Our last day of skiing is upon us too soon! There are only 3 days left of our Italian adventure, how quickly it has flown. We were all feeling the effects of yesterday’s Sellaronda effort as we creaked and groaned out of bed fairly late, making it up to breakfast at 8:30 barely in time to eat before it stops at 9am. Over breakfast we agreed we’d have a very easy day - over to Corvara for a few runs, lunch and then a run home to start packing in preparation for our drive to Modena tomorrow.
Out we went into the bright sunshine - it was pretty warm again, as we were about to discover. A couple of nice runs and we were over onto the well-groomed cruisy slopes of Corvara. The slopes were fairly busy which meant a lot of speed control, which is actually quite tiring - not to mention we were paranoid about last-day accidents (sorry Amanda) - I’d had one near miss this morning and Cameron had a guy take her out too, luckily she was fine. The warmer weather was clearly bringing out not just the humans but also some wildlife - as we rode up the Col Alt gondola, we saw two small brown deer grazing in the sun on the grass below us, and as we rode up one of the chairlifts, a squirrel shot across the snow underneath us and into the trees. After a couple more runs, our legs needed a breather so we pulled in to a rifugio for a quick coffee stop. The seats were covered in cowhide and we discovered the seats were made for giants - so high that both Cameron and Sean were swinging their feet without touching the ground. My seat was much lower than theirs, so while my feet were on the ground, I looked about a foot shorter than both of them.
It’s for the ‘gram…
None of us were giants
We did a few more runs, and noticed that the temperature gauge on one of the lifts showed the temperature at…15 degrees. What?! No wonder we were boiling!
Hard to beat this weather
This is what we should have been wearing…
Lunch was a no-brainer: Las Vegas, of course! It was already pumping when we rolled in but we managed to get a table out on the deck - I know this sounds crazy on such a warm day, but it was completely irresistible. We settled in a de-layered, Sean hanging the jackets and helmets on a dead tree next to our table. It was beautiful in the sun - Cameron was down to her long sleeve t-shirt and the sun so bright she had to keep her helmet and googles on. We ordered up…you guessed it…Aperols! Except Sean hadn’t learned his lesson from yesterday and ordered a Bombardino. I tested it, yep still as strong as yesterday’s - but quite a lot smaller. Lunch arrived - Cameron and I sharing venison tagliatelle (thank goodness because the servings were HUGE here) and Sean with a traditional…hamburger.
Viva Las Vegas!
Soaking up the sun
Still Xmas…
Inventive jacket and helmet storage
Too bright!
Much better!
Aperol is the go
Danger!
Lunch!
Is that jacket channeling Elvis?
Also since we missed out on Kaiserschmarrn yesterday, we ordered a plate to share after lunch - not quite as good as Jimmi’s Hutte but still pretty good. Also Las Vegas offered us some helpful stretching tips on our placemats, so we gave them a cursory glance and felt like we’d mentally stretched. Gold star for us!
Kaiserschmarrn!
Reading it plus Aperol has the same effect as actually doing it…
More for the gram
Las Vegas even has a doggie hut
Where are my skis?
Then it was time to head home - it was gettting towards 2pm and we didn’t want to be home too late. Off we went carefully picking our way down the slopes which were getting busier as everyone else was getting the same idea. The closer we got to Arabba, the more cut up and icy the slopes became, the bigger the moguls and the heavier the snow. Skiing it is no problem, just laborious, however because they are marked as easy slopes, there are a lot of beginner skiers slowly struggling on them and stopping at random points. This means a slow pick-your-way down with a lot of sudden stops, very hard on the legs. We were all pretty happy when we reached the final traverse home - albeit that too is a very skinny icy luge-track of a path, culminating in a slide down what feels like solid icy glass to reach the apartment just after 2pm. Yikes! Happily we all made it in one piece.
This is all fantastic until you have to ski home!
An afternoon nap, some preliminary packing and general resting, it was time to wander up to dinner - our last one here at the Hotel Alpenrose and I’ll be eating a lot less after this! A negroni aperitif was followed by quiche Lorraine, tomato pasta, Argentinian beef for Cameron and I, chicken for Sean and dessert of crostini with a nougat-style cream. Yet again we were too full as we rolled down the hill to the apartment.
Leave me alone, I’m comfortable!
Dinner…
Then the packing began in earnest, I was wondering how we got all this stuff in the bags in the first place, it’s like a Tetris game with the added dimension of weight. And it’s not like we have done a lot of shopping! We managed to get most of the packing done, and then once ‘suitcase Tetris’ is done, we get to play ‘car Tetris’ tomorrow. For now though, it’s time to crash!
This featured blog entry was written by Redsole from the blog The Italian Job.
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