Try a little Dolce Vita

15th November 2011, by Chris Gill

Pretty Cortina (c) Cortina Turismo

Cortina d’Ampezzo will designate an area for relaxed, chilled-out skiing this winter, and offer a suggested tour around the slopes that incorporates what the Italian culture does best: food.

The long Vitelli, beautifully scenic slope in the Faloria-Mietres-Cristallo sector will become a ‘Slow-Ski’ zone for those who prefer a more leisurely pace around the mountain. The idea has been implemented in several Alpine resorts recently, including Cervinia. Picnic tables and benches will be dotted around to encourage breaks – which in Cortina is not difficult with those stunning views around most corners.

A typical feature of several Dolomite resorts is to offer suggested tours of the ski area, and new this winter will be the Dolce Vita tour. The idea is to ski around the areas of Cinque Torri, Lagazuoi and Armentarola – with stops along the way for coffee and gourmet snacks. The tour finishes in style with a table reserved at the Averau mountain refuge – for the gourmet food experience. And you can also visit the outdoor hot-tub at 2137m on the terrace of the Scoiattoli mountain refuge.

As well as the relaxed skiing, Cortina is upgrading one of its lifts this winter – but keeping the pace slow. The Alpe Potor - Nuvolao two seat chair replaces a single seat chairlift and a draglift in the Forcella Averau area. So, no swanky six-pack here, but there are more serious lifts being putting in place at other points around the Dolomiti Superski area.

The resort is one of the first to open normally, with a scheduled date of 26 November. But if the snow does not fall soon, it’s an equally good place to shop: the Christmas market runs for much of December in the Corso Italia.

Read our review of Cortina

• italy
• cortina
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