A UVM blog Semester at Sea – Spring 2022

We met Filippo at 8:30. He had arranged a taxi to take us to Cortina about an hour over a pass. We came through there on or way up to La Villa a week ago. We arrived at a lift in Cortina. Crazy ski area parking lot action. Crazy million-kids-on-school-vacation-taking-ski-lessons lift line. We rode a chair up. A short ski to another chair climbing higher. A short ski. Another chair climbing higher. And a very steep run down. Filippo says Cortina is known for it’s steep pista. On to a gondola climbing a bigger mountain. At the top of the gondola we board a tram going higher. A short run to a chair going … higher. This char was interesting. It made a 90 degree turn halfway and continued up. This is where we skied the “Pista per Sciatori Esperti” pista. One of those trails where as you edge up to the edge you can NOT see ANYTHING below until you push yourself over the edge. OMG STEEP. We survived, stopped at a hut for a toilet and cappuccino. Fillippo had arranged a taxi to meet us back in the crazy parking lot. We found her and headed back up to the top of the pass separating Cortina from Alta Badia. There we rode another tram (large cable car) way way up to the top of another mountain. Here, we had a very nice lunch and enjoyed more fabulous views. We have been so lucky with the weather. So much sun and blue skies. From here we would ski all the way to La Villa. We did utilize a few more lifts. Most notable a “high capacity horizontal rope tow”. … A rope towed by two large strong horses pulling a couple of dozen skiers. Skied that final run down to the last lift up to the hotel. What great ski vacation. We recommend Dolomite Mountains ( https://www.dolomitemountains.com/en/home ) for arranging a Dolomites vacation, and we loved the ChristAnia hotel in La Villa ( https://www.christiania.it/en/ ).