Italian backcountry ski lunch
Guiding Italian Style by Alberto De Giuli
Some of us Italian Mountain Guides have it pretty good working in the Dolomites.
Most of our work days guiding clients in the Dolomites are spent skiing amazing backcountry powder, wandering through the wilderness or climbing steep ice. All of this is normal for our work, but it’s not only this type of guiding.
In the last few years, tourism in the Dolomite’s has evolved as many people from Russia and Kazakhstan come to visit and spend their Christmas and New Year’s here in the luxury of our mountains, primarily the Alta Badia and Val Gardena.
The wealthier of these people have started moving from the French and Swiss Ski Resorts after discovering the treasures and high style of the Dolomites. Undoubtedly one of the best places in the world to stay with friends and family for ski holidays.
These visitors always demand the best hotels, facilities and of course the best food to be had. Everything to be the best as you can understand… They will always hire ski teachers for their kids and for themselves mountain guides to help them move around the lifts and slopes. They are not so interested in skiing off-piste, or ski touring or snowshoeing. Their aim is the best slopes, fast but not too difficult and never too flat. The second and most important goal of these visitors is what we Guides must be most careful about; lunch.
With most of my clients, I first take them to the mountains, make them work, ski something beautiful and become satisfied with themselves and their day.
But with these new guests, these are days when I say, “Yes, we’re going to ski …but first we’ll go out for lunch”. To prepare for these guests I really don’t have to check the snow avalanche bulletin or the weather forecast. What I really need is a wide telephone number list of the best restaurants around, in the downtowns, or better yet in the mountains. My job is to seek and book a nice table to make my guests smile as I guide them through this, their dream day in the Dolomites. The tricky part in the mountains is working for those who love fish and seafood… I’ll have to find just the right place.
At the end of their holiday, they will have been stunned by the Dolomite’s dramatic scenery and amazed by these towering walls that come out from the forests. They’ll also realize that here they have nothing but the best for their families in these valleys: well organized ski schools for their kids, luxury hotels, friendly local people and of course the results of their hired mountain guide’s hard work, the best Italian food.
_______________________________________________
Alberto De Giuli is an Aspirant Mountain Guide living and working in the Italian Dolomites. Besides being a fantastic guide, athlete and one of my best friends, he has a tremendous talent for finding just the right lunch no matter your taste.
Dolomites Tour Operator