It took us about 2 hours to drive from Inssbruck to Selva Val Gardena in Italy, where we were going to ski for five days. Driving over the border from Austria to Italy was a pretty cool experience. It was also fairly expensive, because the autobahn (or autostrada, depending which country you’re in) is a toll road. I didn’t count how many times we paid, but it seemed like a lot. As you leave Innsbruck, you can watch people ski down the slopes, sometimes directly under the Brenner Pass motorway that connects the Alps and the Dolomite Mountains.
How does one decide?
The only ski trip we’ve taken since moving to Europe eight year ago was to Sweden. We’ve spent the last few years wanting to book another one, but there were a few things preventing us from doing so: the hefty price tag, other (sunnier) places we wanted go, the vast amount of choice of resorts in various different countries, and all the planning involved. Brett and I grew up driving to the ski slopes, there-and-back in a day if we wanted, so the process of booking a ski holiday (involving flights) was pretty foreign to us. So, we’ve spent the last 4 years interrogating our friends about their ski holidays.
They may not have mountains of their own, but the Brits absolutely love to ski! I grew up hearing about my Dad’s adventures skiing in Austria with his brothers and friends. So, it’s thanks to him (and the convenience of mountains around us in Washington and Canada) that my siblings and I grew up skiing. Many people around here ski in France, since you can drive there, allowing you to easily take your own gear. Others frequent Austria, Switzerland or Italy, but the options are virtually endless. We finally decided on Selva Val Gardena, in Italy, after some friends returned with a rave review.
You can definitely book ski trips as a package holiday, but true to form, we decided to complicate things by booking it all ourselves, visiting friends in Italy and stopping in a few other cities en route. I shared some photos of our less-than-24-hours in Innsbruck in my last post.
Brett and I thought we would take our own skis and snowboard (which we’ve carted around with us for eight years, to only use once) but when I called the airline to enquire about it, they didn’t have any space left. In hindsight, we’re glad we opted to rent and eliminate the hassle of hauling around our own.
Selva Val Gardena was everything we hoped it would be. A sweet little village of chalets nestled into a dramatic range of jagged mountains.
Ski School
We booked the girls into half-day lessons at this ski school. They really enjoyed it, learned a lot and were bombing down the mountain looking for little jumps in no time. After their lessons, we had lunch together and skied the lower slopes to witness what they had learned that day. We were also able to take them up to the top of the mountain for lunch, so they could see the views, but then take them back down in the gondola.
The ski conditions were great. The weather was sunny and cold; it was about -12 Celsius each day. The snow was good too; we had one day of fresh snow fall. But what I enjoyed most, was all the family fun, being in the outdoors together, and experiencing new things together. Since we spent all our time helping them on the “bunny” slope when we were in Sweden, the girls had never really seen Brett and me snowboard and ski. It was fun to share all of our memories and past experiences with them, and of course create more of our own.
The Food
One of the best things about skiing in Italy is enjoying all the great Italian food – many restaurants also offered Austrian specialties, as well as barbecued burgers and chili con carne – because sometimes that’s what’s called for on the ski slopes!
Since a lot of kids around Europe were enjoying half-term break, it was quite busy. We quickly learned to plan our dinner outings to match the early rush, around 6:00pm, or the late crowd, around 8:00pm. Trying to show up at a restaurant at 7:00pm proved futile.
Where we Stayed
We also enjoyed meals at our condo. We stayed at Residence Lores which ended up being a pretty good location, close to the kids’ ski school and not far from the main part of the village. It wasn’t fancy and I was disappointed there wasn’t a hot tub (or even a bathtub in our condo!) but it was fine for what we needed. We also lucked out with a great view, as some of the units were on the ground floor overlooking a snow bank. I loved watching the sun come up from behind the snowy peaks in the morning and witnessing their orange glow in the evening as we enjoyed our post-ski beverage and snacks.
When planning a holiday, we would normally choose sun over snow, but we have zero regrets with this one. The girls can’t wait for more opportunities to practice their new skiing skills, and thankfully for Brett and me, it’s a bit like riding a bike. After five years, we were so happy to be back in the snowy mountains.
