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© copyright Tourist Office Val Gardena
Val Gardena / Ski area
The Gruppo Sella (Sella Gruppe), a large mountain massif (off piste only) stands in the region’s centre. To the west, the Val Gardena is the main ski valley with 176km of pistes, of which around 150km have artificial snow-making. 10% of the runs are graded difficult, 60% medium and 30% easy. The village of Selva (Wolkenstein) is at the head of Val Gardena, followed by Santa Cristina (St. Christina) and Ortisei (St. Ulrich) downstream to the west. Encircling the Gruppo Sella, and linked by the 26km Sella Ronda circuit of lifts and pistes is a series of villages including Colfosco and Corvara in the Alta Badia valley; Arabba in the Livinallongo valley; Canazei in the Val di Fassa is just off the circuit. Best of this bunch for interesting skiing is Arraba which is also well placed for access to the Marmolada’s glacier skiing; all of these villages serve as independent ski resorts, and though none are as large as the Val Gardena bases, their total connected piste mileage adds up to more than Val Gardena’s 176km.Selva Gardena
Biggest and most central of all the villages is Selva, with good access to the Sella Ronda, and to Val Gardena’s excellent skiing as well as reasonable access to the Marmolada glacier. Selva’s main ski area reaches across north facing slopes in the shadow of the impressive Sassolungo (Langkofel) a soaring, classic Dolomite peak. Towards Plan de Gralba and Passo Sella (Sellajoch) are gentle, mainly blue runs while the pistes that descend back to town and link to Santa Cristina are steeper reds with short blues and blacks mixed in. To the other side of town, leading up to Passo Gardena (Groednerjoch) and the clockwise tour of the Sella Ronda circuit, is a more limited collection of slopes, the lowest of which are beginner runs reaching right into town.
Santa Cristina & Ortisei
Santa Cristina’s skiing links seamlessly with Selva’s on the south side, via Ciampinoi; there’s also good skiing – red and black runs – further west, from Mont de Seura down to the beginner area on Monte Pana. There’s now a connection across the village by underground train from the base of the Ciampinoi gondola to Col Raiser and Seceda on the north side of the village. From the top of Seceda, a single red run drops down to the outskirts of Ortisei, from where it’s a short walk to the Rasciesa lift and its single red.
Alpe di Siusi
From the south side of Ortisei a big gondola takes skiers into the Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm), a group of high meadows arranged in a huge bowl. It’s perfect family skiing (there are several ski-in, ski-out hotels set high on the slopes) and frequently deserted. The pleasure lies in the stunning views and happy cruising through something of a time-warp (though the lifts are reasonably up to date). There are lifts to all points of the compass, and the area is criss-crossed with red and blue runs, though in truth there’s very little an early intermediate would be troubled by. The area can also be accessed by lift and road from much lower down the valley or by ski bus from Santa Cristina.
Sella Ronda
This intermediate circuit, encircling the Sella massif, can be followed in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction; recent lift improvements have made it an equally good proposition either way. You can start and finish from wherever you are staying on the circuit; unless it’s snowing hard enough to close the road passes, it’s possible to get a bus or taxi home from any of the base stations – in case of tired skiers or missed last lifts - as there’s a road right around the massif. Meanwhile, stronger skiers can do extra kilometres, taking in the tougher Porta Vescovo runs from Arabba or one of the other offshoots along the way. Just remember that however fast you ski, you can’t speed up the lifts, which remain the limiting factor to the circuit.
Four passes and 26km of piste is the minimum involved in a complete circuit, for which you should allow six hours, but the frequent mountain restaurants and interesting diversions can add up to a very full day out. A slight drawback is a sense at the end of the day of having ridden too many lifts, but the changing scenery as you circle the Sella massif, and the extent of the pistes skied, makes this a great day out. Only in high season do lift queues and busy pistes take the edge off the whole experience.
Marmolada
This is one area you won’t be relying on snowmaking, whatever the weather. The skiing on this large glacier is from 3269m, reached by three big cable cars, for 1200 vertical metres of chalky dry snow. It’s surprisingly steep for a glacier, making for genuinely red runs, though there’s basically just one route down a wide piste. It’s far enough from the main accommodation bases in Val Gardena that it’s only feasible for competent skiers to reach with an early start and minimal pit-stops but makes an excellent full day’s skiing.
Val Gardena
| Base | 3,772 ft (1,150 m) |
| Summit | 8,038 ft (2,450 m) |
| Elevation | 4,265 ft (1,300 m) |
| Snowmaking | |
| Ski area | |
| Beginner | 30 % |
| Intermediate | 60 % |
| Advanced | 10 % |
| Number of trails | 0 |
| Longest trail | 5 mi (9 km) |
| Snowfall | 0 inch (0 cm) |
| Season start | early Dec |
| Season end | early Apr |
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