Overview

I first came to the Dolomites in 1995, it was October and the fall colors were going off. We drove into the Val di Fassa on a climbing trip, pulled into Moena, got a hotel and promptly

fell in love. I distinctly remember thinking, “This is exactly where I want to live someday”. “Someday” became 2007.

What is it about the Dolomites that lures people in? Undeniably, there is magic here, something different, something sweet. For lovers of mountain sports, it is simply everything you could want in a location, but more importantly it is also everything you could want from a culture within that location. There is a very deep tradition in the mountains, be it for agriculture, dairy farming, the ski industry or the rich climbing heritage. The terrain is steep, mountainous, rocky and as such not always hospitable to an easy way of living. The people have adapted to the mountains, lived within them, and in many ways blended into the environment instead of always trying to alter it.

The same people who live amongst these mountains have a great appreciation for the mountain athlete, they grew up seeing people perform in the mountains, both athletically and culturally. Both are respected.

So from this foundation comes an “energy” in the area that a visitor notices. It is a welcoming sensation for an athlete, almost as if the culture nurtures your own energy. As you do your sport, you feel like it is exactly what you should be doing here.

The idea for this site came about after hearing this line countless times from foreigners, “Wow, I had heard about the Dolomites but had no idea how amazing it is!”

The function of DolomiteSport is to provide motivation to visit the Italian Dolomites. The motivation comes primarily from our photography of the region, but also some basic text, trip reports and descriptions of what is possible. It is a site that will grow to include much more detailed information. Its birth is September 1, 2008 – it will be fun to see where it goes.

Any number of sites (i.e., Wikipedia) will do a better job of explaining the history, culture and tourist attractions of the Sud Tirol Region of northeastern Italy. When needed and obvious, we will certainly mention the must sees for any given area.

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When building your itinerary and booking services, such as hotels, guides or huts – please utilize our DolomiteSport Network which offers a handpicked selection of what we know to be some of the finest services, accomodations and resources in the Italian Dolomites.

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Languages

The Sud Tirol is in Italy, but it is not your typical Italy. In fact, the Italian language is not the primary language, a dialect of Austrian German is what you will more often hear. Further south in the Dolomites will be Italian, unless you are in a few valley’s (Alta Badia and Val Gardena) where Ladino is spoken. In many places street signs will be in three languages, often with each name quite different in each language. For instance, the village of La Villa is La’Ila in Ladino and Stern in German. Get ready to be confused.

If you do not speak any of these languages, don’t fear, it is a region accustomed to tourism, locals often speak enough English to make things work.

Weather

Primary English Meteo Site: ARPAV

Lower Regions (800-1000 meters) : Brunico, Dobbiaco, Caprile, Alleghe

Winter : December – March  >highs ~5° (30′s)

Summer : May – October >highs ~28° (80′s)

Afternoon thunderstorms June and July

September is a relatively stable month, the thunderstorms are finished and the air crystal clear.

Higher Regions (1200+ meters) : Corvara, Cortina, Badia, La Villa, Sesto, Misurina, Arabba

Winter : December – March  >highs ~3° (30′s)

Summer : May – October >highs ~24° (70′s)

Rainy in May and June

Afternoon thunderstorms June and July

September is a relatively stable month, the thunderstorms are finished and the air crystal clear.

The strategy for the Dolomites is to be active in the mornings. During a thunderstorm cycle, be finished by 2:00. If it is cold and you are active in the high mountains, consider dropping to lower elevations where it can be considerably warmer and more stable – the quality is the same for terrain. The beauty of the Dolomites is the proximity to different climates.

Timing Your Visit

Ski Touring : March – May 1

Road Biking : May – October

Mtn Biking : June – October

Trail Running : June – October

Hiking : June – October

So much in the Dolomites depends on the huts being open. To come to the Region and have the huts all closed would mean missing out on a lot of the culture, it would also mean a heavier pack. May and June can have periods of great weather for cycling, and the roads are empty. But, it can be quite wet as well.   Again, the huts are closed from late April to 20 June.

The time frames above are not fixed, only general references. Also, for the off season you can visit lower, nearby areas and hit the Dolomites in periods of perfect weather. The Lake Garda area is a fantastic escape when the weather is bad, or the perfect spot to base yourself off season.

An interesting thing occurs in Italy each August. The majority of the country goes on holiday. Literally. Unless you live in a holiday area (like the Dolomites), you go on vacation. The interesting thing is that Italians like to stay in Italy, they see little reason to leave, they know it is about the best place on the planet. Why risk leaving where the food is bad and the coffee terrible (good point)?

So, they pack nearly everything they own into their tiny cars and head to either the Dolomites or the beach. At about the same time, the Germans, who love the German speaking Sud Tirol Region, arrive en masse in campers, big Audi’s and motorcycles.

