SkiSunday Tour 24
Kitzbuhel
After a long but remarkably stress-free drive from London to Kitzbuhel, we arrive on a mild Friday evening some 28 hours after leaving via an overnight stop in Namur. We stayed at Hotel das Reich, a very good, comfortable option around a 750m walk to Hannenkahm Bahn gondala. Once installed we headed out for expensive cocktails and beer at Funferl Bar next door. Kitzbuhel is a beautiful medieval town, quite low-key but definitely for the smart set. Ischgl it is not. We had an excellent and great value dinner at the Huberbrau Strudel restaurant - the wine cheaper by the glass than by the bottle.
The next morning we skied the Hahnenkahm and Steinbergkobel areas before heading over on the Penglebahn gondala to the main ski areas. Weather was warm, the snow patchy and slushy low down but better on the Resterhohe side of the mountain, it’s a fun trip over but requires a few traverses so not the most engaging or challenging of routes.
We hit lunch at the Panorarma Alm, and being a Saturday the party was in full swing. I enjoyed a very good CurryWurst here. It’s well worth a visit but don’t expect a quiet lunch on the slopes.
The afternoon was spent tracing our way back to the infamous Streif WC downhill run. Conditions were poor, the snow wet and heavy, part of the run was closed including the infamous mausefalle jump at the top. Still, I picked my way down to the bottom and rewarded myself with a weissbier at the perfect apres spot Hocking. The restaurant also looked great but we couldn’t get a table and it was shut the following day. Instead we enjoyed a pre-dinner glass at the Hillinger wine bar. Dinner at Hutschpferd Palais included a perfectly acceptable Weiner Schnitzel, a decent place but others thought the food only average.
Sunday brought some high winds and closure of Hannenkahm Bahn gondala so we piled onto the skibus to neighbouring Kirchburg. After a couple of warm-up runs on that side of the mountain we headed back over to Resterhoe and retraced our route from the previous day. None of the runs are that long in Kitzbuhel and any route down into the valley was off-limits due to lack of snow but we enjoyed a couple of repeats of the black run 63 from the Barenbadkogel lift and the coffee stop at the top. Our destination was the terrace of the Toni Alm on the way to Mittersill at the far end of the piste map, a perfect spot for Sunday Lunch.
The afternoon was spent retracing the route back to town. For the final run home we could take the short, steep black run from the top of the hannenkaham bahn but the rest of the route was shut below the A7 lift. Apres beers were at Flannagans whilst watching City v Liverpool. Dinner was a very good pizza at Greiff followed by a glass or two of wine back at the Hillinger wine bar.
Monday followed a similar pattern but with the weather increasingly mild the snow coverage was deteriorating. We skied over to the bottom of the Penglestein gondala a couple of times, a good 1000m drop on straightforward red/blue runs. We stopped off for a coffee at this quirky place - spot the snow! It was time to leave Kitzbuhel, it’s a classy place and the ski-ing can be challenging and varied, but the conditions didn’t really show it at it’s best.
Cortina
To Cortina then, a gorgeous afternoon drive via the Tre Cime national park and the same pass from Dobbiach i’d ridden over by bike in June 2022. We crested the top of the CimeBianche and continued via the gentle downhill run into Cortina D’Ampezzo. The hotel was a little disappointing on first sight, not quite what we’d expected. Nonetheless, it’s always a joy to be back in Italy. We had a fantastic €5 Campari Spritz at Bar Dello Sport, named after the classic Italian film and a superb seafood pasta dinner at Il Vizietto After dinner we returned to the still-lively sport bar for a quick Vecchio Romano.
Our first morning took by bus to Socopes to ski that side of the resort. Some good quality snow and challenging runs including the two steep black runs down to Rumerlo. A quick coffee at the top of Pomedes before over a long, enjoyable ski tour of 20km all the way over to Armentarola in Alta Badia via the Cinque Torri, Laguzoi and the Passo Falzarego. The scenery was simply stunning, a memorable day for us all to be ski-ing in the Dolomites for the first time.
We queued for lunch here, halfway down the magnificent and long red run 101, but the wait was too long. A little further down we picked up a horse-drawn rope to drag us the last few hundred metres to Almerola. A different experience for sure but not one worth repeating. With no ski route home we took a cab back to the top of the Falzarego pass and retraced back to Socopes with a quick pit-stop late lunch along the way. There was still time to ski down to Rumerlo and take the Tofana gondala up to Col Druscie and an afternoon sunshine drink at the Masi wine bar before retuning to Socopes and the short bus ride home.
The evening began with apertivos at this small, charming bar, followed by a superb pasta dinner at Ariston. A tremendous first day in Italy. The following day began with a drive over to the Falora cable car to ski other side of the mountain - there’s less ski-ing here in this sector but plenty enough for a full morning. Brilliant quality snow on the red run from the top at Tondi down to the bottom of the Vitelli lift. A quick coffee here, it may have been a better option for lunch, then a quick flick over to San Forca and the scenic red run 73 back down to the bottom. A decent lunch was taken here at Col da Varda, the sun came out and the pasta tasted great.
