Thank you for posting this. What's your ski area? (It's not included in your profile) Are you looking forward to making some turns visiting the good ole' continent?
I would absolutely love to visit Italy to ski. My schedule is insane, and my pocket book is light.
At last I made it, and will try to answer...
Well, first thing first, my home mountain is the so called "Ponte di Legno -Tonale" (new name, the old was "Adamello Ski") mountain resort, I own a season pass there and alas do not move that much around the Alps anymore, these past two years being the exception, what with a couple of fall tours in Austria ("Kitzsteinhorn" in Kaprun/Zell am See) and a couple of days in the Dolomites in November/December (Cortina in Nov 2016 and Val Zoldana in Nov/Dec 2017).
My jome resort s not big by any standard (about 100 km of pistes or so) composed of a majority of easy to intermediate runs, but with some very nice and challenging red/black run (the so known "Temu' black run" an in the woods winding and icy (mostly, because of the altitude, covered by man made snowfrom top to bottom) black, the "Corno d'Aola" black run in Ponte di Legno, again a winding and icy black run in the woods in Ponte di Legno, the "Paradiso" run, also a black, wide and straight in its central portion nested at Passo Tonale, between 2500 and 1800 mt asl, in what I can only ddefine a spectacular scenery. As for freeride/back country/side country, there's plenty and not particularly difficult with beautiful sceneries , albeit all in avalanche area: from the "easy" runs placed besides the "Paradiso" black run , "Alaska", "Canyon", known also as "Paradiso off piste itineraries" to the three classics "Cantiere" "Sgualdrina" and "Cantierino", all accesible from the top of the cable car on the glacier at 3100 mt asl), some couloir, which might require some climbing ("an easy walk" as some put it, be assure I am not such one) like the "devil's pass", or some rappel at the beginning of the descent and some skinning in the approach, like "the finger pass". Or some climbing up on the same way for the down like the "matchstick" or "Pericle Sacchi". Some nice steep and difficult couloir which might require a night out like the "Busazza", or the classic AT and glacier skiing like "Pisgana" and "Pisganino".
My advices for those willing to go out of boundary would be :
-Keep in mind that anything off a marked and groomed run is "out of boundary" here, and there are no "exit gates" as such.
-Beacon Probe and Shovel are mandatory when "out of boundary" by law in some regions of Italy, Tonale spans across two regions, in one the "triad" is mandatory in the other not, but no sense in going off piste without it (also, one could be fined by patrols, Police to be clear, if found without)
-Some itineraries could take more than one day out, like the tour to the "hippopotamus" (a WWI 149 mm gun left where it was employed in that war) or to the nearest "Cima Croce" where Pope John Paul I used to climd and celebrate mass, which will require a night out at the "Lobbia Refuge" (if open), so plan accordingly.
-If going out of boundary for the first time in an area, particularly in glacier terrain, hire a guide.
Previously I used to ski a lot in Madesimo, where
@Prickly Jones skis, smaller than Tonale but with very nice runs and off piste itineraries.
Anyway, obvously it would be nice to meet up with visiting "Pug memebers"...
@Tricia, if your (Phil as well, of course) schedule and prograns will take you to Italy for "W2" or else, just chime in, we'll work out something...
