Getting cooked!…

Our skis magically arrived at the back door this morning, freshly waxed and sharpened, ready for another day out on the slopes. As we breakfasted we checked the temperature and couldn’t believe our eyes - a high of plus 7 degrees was expected, which is like a heatwave here. We really really need some snow too - the offpiste areas are getting pretty patchy. However, it was a beautiful day outside, so we dressed for the anticipated temperature (or so we thought) and out we went.

We decided to head towards Corvara, out of the Melbourne Cup gates, up the stairs (grrrr!), and onto the Costabella lift. By this stage I had already worked up a light sweat and there hadn’t been any actual skiing yet! Down to the Dantercepies gondola and we were all getting hotter. Sitting inside the (nice and full) gondola cabin wasn’t exactly cooling either, so we were very happy to be out at the top in the (slightly) cooler air. Heading down towards Colfosco, the upside of the warmer weather was that the ice had melted a bit and the snow was actually pretty good, so we enjoyed a nice long run down to the bottom of the Colfosco Gondola. It was so nice we took it back up to the top and did it again. We realised that the runs that are not part of the Sellaronda are much less crowded and have better snow, so we will be using that strategy from now on. Also by this time we were absolutely cooking in the heat!

Another cracker day

At the top of the gondola we had spied a Jimmi’s Hutte, which looked like a good morning tea option, so we decided we’d stop there for a quick coffee and a bite, as well as hopefully cooling off a bit. It looked pretty cool, with a big deck and people lazing on beanbags and giant wooden sunlounges. It was too hot outside for us (as well as the smokers - eeek) so we took a table inside. We ordered coffee and I enquired as to whether they had any pastries, and the waitress responded by suggesting we have Kaiserschmarrn, saying “You will love it!”. I had no idea what it was but said “ok great!” equally enthusiastically. We sat down, admiring the Alpine interior with wine bottles stuck in every nook and cranny, and the ceiling wallpapered with banknotes of unrecognisable currencies. A few minutes later, a frypan arrived at our table, full of torn up pieces of fluffy pancake covered in icing sugar and strawberries, with applesauce and currant sauce on the side. I took one mouthful and…OH MY GOD! How can I never have eaten this before?! So good! We had practically inhaled it all before our macchiatos arrived. It reminded me of the taste of Poffertjes, the tiny Dutch pancakes that Mum and I would sneak off to the city to partake in when I was a teenager. I found out later that Kaiserschmarrn means “emperors mess” and it is pretty easy to make, so I will be making an attempt when I get home at some point.

Jimmi’s Hutte

Wine bottles and banknotes everywhere

Sculpture outside

Huge wooden sun loungers

Sean asked for a BIG coke and he definitely got one

Kaiserschmarrn!!! OMG!

Refuelled, sugared up and cooled off a bit, we headed back outside into the sunshine and skied the very long run down into Corvara, where we planned to have lunch. Cameron’s nasty blister is still very sore, but like the champion she is, she has kept on powering down the slope. She was having a pretty good day today with less ice and more snow, so she had some consolation. We skied down to the weird Borest gondola. I say weird because it goes downhill and it is quite disconcerting catching a lift downhill instead of uphill. Anyway, we got to the bottom and looked around for somewhere for lunch…and decided there wasn’t anywhere that took our fancy. So we got back on the gondola - uphill this time - back towards Colfosco with the idea of going to the Edelweiss mountain hut.

More lifts…

We caught a second gondola, and then a chairlift, and skied down towards the Edelweiss hut, but by then we had spied the Col Pradat Hut which looked like it had a better view, so we skied down to the bottom of yet another gondola, which landed us at the Col Pradat Hut. The view was indeed amazing, it was hard to look at in the blinding sunshine and we were all boiling hot - even at this height it was still 7 degrees! We decided to eat inside again, stripping off the layers trying to cool down. Sean ordered a traditional Italian…hamburger…hmmmm. Cameron and I shared a Wienerschnitzel and downed a heap of water. I can’t say the food was anywhere near as good as the view but it hit the spot. As we walked outside, high above us we saw a dramatic avalanche-waterfall of melting snow pouring over the edge of one of the rocky cliffs - it almost felt like spring weather.

Can I just curl up on one of those bean bag chairs?

The view was definitely good

Woo hoo!

Hot in the sun

Poser

I could get used to this…

Still Xmas at this hut!

It was after 2pm and Cameron’s foot was pretty sore, so we made for home…along the green Sellaronda route with what seemed like THOUSANDS of other skiers. Up a variety of chairs and gondolas until we reached Dantercepies and the final long ski home. By this time we were all pretty fatigued after a long day of skiing (and eating!), and so we were glad to be able to ski back to the lodge without having to do the Costabella stairs.

More great views

Cameron was so pleased to have this lovely pano of her backside…

Lovely view on the way home

We were all keen for showers given the very hot and sweaty day we’d had and since this is our last night at Villa Gardena, we need to pack up all our stuff for the drive to Arabba in the morning. So we are eating in, finishing off what’s left in the fridge and then it will be an early night ready for a new adventure tomorrow!