(Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy)

Our final two days of skiing are now complete.  Yesterday, as promised, there was no strike and we were able to take the bus to Passo Falzarego and then ski to the Alta Badia ski region.  This is no ordinary transfer.  You begin by skiing many kilometres down the “Hidden Valley” to Armentarola.   I’m running out of words to describe our reactions to the scenery around here; how about “gobsmacked”?

We eventually ended up on an almost flat plain just outside Armentarola.  This normally means some tough skate-skiing, but in this case there was another option.  We could get pulled the final few minutes to Armentarola by a team of horses!  Together with about 20 of our similarly astonished ski brethren, we each grabbed the ropes trailing the horses and held on (while still on our skis).  I’ve never seen anything like it.  I had some apprehension due to a fairly serious horse allergy, but I was far enough behind the horses that this was not really an issue.

We spent the rest of the day skiing in Alta Badia.  This area is very famous in Europe for the fierce battles that were fought in World War I.  There are tours (including ski tours) where you can visit the front lines and installations of the Austrian and Italian armies.  As a result of Italy’s victory in this region, the Austrian province of Sud-Tirol became part of Italy and was renamed Alto Adige.  There has obviously been some “Italianization”, but German remains the primary language in much of Alto Adige.  In fact, a third language (Ladin) is also spoken around here.  Ladin is closely related to Rumantsch, a language spoken in the remote southeast corner of Switzerland.  To my ears, Ladin and Rumantsch are like Italian spoken with German sounds.  As the name suggests, Ladin is directly descended from Latin.   Considerable efforts are now being made to preserve this ancient language.

I mention this because we were essentially on the linguistic border for lunch.  I could order my pasta in German rather than my enthusiastic but almost non-existent Italian.  The servers carried the huge wallets that are so characteristic of the German-speaking countries, there was no coperto, many of the dishes had Ladin names, and Skiwasser appeared on the menu.  I remain fascinated by crossing borders like this, even though we were in Italy at all times.

For our last day of skiing, we revisited the “greatest hits” of the Tofana area.  The last day of skiing is often a little sad, as we realize that we are having our last mountain lunch, our last lift and eventually our final run.   I always feel very alive skiing in the Alps, as if I am reconnecting with a more natural way of life.  While it is always hard to see a ski week end, I am also always highly motivated to begin planning the next mountain adventure. It’s now time to return to Venice.