Italy Trip

[ctenidae]

I know, it's not the Northeast, but it's north, and sort of east, Italy. Where's the love?
Anyway, I put some pics up in the gallery:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=928

I'll load more up soon.
It was a great trip- we got nearly a season's worth of skiing in in 5 days. At least, my legs feel like it, and my bases look like it.

 

[maplevalleymaster]

Nice pics. I enjoy the style of trail maps in Europe. Very different from ours.

 

[BeanoNYC]

Wow..nice! Those bump runs!

 

[SkiDork]

Awesome. Madonna Di Campiglio is less than an hour away from my Brother-In-Laws home. We've hiked it but never skied it. We did get to the glacier at Ski Adamello (passo tonale). Did you get over there at all>

 

[ctenidae]

I wanted to go to Tonale, but we couldn't work it in. Maybe next time.

It was weird, the near total lack of anything relating to a mogul. On the edges of some trails snow would get piled up, but it was flattened the next day. It's mostly caused by the Euro method of ski instruction- lines of 10-20 people snowplowing all the way across a trail and back. It tends to scrape the centers clean and pile all the soft stuff on the edges, which is great if you stay on the edges and can avoid the schools snaking back and forth. I got a lot of practice in on my short turns, and was really able to find my ski's sweet spot.

 

[MadPadraic]

Did you have any trouble with flat light? Loosing all depth perception has always scared me about European skiing. Great pics.

 

[ctenidae]

Yeah, it got tough at times, and changing lens colors didn't help much with the light. You end up having to concentrate pretty hard on what's in front of you and try to pick up subtle differences as you move around. I'll take skiing through a cloud to flat light- at least if you can't see anything at all you don't see it wrong.

 

[SkiDork]

There's something to be said for tree skiing...

 

[MadPadraic]

Its funny, I'm usually fine in open bowls, but on less concave surfaces or above treeline (at whistler at least) I have trouble. Just one or two trees are enough to help usually. That being said, I've love to ski Italy.

 

[Sky]

Thanks for the pics! I think I posted on you r "pending" trip announcement that I lived in Italy for three years and had been to Madonna DC a few times.

That weird lift is a "Basket Lift". Yep, you doff your skis, and step in. Seems we were able to put three people in there. Can''t remember the place we used to frequent that had one of those. Cool "little" place, three trails is all I remember. Basket lift to the summit where there was an old WWI bunker converted to a bar. A glass of hot wine and off you went. There was a snow fence at the summit to prevent you from falling to your death en route to one of the trails....a long drop to skier's left, proly the sighting for the bunker.

I had a post card of the place...but can't put my hands on it. :< That post card is with a pic of me and my ski-pal stopped @ a bar en route to someplace....I had a Fiat 124 Spyder (HEH! @ 6'9"....interesting fit!). We had the roof down, skis poking out the back, snowbanks in the bacgkround. Man we got some "looks" from the locals. It wasn't bad with the windows rolled up and the heater on full blast. The up-side...you had our ski-garb on! Cuts down on change-up time @ the mountain. :>

I miss Italy.

 

[ctenidae]

We may have traveled some of the same roads, there, Sky. Unfortunately, I did it in a Smart car, not nearly so cool as a Spider. That picture was taken near Folgaria- I need to check the map to be certain of where, though.