TR: ITALY - Limone Piemonte, Festival de San Remo, Verona Marathon and Dolomiti

[LaZapatilla]

After too many weeks of Spring-like conditions in Switzerland, we took a road trip last week to find some powder-type snow. We ended up driving 1700 km through Switzerland, Italy and Austria (Engelberg, CH - Limone Piemonte, IT - Verona - Val Gardena - Mayrhofen - Engelberg) We heard that it was snowing in the Southern Alps so we headed out early Wednesday a.m.

Approaching Gottardo



Exiting Gottardo



We stopped at a truck stop and picked up the #1 Italian album of the moment:



Wet drive across the plains of Northern Italy and then we started heading up again towards Limone Piemonte.



Italian drivers are fast



Checked into our hotel and then we walked around the nice old village.




spotted some snow socks:



and some retro ads







The next day we skied a bit







And then we skied some more.

[LaZapatilla]

We hiked to France and checked out some old fortress remains (Colle di Tenda):























Old chairlift for smaller-than-average people




Limone Piemonte is a fun mountain. There is loads of short hikes to reach untracked slopes. The obvious off-piste got tracked out pretty fast but there was plenty of untouched terrain available for a 5-30 minute hike. The altitude is a bit low though so the snow got baked pretty quickly and it was time to move on.

We weren't sure where to go next: either the French Alps or Dolomiti. We heard some good news coming from the Dolomiti and decided to head that way.

Another from Limone Piemonte:



and one from Vernante (the next town down the valley). Apparently some Pinocchio illustrator was from Vernante and the town decided to cover the walls in Pinocchio images in his honor.

[LaZapatilla]

On our way to the Dolomiti we decided to spend the night in Verona.





Roman ruins in town


We happened to be there during the Festival di San Remo (huge event in Italy). Were treated to some quality entertainment every evening. We learned that ALL Italian women are tall, young and beautiful and that all Italian men are short and old (except, needless to say, for Verbier61)




The Verona marathon was scheduled for the following morning and we found out that we wouldn't be able to get our car out of the garage until the afternoon.

The frontrunners:



The pack:



The finish line was right after passing through the Colliseum



The winner heading home:



Second place:



We got out of town and headed up towards Val Gardena. Too many toll roads in Italy.




Nice pork products in the Dolomiti



The next day, we needed to find our bearings so opted for the Sella Ronda to scope out the available terrain. We decided to go clockwise.

Arabba (next time we will stay in this town as there is an abundance of good terrain in this area).



Passo Pordoi region






Lunchtime (awesome food for the entire trip - lots of meat and lots of polenta)



We were planning on heading up Sass Pordoi the next morning but wind and clouds changed those plans.

[LaZapatilla]

On one of the gondola rides in the afternoon, the clouds lifted off of the Sella Gruppo and we spotted the Val Setus, the goal for the following day.



The next morning was bluebird but windy.

Sassolungo:



The view from Sass Pordoi



It was windy



and scenic





The drop into Val Pisciadu



and further down



one more short skin



and it's time to start the drop into Val Setus. Patxi



we need to make it down to the road





dinner



It's always nice to make it home to fresh snow

[Schnappi]

Photos don't work for me after colle di tenda.

[bobsdesk]

Fantastic.

[givethepigeye]

Thanks - exactly what I would like to do one day.

[GBB]

God how I miss that place.
thanks for sharing.

[shredGenius]

can't really think of anything to say but wow, that was one of the best TR's ever. The scenery was amazing.

[jon turner]

wow. that's awesome.

[teosickrider]

Great trip!! I never headed to mid/low Piemonte because it's a region known mostly for its piste skiing(even more than the rest of the country). Your TR made me change my mind!

[ulty_guy]

Sweetness!

[Nobody Famous]

Wow. Excellent TR, one of the top ten here.

I want to live my life like that.

[IridePow]

Awesome road trip !!!

(I am hoping when I have vacation for two weeks from next weekend on, that I can make also as nice of a road trip as yours. Will be hard to beat I guess.)

[lionelhutz]

Bravissimo!

[verbier61]

stellar! and I'm actually short, fat and old :-)

[flyandski365]

So good, thanks for sharing!

[Mike Pow]

Fabulous. Some magic pics in there

[rudy]

Great trip and fantastic pics to match.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Cool trip and great pics! That shot of the old fort is really cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Bug]

WOW....and thanks!

[Hugh Conway]

Solid work

[Pow4Brains]

Yes please! Great fotos.

[steven hatcher]

That was great. Euro skiing at its best. Thanks for sharing.

[Hicks]

Epic, well done!