21 October 2019
The Sellaronda is probably the most well-known ski route in the Italian Alps and for good reason. Set in the heart of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage site this ski tour takes in some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe and allows you to ski right underneath the iconic limestone cliff faces that the Dolomites are renowned for.
The Sella Ronda Ski Tour is 42km long and allows you to explore 4 different mountain passes, the Campalongo, Gardena, Sella and Pordoi, as you wind your way around the imposing Sella Massif. You can ski this circuit both clockwise (orange) and anti clockwise (green), allowing you to take in a great variety of runs and views and cover 4 different ski areas.
Skiing the 42km Sella Ronda with Collett’s
On Friday we set off with a small group from Chalet Angelo to ski the Sellaronda green. It was a perfect blue sky day with the sun shining, but the air temperature was still very cold which kept the pistes in great condition. We started by heading up over the Gardena pass and down in to Selva. The runs were long and quiet and we were able to see right over to the Austrian Alps as the visibility was so clear.
We made our way through the Cittia di Sassi (city of rocks), a famous climbing area in the summer which consists of giant snow covered boulders and headed for our first coffee stop of the morning at the Freidrich August refugio. We sat in deck chairs soaking up the sun and admiring the view of Sassalongo looming over us, an impressive rock face which used to be part of a coral reef many thousands of years ago. We also encountered 3 very sweet boarder collie dogs who were amusing themselves by catching the button lift in their mouths like a Frisbee and being dragged up the hill over and over again.
We continued our journey through the Belvadere bowl and down in to Arraba. Everyone still had lots of energy so we decided to extend the day with a few long blue runs on the Prolongia Plateau before finishing with a late lunch at the Arlara Refugio. We sat out on the terrace and watched the sun set over Sella, admiring the huge massif that we had all just managed to ski around.
Thanks to Katie for the excellent blog!
