English 
Italiano
Freeride ski safari dolomites is our solution for an unconventional holiday.
A ski safari in the Dolomites usually means exploring a vast area of the Dolomites, skiing from one valley to the next on groomed slopes, staying overnight in different refuges or mountain chalets along the way. Our idea is to combine this purpose with your freeride desires: we will move from one valley to another, skiing off-piste as much as possible. Compared to the “off-piste skiing dolomites week” you can expect a more groomed-ungroomed mix, as we have to cover a certain distance each day to discover the next “refugio”.
FREERIDE SKI SAFARI VS OFF-PISTE WEEK
How do these two suggestions differ? Certainly the Dolomites Freeride Ski Safari is an innovative and fun trip: changing accommodation so often and staying in mountain refugios is fun and a perfect way to discover the region. On the other hand, during the freeride skisafari there is less flexibility and sometimes, when the snow conditions off-piste aren’t great, the only alternative is to stay on the groomed slopes. Conversely, the hotel week allows us to decide each day where better to go, but it lacks the hut adventure!
CUSTOM-BUILT PLAN
On this skisafari you will not change the accommodation every night, this is an example, do you rather prefer to change every night? Or do you might chose for less changes? We are ready to modify our plan depending on your request!
HIGHTLIGHTS
- – 3 nights mountain refugios and chalets and 2 nights hotel.
- – A mix of groomed-ungroomed skisafari.
- – Exploring the most renowned and beautiful area of the central Dolomites.
- – A flexible plan, depending on the weather, snow condition, and the level of the group we will adapt the plan almost every day.
ALL-INCLUSIVE
Accommodation during the tour is included in the price: nights plus breakfast and dinner. The night before the tour and the last night are not included, sometimes you don’t need those nights, sometimes you prefer to sleep near the airport. In any case, we will help you find and book the best solution for you. Price details are here: “prices”.
EQUIPMENT AND LUGGAGE TRANSFER
The guide will provide the avalanche transceiver kit, shovel and probe free of charge if needed. It’s strongly recommended to bring or rent wide skis (from 85mm to 100mm in the middle). You can choose to carry your equipment on a backpack (see what to bring) or choose the luggage transfer service (see the price list). It’s also possible to choose a compromise: for example, to book two luggage transfers along a one-week ski-safari.
YOUR GUIDE
The freeride ski safari is carried out by a mountain guide UIAGM/IFMGA certified. This is the most valuable qualification for a guide in Italy and all over the world. Besides, Freedolomites guides most definitely sport the best knowledge and will guarantee your safety and your fun.
One week freeride ski safari dolomites
DAY 0: ARRIVAL IN THE DOLOMITES!
FIORENTINA VALLEY, SELVA DI CADORE.
Today you’ll reach the Dolomites: Venice airport is the closest one and from there it takes just 2 hours driving. Selva di Cadore is a pretty village: in the winter is very sunny and the view is magnificient, from the town you will admire the Pelmo and Civetta peaks which are 2 of the ten highest peaks in the Dolomites. The Pelmo is also renowned as God’s throne, due to its shape, from the south side it actually seems a huge throne while the north side is a vertical and massive wall.
The town is one of the access to the Civetta ski area, if you get here early you can enjoy a couple of hours of ski before the start of our skisafari!
Dinner and night at ***Hotel in Selva di Cadore
DAY 1: FIRST DAY OF FREERIDE SKI SAFARI!
5 TORRI AND LAGAZUOI AREA.
Today we’ll start our tour with one of the most spectacular places in the Dolomites: above Cortina d’Ampezzo there is a very scenic area surrounded by walls and towers. Here we will spend the first day and the first night in a cozy “Refugio” at the foot of the 5 towers. Today we will have the opportunity to do some short off-piste runs: some of the itineraries from the 5 Towers are mostly in the forest, which is very convenient on a snowy day or when the wind is blowing. The Lagazuoi don’t have any forest around them, but they do have some steep couloirs; moreover, we are not far from the Tofana ski area, so if the conditions are good, we can decide to try one of the biggest runs there. You can find a description of some itineraries of the 5 Torri, Lagazuoi and Tofana on these pages: “intermediate freeride in the Dolomites” or “advanced freeride”. The Refugio is located in a very scenographic place, if you’re lucky enough to find the full moon you’ll be looking at the Tofana, maybe drinking a beer in the external hot-tube of the hut!
Dinner and night at Refugio.
DAY 2: A LONG DAY OF THE DOLOMITES SKI SAFARI
FROM THE 5 TORRI TO MARMOLADA.
The ski safari will take us from the 5 Towers to Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites and a true freeride paradise! However, the Marmolada day is tomorrow, today we ski all the way through the Val Badia and Val Fodom to reach it! First we have to take the famous Lagazuoi cable car to reach the top. From here there are at least 2 off-piste options: one is described here and it’s called Armentarola Nord, the second is an easy-medium freeride run that crosses a huge plateau, at the foot of great walls, before entering a wide gully. This run does not require an approach and is 500 meters downhill.
