Cortina Ski Resort

The Cortina ski resort is actually more impressive than the resort’s reputation might lead one to expect, with lifts taking you up close to 3,000m in several places. The Dolomites as a whole — and Cortina ski resort in particular — have an erratic natural snow record and as a result the authorities have undertaken a massive investment in snow-making equipment. It is now claimed that 95% of the ski area, and all runs below 2,300m have snow-making. Certainly artificial snow saved the day here in the first half of the 2001/2002 ski season. But it has to be remembered that low temperatures are needed for this equipment to work. Because of the fairly high proportion of south-facing slopes, I would not normally recommend Cortina ski resort as a destination for keen skiers much before the end of December or much after the middle of March.
The slopes of Faloria are accessed from close to the centre of town via a two-stage cable car decked out, in typically Cortinese style, with the livery of Paul & Shark, the Italian designer knitwear company. This south-facing area comprises mainly broad cruising pistes, best suited to intermediates. You can also ski across to Rio Gere (1,680m), which is the base of the Forcella Staunies/Cristallo sector. The first section of this is now served by a high-speed quad chairlift which runs up to Son Forca (2,215m). The final lift up to 2,930m is an old slow double chair and the top part of the run, a steep black-rated couloir, is often closed for safety reasons but skiers can alight at a mid-station. The other runs in this area are mostly reds, but the neighbouring Mietres area, with which a link has long been promised, has lots of blue runs suitable for beginners and early intermediates.