Skiing in the Dolomites....calling Steve James, bmw232002, FlyFish
 

Hi!

My son's Spring Break doesn't start until mid-March for a couple of weeks. Having thoroughly enjoyed our experienced at St. Anton & Ischgl as well as Kaprun & Kitzbuhel ski areas last Christmas-New Year, we want to try the Alpe di Siusi this time. (Although definitely we will be back for Lech, Zurs and even Serfaus). Do any of you think its still OK to ski this late in the season? We will probably ski for a maximum 4-5 days and although I enjoyed myself in Ischgl and St Anton, I discovered I really like the smallness of Kaprun/Zell Am See area. I would appreciate your thoughts.

BTW, although my son is a very good skier (advance intermediate), he is just a beginner snowboarder, so I am wondering how difficult are the slopes for snowboarding in these areas. He did fine snowboarding in Austria last December in the blue/red runs.

Thanks so much.

Though I have been in the region during the summer, I am very interested in the responses as I plan to go back end-of-winter/early spring, so I am topping this thread.

Hi Joy - We were there mid-March last year. I don't ski myself - but conditions up on the Alpe di Siusi and the slopes around Val Gardena were perfect - the skiers in our group had a ball.

I think you'll have no problem there this year either - they've had great snow since early December (- another 2ft in the last few days).

Go for it :)
http://tinyurl.com/b59gsv

http://www.seiseralm.it/en/
http://tinyurl.com/b25lbz

http://www.valgardena.it/en/

Hope this helps ...

Steve

As always, many thanks Steve for your insights and for sharing your experience.

Joy

Hi JoyC:

Cannot help you with the Dolomites!

I will defer to Steve and his helpful posts!

I think Flyfish is on his own trip to Grindewald.

But I do hear that the snowfall in the Dolomites has been epic this year so the skiing conditions should be fine

I agree with you on Lech and St Anton. I have also put Ishgl on my 'wish' list!

Make sure you send back a report on the trip!

John

Hi John!

Thanks for replying to my post. We were quite spoiled with the beauty of the Tirol region (and also the mountains of lower Salzburg region)and our fantastic skiing experience there that we are hard pressed not to repeat it. I am even tempted to divide our skiing time between Ischgl/Lech and the Dolomites but that might be pushing our itinerary too far.Plus I think the Dolomites deserve a time of its own.

BTW, when we were living in Boston, we must have practically skied all the ski areas in Vermont, Maine and NH. My favorites were Okemo, Sugarbush, Killington and Sugarloaf in Maine.

Joy

Hi Joy:

I am by no standard an Expert of European skiing! I know there are fodor locals living in the ski countries that have far more experience than I do!

What I try to give is my 'biased' opinion of the areas that I have skied. I just love the beauty of the Alps. My first taste came in 1984 with a two week package to Kitzbuhel.....I was hooked!

Now, looking at your various trips to Europe, I am 'officially' designating you as a "Fodor Euro-skiing expert" :-)

USA East Coast area: I agree I with all the areas you mentioned! Killington, maybe a bit too crowded
Comming out of New Jersey I am partial to Hunter (midweek) skiing.

You will have a great time in Italy! I do not which will be better the skiing or the FOOD!

John