was seven.
Although of course it looks very different now. I visited before the pandemic, blissfully unaware of the chaos ahead.
The plan this season is to open soon, over a month later than usual. In Kronplatz, an hour from San Candido, the Olang
1 + 2 cable car is set to launch in what has been described as the biggest project ever realised in the skiing area.
With a speed of 6.5 metres per second and a transport capacity of 3,900 people per hour, it will cut waiting times dramatically.
Our guide, Christina, is keen to throw us straight into the action. After a cable car ride from Sesto – the main base village of the 3 Zinnen Dolomites – we reach the Monte Elmo skiing area.
While adrenaline seekers might be pushed to find many steep mogul fields in the total 115km ski area of the 3 Zinnen Dolomites, there are plenty of well-groomed blues and reds for beginners and intermediates. The Monte Elmo-versciaco run, lined with snow-blushed pines, allows us to blow away the cobwebs and gather just enough speed to awaken the knees.
Afterwards we stop for drinks at Ristorante Monte Elmo. Sitting on the terrace, Christina points over to a cluster of peaks.
“This is the Sesto Sundial,” she tells me.“the villagers used to use it to tell the time by looking at the mountains.”
The position of the sun above the five peaks – numbered 9, 10, 11, 12 and 1 – can be used to determine the time on clear winter days, forming the world’s largest stone sundial.
Afterwards, we drive over to San Candido where the rest of the group are finishing off their ski lesson in the family-friendly Monte Baranci area. There are a few blue and red runs for intermediates to bomb about on if you are visiting in a group
of mixed skiing abilities. The area also has 124 miles of linked cross-country skiing tracks.
The wood-panelled interiors and menus of many of the resort’s mountain restaurants show the strong influence of neighbouring Austria.
Back at the Post Hotel the sauna, steam room and indoor pool form the wellness equivalent of taking off your boots at the end of the day.
An hour in the car takes us to Kronplatz, which offers a skiing area of 73 miles.
While the resort is famous for the high quality of its slopes, on this occasion we are taking a peek at what it has to offer non-skiers.
The Lumen Museum – at 2,275m, one of the world’s highest museums – covers the history of mountain photography. In one room, a VR headset takes me on a mountain ascent by helicopter hovering precariously close to the rocky surface.
From there, it’s a short hop to the adjoining Alpinn restaurant. We gorge on cheese fondue with crispy polenta, speck and pickles. The cheese is from Genussbunker – a nearby cave complex for ripening unusual cheeses.
My final stopover is at the Rotwandwiesen Chalets. The newly built two-storey buildings accommodate up to five people and all rooms, including the sauna, overlook the mountains.
The Croda Rossa/rotwand cable car takes us to another area of the 3 Zinnen Dolomites. As we exit the lift, there is an enclosure of reindeer to the left and in front of us, some giant snowmen backed by snow-covered mountain peaks. Our chalet is a quick snowmobile ride away.
On my last day I gaze out of the window and watch the end of a sunrise throwing pink and red light on to the cloud covering the peaks, which turns orange within minutes.
It’s been a strange year since that day and that final vision is one I have clung on to tightly as I recall a trip which will live long in my memory.