Given the option – do not come to the Dolomites in August – steer clear. The roads are frightening, the trails have traffic problems, the huts are full and the locals are somewhat grumpy.

Transportation

This is one of the few places in Europe where a rental car will really make things much easier. Within the Dolomites themselves, there is no train service, only bus, and it is not readily available or efficient. You will spend too much time dealing with the bus system, waiting for connections, making connections and missing connections if you want to travel within the range. Of course if you arrive and do a point to point trail, or settle into one town to ride, then maybe it will not be a problem. But, having a car means freedom. This site assumes you have a car.

Phones

The phone is a way of life in Italy. SMS, emailing, MP3, radio, and of course talking, a lot. If you plan to do a lot of overnight trips in the mountains, and are using huts, then a phone is convenient for reservations, changing plans, and calling ahead that you will be late for dinner because you ate too much at lunch and needed a nap. Phones can be rented at the airports and prepaid cards are the system of choice. Standard American cell phones will not work in Europe as America has not embraced cell technology like the rest of the world. GSM phones will work in Europe but may be pricey.

Hut phone numbers should be gathered ahead of time and carried with you in the mountains. It is just about guaranteed that you will at some point change your mind and decide to go to a different hut or stay where you are because the food is so good. During ski season a phone is fantastic for making itinerary changes due to weather. There are pay phones in the huts but these do little good when out skiing.

Paying

Huts do not always take credit cards – carry cash and lots of it. Most everyone else takes credit, Visa and MC are best. Cash is available at Bancomats, ATM or Credit cards will access your weak dollars for conversion to the strong Euros.

Huts: Etiquette and Use

The huts (Rifugio in Italian, Hütte in German) are open from about 20 June to about the end of September. Mountain huts as they are in Europe do not exist in America. If you have not experienced them, be prepared to be impressed. They are basically hotels, they have full kitchens, plumbing, certainly an espresso machine and more often than not, beer on tap. They are wonderful and allow you to carry not more than about 25lbs on your back, ever. They love to take your money. Learn to love giving it to them and your life will be that much better. Just remember this when you are griping about the prices; the huts are in the mountains, they are in fantastic places, they are not easy to supply, they are often privately owned and a lot of work. American purists can be put off by the overly civilized backcountry experience, we recommend embracing it, talking to everyone, enjoying the crowds and cherishing people watching at its Euro best.

Keep in mind when looking at a map that there is the Hut and there is the Malga, they will be marked as such. The hut is what is described above. A Malga is a small, typically family run, farmhouse. Often used only in the summermonths, the Malga is where a family lives to tend to the dairy cows as they graze in the summer. Malga’s usually offer a basic menu, occasionallyhomemade cheese and sometimes offer room and board. Huts are your basecamp while Malgas are your pitstop, although a stay can be great if possible. We oncestayed in one and were fortunate to see cheese made at night.

Reservations: Just about every hut has a website with phone number listed. Once you start planning, take note of those you may use and record their phone numbers. Within our sport pages we will list the huts for the trips we describe.

Etiquette: Do not picnic at a hut. As long as you are buying food or drinks, you can sit at their tables, but don’t sit and eat a Clif Bar while  drinking from your hydration hose. Buy something. If you do buy stuff then, if you would like, you can compliment your risotto and salad with a Clif Shot.

Careful about wearing your shoes inside, huts often require you to wear their own “hut shoes” provided free where you enter.

Look around, there may be a fountain to take water. If not, you will have to buy water.

Huts can become incredibly crowded. Keep track of your gear, leave nothing laying around or it will become swallowed.

Dinner at the huts is usually around 6:30, if you will be late, call and tell them. The Italian Huts are quite possibly the friendliest in Europe but do respect their ways, the small staffs deal with a lot of people each day and work very long hours. Often they have no place to escape to. The way to a hut keeper’s heart is through a newspaper, if you have some room, bring one from town and you might get an extra serving of pasta.

In some huts, private rooms are available, others just one big dorm type room. If you opt to sleep in the big dorm rooms, be quiet, don’t go in and out of your plastic grocery bags while people are trying to sleep.

Take ear plugs for the snoring. I sleep with noise canceling headphones screwed tightly into my ears – silence…

A silk sleep sack can be a good idea for the dorm rooms, one never knows who laid where you will find yourself.

Finally, don’t eat cabbage before bedtime when sleeping in a room full of strangers.

The Sports and PatitucciPhoto’s role in all this

Our goal is simple; to inspire you to visit an amazing place. We’ll tell you what we’ve done, how we have enjoyed the Dolomites, laughed, ate, drank and made the best use of time. But, we are not a guide service, we are professional photographers and hyper motivated athletes. We will provide an overview of information to the best services available for each sport or activity.