Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – New lifts and slopes, new high altitude attractions, new passes and more highlight the new ski and snowboard season in the Italian Dolomites.

The spectacular mountain range is home to  numerous world-renowned ski resorts, including Cortina d’Ampezzo, Kronplatz, Alta Badia, Val Gardena/Alpe di Siusi, Val di Fassa/Carezza, Arabba/Marmolada, Three Peaks Dolomites, Val di Fiemme/Obereggen, San Martino di Castrozza/Passo Rolle, Valle Isarco, Alpe Lusia – San Pellegrino, and Civetta.

For winter 2016-17 resorts in the region focused on replacing aging lifts at Kronplatz, Val Gardena/Alpe di Siusi, Val di Fassa/Carezza, Arabba/Marmolada, Val di Fiemme/Obereggen, Valle Isarco and and Alpe Lusia/San Pellegrino ski areas. Runs in all 12 valleys comprising Dolomiti Superski have upgraded snowmaking infrastructure as well. In total, more than 80 million Euros have been invested in on-mountain improvements this year.

On-Mountain Upgrades

• Cortina d’Ampezzo: Improvement of the entire snowmaking system of the skiing area “Monte Agudo” in Auronzo di Cadore.
• Plan de Corones:
  • San Vigilio di Marebbe – Widening of the slopes “Furcia 12”, “Furcia 9”, “Piz de Plaies” and “Pedagà” and improvement of the snowmaking system, as well as a new snowmaking system carrying water from the lake at Passo Furcia to the top of Plan de Corones.
  • Valdaora – Functional and visual restyling of the lift stations and of the seats of the chairlift “Plateau” including automatic body height recognition for a safer boarding of children, and new ergonomic seats.
  • Brunico – A new slope, “Hinterberg”, from the top of Kronplatz to the right of the “Belvedere” lift leading to the bottom station of the “Marchner” lift. Length: 2.9 km; vertical drop: 700 m. Snowmaking has also been improved on many of Brunico’s runs.
  • Antermoia – The “Antermoia” lift has been completely rebuilt. Length: 596 m; vertical drop: 172 m.
• Alta Badia:
  • San Cassiano – The “La Para” lift in the Biok-San Cassiano area has been shortened by 40m.
  • Badia – A new 5,000 m³ snowmaking pond has been built near the “Santa Croce” chairlift, along with a new pump station.
• Val Gardena/Alpe di Siusi :
  • Val Gardena – A new high-speed 8-seat chairlift, complete with bubble and heated seats, replaces the “Gran Paradiso“ chairlift. Length: 1,005 m; vertical drop: 231 m; capacity: 2,200 p/h. The snowmaking systems at Passo Sella and Risaccia have been improved, while slopesat Risaccia have been re-contoured.
  • Alpe di Siusi: Snowmaking has been improved on the “Spitzbühl” and “Panorama” slopes, and a new 5,700 m³ underground water storage reservoir has been built for Panorama. Another new 5,000 m³ water storage lake has been constructed at the “Laurin” chairlift.
• Val di Fassa/Carezza:
  • Col Rodella – The “Pradel-Rodella” gondola has been updated with new panoramic cabins.
  • Belvedere – The slopes “Belvedere” (#2) and “Kristiania” (#3) have been widened, while “Diego” (#9) has been lengthened with a new start from Col dei Rossi. Part of the terrain park will be moved to the “Belvedere” slope with new jibs. Slope “Pordoi” (#7) has been restyled, and snowmaking in the area “Belvedere Rodella” has been improved.
  • Ciampedie – The slope “Campo Scuola” at Ciampedie, Vigo di Fassa has been restyled, its snowmaking improved and a new mini boardercross course added.
  • Buffaure – The upper part of the “Buffaure di Sotto” has been regraded and widened, as has the first part of the valley downhill “Panorama”. The “Buffaure Snow Park” has also been restyled.
  • Carezza – The new kids park “Naniland” at Malga Frommer has been improved, as has the “Carezza Snowpark”.  A new restaurant, “Obertierscher Alm” has been built near the top station of the cabin lift “Laurin 1”. Another new restaurant, “Baita Ochsenhütte” has been constructed on the “Tschein” slope.
• Arabba/Marmolada:
  • Arabba -A new “Portados” 8-passenger gondola has been installed by Leitner. Length 1,438 m, vertical drop 492 m, capacity 2,400 persons/h. The upper part of “Salère” (#1 – from top station “Carpazza” to the beginning of the slope “Alpenrose”) has been widened from 35m to 70m. Run #13, the link from Ornella to Seurasas, has also been widened and covered by new snowmaking. The steep part of the slope “Savinè” (from Bec de Roces to Plan Boè) has also been widened and received new snowmaking. Finally, the “Lezuo” chairlift has received new, more comfortable seats.
  • Marmolada – Work has begun to replace the metal stairs at the top of the cable car “Punta Rocca” with two elevators leading to the slopes. The elevators will be available in summer 2017.
• Three Peaks Dolomites:
  • Monte Elmo – The slope “Orto del Toro” and many slopes in the skiing area of “Monte Elmo” have all been restyled.
  • Bellamonte – Two new 10-passenger gondolas at “Castelir-Fassane Morea” replace the former quad chairlifts. The sledding run “Fraina” will become 300 m longer in order to take it closer to the intermediate station of the “Fassane” gondola (total length of the sledge track is 2.1 km).
  • Obereggen – A new “Laner” chondola (p/h 2.600), mixing gondola cabins and chairs, replaces the pre-existing quad chair. It will have 6-seat chairs and 8-passenger cabins, and will also serve a new sledding run. The slope “Laner” has been improved, as has the whole snowmaking system in the skiing area Obereggen. Obereggen will now possess 200 snowmaking guns.
• San Martino di Castrozza/Passo Rolle:
  • San Martino di Castrozza – The children’s area at Alpe Tognola has been widened, and a covered carpet lift has been repositioned for the sledding area and beginner’s slope. The snowmaking system on the upper part of the “Rododendro” slope, and on the slope “Tognola Uno” has been improved. The snowmaking reservoir at the Ces lifts has been expanded from 9.000 to 60.000 m³, supporting up to 60 snowmakers. The slopes “Bellaria”, “Malga Ces” and “Rekord” have all been restyled, and “Skiweg Valcigolera” widened.
• Valle Isarco:
  • Plose – A new 10-passsenger gondola replaces the old chairlifts “Skihütte” and “Pfannspitze”, and the slope “Familienabfahrt” has been widened. Snowmaking has been added to the upper part of the sledding run, and lights have been added to the “RudiRun” sledding course. The chairlift “Trametsch” has been dismantled.
• Alpe Lusia/San Pellegrino:
  • Col Margherita – A new black run, “La Volata” has been built from Col Margherita to the San Pellegrino Pass. Length: 2,350 m, vertical drop: 631 m, average slope: 28.4%, max. slope: 56,8%.
• Civetta:
  • Alleghe/Zoldo/Selva di Cadore – The snowmaking system has been improved on several runs of Selva di Cadore, Zoldo and Alleghe.