In the afternoon we drove back to Socopes and headed back up to Ra Valles. A couple of warm up runs before taking on the very nasty black run 51, steep, icy and rutted. We managed the descent but it was a not pretty and it was with some relief drinks were taken back at Masi wine bar. Dinner was a pizza at 5 Torri - ok, nothing special.
An early start the next morning began with an incredible drive over two high passes, the Falzarego (hello again) and the Gardena on the way over to Selva and the start of the Sella Ronda, our itinerary for the day. A quick breakfast at this charming little bakery would set us up for the day ahead.
The Sella Ronda is a 30km ski circuit around the Sella mountains in the Dolomites, starting in Selva it traverses over 4 mountain passes. We met up with friends staying locally who helped guide us for the day, starting with a warm-up run down the Saslong World Cup run from the top of the Ciampino lift down to San Cristina. We retraced back up the mountain and hit the Sella Ronda, anti-clockwise (green) route. The route is beautiful with wide, well-groomed slopes and fast, efficient lifts. Understandably it was very busy, the most crowds we’d seen all week but within a couple of hours we were over the Passo Pordoi and ready for a coffee stop at the very funky, modern Refugio Fredarola, followed by an even better lunch on the Eagles Nest Terrace at Refugio Col Pradat just off the main route above Colfosco.
All good things must come to an end so having completed the circuit it was time to pack the car for the long overnight drive to Switzerland. Arrivederci Italia, you never disappoint. We made it to Lucerne and a quick overnight stay before heading on up the valley via Interlaken to our hotel in Lauterbrunnen the next morning.
Murren / Wengen
We parked the car, put in our ski boots and headed up towards Murren via the cable car. Being Switzerland, the transport was seamlessly integrated with a train waiting for us at the top of the cable car station - we were on the slopes before midday. The runs are fairly short, tree-lined and quiet on this side of the valley. We headed over to Murren and the base of the Schindlerbahn gondala which proved to be some distance from the town itself, so instead headed up to the top of Gimmelbahn chairlift and the very cosy Schilthornbarn mountain hut and their tremendous cauliflour and cocunut soup.
The main challenge for the day involved riding up the Schindlerbahn to the middle station at Brig and tackling the runs down to the Kandahar lift, the snow was much better here, the runs longer, and quieter, a mixture of reds and some steep blacks including the fabled black 9 and it’s 78% maximum gradient. With the weather closing in it was a margin call to take the cable car up to the top at 3000m. There is a James Bond Museum here, the terrace of the cable car station was used for a scene in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. A quick photocall and then off into the fog and down the long black 10 run all the way down to Murren, a 1500m elevation drop. It was steep in places, but empty, peaceful and proved to be one of the weeks highlights. Lack of snow meant the run back to Lauterbrunnen was shut so the ski-ing day ended at the Winteregg train station.
With no apres scene to speak of near the hotel it was a quick turnaround and off to the train station for the spectacular ride up to Wengen. Car-free villages are something of a feature of Swiss ski-ing (Saas Fee, Zermatt etc) but it does elevate the sense of peace and serenit. Wengen’s setting is magical, perched on a ledge in the shadow of the JungFrau. Suprisingly, a lively apres scene was evident at the Tanne Bar and a very good Japanese dinner was taken at Lecker Asia. A hectic couple of days was capped off with a couple of rounds of Amaro at the friendly Pickle Bar.
Our last day and the overnight rain had cleared to leave a bright, sunny day. Another magnificent journey took us all the way to Kleine Sheidegg, the ski area above Wengen. The train station had a vague wild-west feel to it but the ski-ing here was superb, we did a few loops around the Eigernorwald and Wixl lifts cruising well-groomed reds and blacks. A quick coffee at the Chalet Bar before heading down towards Grindlewald. Sadly, the recent rain and warm weather meant poorer conditions lower down and the run to the valley was closed. We rode the Mannilchen gondala back and retraced a route back over to the top of the legendary Lauberhorn run.
Along with The Strieff, this is the run that inspired this Ski Sunday Tour, the longest fastest on the WC circuit. A quick photocall by the start-hut and then off on this 4.5km monster. By now the snow was a little churned up and heavy, our time to descend to the base at Innerweg was a few minutes longer than the 2’25 course record. What a treat awaited us, the brilliant Mary's cafe where a fine lunch was served in brilliant, hot sunshine. It felt and looked more like June than March.
It was tough to leave that spot, had it not been the last day we would have settled in for the afternoon but instead we jumped on a chairlift and train back to the top of the mountain. The runs were busy and the snow deteriorating in the afternoon sun but in my quest to ski all the black runs I took a loop to take in the 27 to Wixl, some off-piste on the Red 26 and the steep 31 to Kleine Schiedegg. With that done I took the Lauberhorn chairlift back up and over to the start of the Lauberhorn for one last run, all the way down to Wengen. Snow conditions had predictably worsened but what a thrill it was to ride down this mountain one last time.
It was time to pack up and head home but not before one last meal at the excellent Restaurant Bären. No digestifs were consumed with a 13-hour journey ahead of us. The return home passed in a blur, and somehow we were back in West London that same day. Was it worth it? Absolutely. A magnificent and memorable trip through 6 Countries, 5 ski resorts and nearly 300km of ski-ing.