Italy’s most northernly region, South Tyrol (also known as Sudtirol) is one of the country’s most enticing area for winter sports fans. Its home to the world’s largest fully interconnected ski area, the Dolomiti Superski (1200km) and the world’s second largest interconnected ski area around the Sella Ronda (500km), skiers and boarders can feel that they can ski forever from one cosy village to another, always with the spectacular pale limestone and sedimentary rock cliff formation of the Dolomites towering dramatically above.
The South Tyrol region is located midway between Verona and Innsbruck, is home to world famous resorts like Val Gardena, as well as dozens of other important ski areas, which are not known to the majority of skiers and boarders. You can fly to Verona, Bergamo, Brescia, Munich and Innsbruck or Venice; all are a typically 90 minutes to 3 hours from most of South Tyrolean destinations.
Largely undiscovered choices include the gourmet mecca of Alta Badia, already “found” by Tom Cruise and George Clooney and home to a host of Michelin-starred chefs, or Plan de Corones/Kronplatz with its hi-tech network of gondola lifts serving some to the toughest terrain in the Alps, as well as less demanding terrain. Wine is another regional strength, with 27 of the region’s wines being awarded the ‘Tre Bicchieri’ (three glasses), prestigious Italian wine award.
The entire South Tyrol is famous for its superb wines and for its wholesome cuisine, which relies heavily on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. South Tyrol now boasts one of the world’s highest concentrations of Michelin stars, with 18 stars between 15 restaurants.
Add to this is South Tyrol’s history as a cultural and geographic melting pot, the region has a varied landscape ranging from alpine meadows and mountains, to Mediterranean palm and Dolomites above now registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it makes this destination all the more interesting.
There are also three official languages spoken in the region, German, Italian and Ladin of a lesser extent, a Rhaeto – Romanic language, as their mother tongue. That’s why most places in the region have at least two names to choose from.
Although rich in culture and natural beauty, South Tyrol is also one of the most innovative regions in Italy. Over the past six years there have been more than 40 new hotel and spa openings throughout the region, with a particular growth in stylish and design-led hotels. South Tyrol is leading Italy’s efforts on slope safety and environmental protection.
Almost all (more than 90 percent) of South Tyrol’s ski slopes have snowmaking cover so snow is guaranteed once temperature drop below freezing, even in the unlikely event that mother nature isn’t feeling as generous as usual with the white stuff.
Unlike some older snowmaking systems, snowmaking in the region uses low energy equipment that simply mixes compressed air with water to make snow, there are no chemical additives. Once in contact with the cold environment, the water crystallises instantly, to form high quality natural snow. Even the power for the snowmaking machinery comes from water – it’s hydroelectricity.
The water used to produce the snow is drawn from clean mountain sources and respects the balance of the hydrology of the region. Of course, the water is not “consumed” either, but returns to the water table after the thaw in the spring.
Geologically South Tyrol has an interesting past, did you know (and this could be a useful line to start a conversation in an après-ski bar) that the Dolomites were named comparatively recently, after the 18th century French geologist Deodat de Dolomieu who was the first person to study their limestone structure?
Not fascinating enough? Well how about the fact that part of the reason that the Dolomites have their pinkish hue, is that they were once a giant reef below the ocean and you are, in fact, skiing on a former barrier reef.
Locals often referred to this exquisite range as the Pale Mountains and other ranges do pale beside the beauty of this unique mountain landscape. It’s a fascination to those who see it, in the words of mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner, “they may not be the highest, but are certainly the world’s most beautiful mountains.” Others have equally enthuse over the years.
The colour show becomes more spectacular still at sunrise and sunset when the pink hues turn fiery red or dark violet – known locally as “Enrosadira”. The most beautiful performances are given on clear winter evenings on the Catinaccio/Rosengarten, the Rotwand/Croda Rossa, and Sella, but it’s pretty good everywhere.
The alternating gentle lower slopes and “rifugi” (traditional mountain huts) dominated by steep limestone masses above is a unique, incomparable view. Rocks with bizarre fissures reach 3342m up into the skies, transforming every ski run that passes through the terraced slopes into a panoramic descent.
These have all led UNESCO to include the Dolomites among the 207 World Natural Heritage Sites in June 2009 and with seven natural parks covering a third of the whole region, it also has a protected status.