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When you ride up a mountain gondola beside two giant cases of chianti, you know you're skiing someplace unique.
SKI BUMS spent a week in the crown jewel of the Italian Dolomites, Cortina d'Ampezzo, site of the 1956 Olympic Winter Games. Despite its reputation for a posh crowd and its delicious restaurants, the atmosphere is surprisingly low-key and casual. Maybe that's because as you pass through craggy rock vistas on the drive into town, you know that there's simply no competing with the beauty of the surroundings. By the end of our first day on the slopes, the thirty-five BUMS who took this trip were unanimous: we'd never been skiing & riding in a more beautiful place.
Our charming digs were located smack-dab in the center of town, and with tasty restaurants on the itinerary each night, we dove into local Italian fare that soon became trip favorites, like the roasted beet ravioli that's a regional specialty of the Veneto. Delicioso. With a hat-tip to the culinary cats at The New York Times, we enjoyed daily lunches at the many rifugios that dot the countryside. You ski or ride in, unbuckle, and settle down for a relaxing lunch that easily tops any American chili in a bread bowl. Wash it all down with a glass of that tasty house chianti, and you'll understand why they need to send up the replenishment cases.
Thankfully, the skiing and riding was just as refreshing -- a week of excellent snow conditions gave us mountain upon mountain of terrain to explore. We took a day to tour the famous Sella Ronda loop, weaving through Alta Badia, Val Gardena, and finishing in the quaint town of Corvara, where a local après-ski joint turned up the dance tunes and treated us all to shots of flavored grappa! Another day took us down the "hidden valley" of Armentarolla, rightly considered by some to be the most beautiful ski run in the world. The walls of giant red rock formations could easily make you feel that you're on a wintry path through the heart of Zion National Park or Monument Valley, until you come to the flats down below and you meet one of the world's most original lifts: a two-rope parallel rope tow that's powered by -- yes -- a horse-drawn sleigh. The BUMS had to see it to believe it, but once we'd experienced it, many thought it would qualify as most unique experience of the trip...
They were wrong.
SKI BUMS spent a week in the crown jewel of the Italian Dolomites, Cortina d'Ampezzo, site of the 1956 Olympic Winter Games. Despite its reputation for a posh crowd and its delicious restaurants, the atmosphere is surprisingly low-key and casual. Maybe that's because as you pass through craggy rock vistas on the drive into town, you know that there's simply no competing with the beauty of the surroundings. By the end of our first day on the slopes, the thirty-five BUMS who took this trip were unanimous: we'd never been skiing & riding in a more beautiful place.
Our charming digs were located smack-dab in the center of town, and with tasty restaurants on the itinerary each night, we dove into local Italian fare that soon became trip favorites, like the roasted beet ravioli that's a regional specialty of the Veneto. Delicioso. With a hat-tip to the culinary cats at The New York Times, we enjoyed daily lunches at the many rifugios that dot the countryside. You ski or ride in, unbuckle, and settle down for a relaxing lunch that easily tops any American chili in a bread bowl. Wash it all down with a glass of that tasty house chianti, and you'll understand why they need to send up the replenishment cases.
Thankfully, the skiing and riding was just as refreshing -- a week of excellent snow conditions gave us mountain upon mountain of terrain to explore. We took a day to tour the famous Sella Ronda loop, weaving through Alta Badia, Val Gardena, and finishing in the quaint town of Corvara, where a local après-ski joint turned up the dance tunes and treated us all to shots of flavored grappa! Another day took us down the "hidden valley" of Armentarolla, rightly considered by some to be the most beautiful ski run in the world. The walls of giant red rock formations could easily make you feel that you're on a wintry path through the heart of Zion National Park or Monument Valley, until you come to the flats down below and you meet one of the world's most original lifts: a two-rope parallel rope tow that's powered by -- yes -- a horse-drawn sleigh. The BUMS had to see it to believe it, but once we'd experienced it, many thought it would qualify as most unique experience of the trip...
They were wrong.
"SKI BUMS is fantastic way to not only meet other LGBT skiers, but also a great way to find other people who want to conquer mountains just as badly as you do. Our trip to Cortina d'Ampezzo was a breathtaking journey in the Italian Alps, and one of the most challenging mountains I have had the pleasure of skiing. The meals were utterly fantastic. The restaurant in the mountains -- which we got to by snowcat -- was just the best thing ever!"
-- Steve, February 2010
-- Steve, February 2010
The BUMS trip leaders had planned a surprise evening. It began with mountain-climbing rides in authentic military snowcats, carrying us high up into the mountains on slopes that a car couldn't possibly climb. With a starry sky overlooking the moonlit mountains and the sparkling town below, we were treated to a gourmet home-cooked dinner at one of the area's best rifugios. It was easily the highlight of our week, and the BUMS knew we'd never be able to experience anything like it back home.
If you're thinking of joining SKI BUMS on a trip to Europe, have a look at the photos above, and start imagining those Alps in French. We're planning a trip to the Trois Vallées area for winter, 2011!
If you're thinking of joining SKI BUMS on a trip to Europe, have a look at the photos above, and start imagining those Alps in French. We're planning a trip to the Trois Vallées area for winter, 2011!