New Deals

Early season skiers will benefit from one free day of skiing and one free night of lodging at participating hotels when purchasing a Dolomiti Superski pass of four days or more, from November 26 through December 24. Special rates will also be offered for instruction and rentals.

The World Cup ski circuit will once again visit the region this winter, at Val Gardena (December 16-17), Alta Badia (December 18-19), and Cortina d’Ampezzo (January 28-29). Packages are available for ski racing fans including accommodations, a ski pass and tickets to the races.

Then when spring arrives, from March 18 through the end of the season, sun worshippers will get one free day of skiing and overnight accommodations when booking seven days. Special rates for ski rental and and instruction will also be available.

New this year,the Valle Silver pass allows skiers to ski for five or six consecutive days in the four areas of Val di Fassa/Carezza, Val di Fiemme/Obereggen, San Martino di Castrozza/Passo Rolle and Alpe Lusia/San Pellegrino. The new offer will allow skiers to enjoy over 230 km of slopes in the skiing areas of Trentino, and parts of South Tyrol and Veneto. The six-day adult pass costs €207 for the low season, € 233 for mid-season and € 259 for high season.

A new eight-day ticket replaces the 12-day ski pass this season, providing more flexibility for those who do not want to commit themselves too far in advance to too many days on the slopes. The adult pass costs € 355, while juniors (born after 11/26/2000) pay €240 (children under 8 ski free in Dolomiti Superski). Dolomiti Superski also offers point cards with 750 points for € 60, or 1.400 points for € 100. Points are deducted by tapping your pass at the turnstiles according to the displayed point chart. Remaining points can be transferred to the next season, and both cards are refillable.