Once back on the groomed run, we reach the beginning of the Val Badia valley, which we have to cross, run after run, to reach the highest village of the valley, Corvara. From here we cross a pass called Campolongo and ski down in the Val Fodom to Arabba, another beautiful village. In this area the possibilities for freeriding are enormous, maybe we won’t have so much time to do the longest runs, but we will certainly enjoy some side country runs or short and interesting couloirs, for example the first part of Ornella or the “Antenna Couloir”, which are close to the lifts. Our main goal today is to reach the base of the Marmolada, where we will spend the next two nights in a nice hotel. From the top of the cable car called Porta Vescovo, a long and wild off-piste run is a cool way to reach Marmolada: a 500 m descent brings us to Passo Fedaia and from here a walk on the road brings us back to the groomed slopes and finally to the hotel.
Dinner and night at ***Hotel in Marmolada.
DAY 3: BEST OF DOLOMITES FREERIDE.
MARMOLADA FREERIDE PARADISE.
Day 3 is dedicated to freeriding in Marmolada: the freeride runs are among the longest and best powder in the Dolomites and are well described on this page: “intermediate freeride” and on the fourth day of this page: “off-piste week”. In Marmolada the type of terrain is an open field and the gradient is constantly between 30° and 40°, with some exceptions, such as the run called Canyon, which surprises with its narrow gully that must be skied through to reach the lowest and most beautiful slope of this great itinerary. Today the plan is to tackle 2 runs: the first one will be an itinerary not far from the groomed run, for example the “bellunese vecchia” or “intra i sass”. These runs have the advantage of a quick return with almost no walking. For the second run, we take the cable car back and maybe we can make a short stop at the middle station to visit the WW1 Museum. This small and very interesting museum is located at an altitude of 3000 meters above the sea, in a place where the Italian and Austrian soldiers fought a crazy war, trying to survive against the enemy and an extreme nature.
The second run will take place on the left side of the glacier, for example the “canyon” or “Villetta Maria”. After one of these two itineraries the day will probably be almost over, maybe we still have time to ski along the Sottoguda Canyon, a spectacular passage through ice falls. A short description can be found here.
Dinner and night at ***Hotel in Marmolada.
DAY 4: MASTERPIECE OF THIS DOLOMITES SKI SAFARI.
FREERIDE SKISAFARI ACROSS THE SELLA MASSIF.
Today we’ll go to a different place, but the distance we have to cover is not as big as on day 2, so we’ll have a lot of time to freeride. Our goal is to reach the Pordoi cable car, which is the entrance to the freeride area of the Sella massif. Here the possibilities are huge: from intermediate runs with 0 access, like the Lasties Valley, to steep and advanced couloirs with 2 hours and 30 minutes of skinning access, like the “Rissa del Dain”. The most famous itinerary here, and one of the most famous in the Dolomites, is certainly the Mezdi Valley. Why is it so famous? Once you’ve tried it, you’ll understand: it requires an approach over the summit plateau, which is worth the trip in itself, it’s 1500 meters of descent, first through a rather steep couloir, then through a beautiful valley surrounded by high towers and pinnacles. At the end of this great run we deserve a nice lunch, maybe on a terrace of a hut looking at what we just did. After lunch we will ski on the resort to reach the Pordoi Pass and our place for the night.
Dinner and night at Refugio.
DAY 5: THE SKISAFARI CONTINUES.
FREERIDE OR GROOMED SKI IN GARDENA VALLEY.
The plan for today is to reach a “Refugio” in a wonderful place, on the top of a mountain above Ortisei, in Val Gardena. Once again I remind you that this is an example of a plan that will be adapted to your needs: Val Gardena doesn’t offer so many freeride possibilities, but one of them is great: from yesterday’s place we have the chance to ski a magnificent itinerary called “Sassolungo Fork”, which is described here. The access requires a skin approach, so not everyone is willing to do that. But if so, the descent is definitely worth it, a never-ending descent in a very wild environment will be our reward after the 1 hour and 30 minutes ascent. The descent ends in the Alpe di Siusi, one of the most famous landscapes of the Dolomites. From here we ski down to Ortisei and up again for the last flat walk to reach our dream place.
Dinner and night at the Refugio.
DAY 6: LAST DAY OF SKI SAFARI DOLOMITES.
THE LONG WAY BACK TO THE STARTING POINT.
The plan for today is a long way across the Dolomites, from west to east, to return to our starting point: Selva di Cadore. We have to ski all the way back through the Val Gardena, crossing the Gardena Pass and skiing from one side of the Val Badia to the other. Once at the end of the Badia Valley we will take a short car transfer to reach the Falzarego Pass and from here we will ski to the Fedare lift station, where our Dolomites Freeride Ski Safari started 6 days ago. Obviously it’s an ambitious plan to ski so many kilometers in one day, and we may not have the time or energy to do any off-piste skiing today, but the groomed runs are great and it will be a very fun day! Alternatively, we can decide to end our trip before, for example at the Falzarego Pass, and return to the hotel by car transfer. If you have more time and want to ski another day, we can spend an extra night in the mountains and tackle a great run in Badia Valley which is called “Val di Litres”: the next day we will make our way back to Selva with no rush and, why not, add another freeride run!
Dinner and night at ***Hotel in Selva di Cadore
Plan your trip and start to get ready
Send us a message, we’ll reply asap
By contacting us, you agree to FreeWheeling Dolomites Terms and Conditions.
Freeride ski safari
Skiing off-piste, overnight stay on different valleys.
Dolomites
Comments
Your voice
Thank you for trusting us