OK back on the slopes of the Dolomites again. The super cold, still and dry weather continues unabated. Perfect for snow making. This morning, we have noticed many more runs opened as the snow makers of the Dolomites pump cubic tons of man-made snow onto the slopes.
There’s also a noticeable increase in people in Arabba & on the slopes. We went to park our car in our usual free car park closer to the chairlift….and the carpark was full! Eeek! It was 8:30am….what’s it going to be like between Christmas and New Year?
We don’t actually have to drive to the lifts, but we’re still a bit precious about our brand new ski boots and the damage that will be caused even with a 10 minute walk on the hard granite cobblestone pavements.
So this morning we drove about 10 minutes up the Passo Campolongo which is to the north of Arabba. We knew there was parking here and it’s easy to connect to all the lifts of our area.
This morning we headed first to a little area called Colfosco which is only about 3 or 4 lifts. This tight little mountain cirque catches all the morning sun and it was a great place to warm up the legs after more than a week off.
Stopping for our mandatory morning espresso, we were amazed to see groups of people ordering beers and bottles of wine.
It was only 10am! I guess it’s going to take a long time for us to get used to the drinking culture here in Europe. In Italy it’s absolutely not about “getting drunk” but rather the aim seems to be to keep a little alcohol in your system all day? Which, I think, is all fine and well if all these lovely gentlemen stayed sunning themselves on the deck chairs at the restaurants & cafes….but instead they spend their day hurtling down ski slopes at break neck speed, with their reactions impaired…even by a little alcohol. I’ll certainly be keeping my wits about me when skiing on crowded slopes. I’ve found that the very edge of the runs is the best place to stay out of the main race track. If worst comes to worst, I can always dive off the side into the grass or trees if necessary.
In the early afternoon we headed over to another area above the village of Corvara. We passed by a cafe and a group caught our eye. There was a whole gaggle of old white haired & super suntanned men cuddling up to very young gorgeous women – think Georgio Armani! Actually I’m not sure that one of them wasn’t the man himself. Armani is a main sponsor of the World Cup race being held just down the road in La Villa.
The trio of “silverfoxes” were sitting with their backs to the restaurant wall in prime position for every person to see them as they skied past. Stopping at the cafe for a quick bite, we watched the staff fawn over the group. Taking a photo of them proved fairly tricky as we didn’t want to be caught doing the “paparazzi thing”..but it was so tempting. We’re starting to get the idea…prime position in any outside area of a restaurant or bar is with your back to the wall so the sun hits you at full force to improve that tan and you have a clear view of all the other people at the tables in front of you.
As we hang our skis in the racks of each establishment we enter, we realise that our fat skis are totally out of place here. All around us, people are skiing on super-shaped piste skis or stiff GS racing numbers.
If the real stuff continues to stay away and we are piste bashing, we might need to think about swapping weapons. I wonder how a telemark binding will go on a slalom ski??
Tomorrow – we go to watch the World Cup Mens GS in La Villa.
Oxleys in Arabba 