Chic Peaks, South Tyrol, Italy - Gabriella Le Breton

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terrace; and ski to the celeb-snrdded Club
Moritzino for live music from the visiting DJ
on the outside deck and signature cocktails,
before meandering down the mountain.
Once offthe mountain, you have to try
the traditional South Tyrolean hay bath: a
hay-and-wildflower infusion that releases
vapours to loosen muscles and open up
lungs. Rosa Alpinas Daniela Steiner Spa
specialises in these, as well as Edelweiss
facials - and then it's time for la passeggtbta,
an evening stroll through town, stopping to
browse the boutiques and quaffan aperitif
in a candlelit ztinotecabefore dinner.
Eating is a key theme in South Tyrol,
which is fast gaining a reputation as the ski
world's hot new foodie destination. Alta
Badia's'Dolomitici', three homegrown chefs
with four Michelin stars between them. not
only serve up a culinary storm in their restaurants
in San Cassiano and Corvara, but
have teamed up with eminent chefs from
across the Alps to each create a unique dish
for 10 mountain huts, usingexclusively local
products like tortelli pasta stufled with
speck pat6 and buffalo ricotta cheese, and
capuns (roast polenta) with raisins, local
speck and rocket. Priced between.410 and
{13 and washed down with a glass of crisp
South Tyrolean wine on a sunny terrace
overlookingthe Dolomites, it's a far cry from
what you might expect to receive in equivalent
restaurants in other parts ofthe Alps.
In fact, if the skiing in Alta Badia wasn't
so good, it would be easy to slip into the
mindset that skiing is merely a form of
transport between restaurants.
However, happily, the plan for tomorrow
is to go heli-skiing on MarmoladaMountain.
With heli-skiing banned in France and
most ofAustria, Italy is one ofthe few countries
in the Alps where avid ofFpiste skiers
and riders can still enjoy the thrill. Even
without the reward ofunbroken descents of
up to 4,500 vertical feet in untracked virgin
powder, heli-skiing in Alta Badia is worth
treating yourself to for the uninterrupted
views ofthe Dolomites alone. To be deposited
on the snowy face of Marmolada, the
highest peak in the Dolomites at 10,968 feet,
and soak up 360-degree views ofthe world's
highest coral reef stretching around and
below, is a truly unforgettable eiperience. tr
Tltree mgrtn atRosaAbtna Hotel 6Spa nsxfm
t 1, 6 7 0 a p eno n B 6 B, in cludingfugltts, transrtn
and a 'sh.i ambassador', zlith Peart Expeience
(01 292 477771 ; znno.peal-experince.con). Sk
passes mstfrom about {75frr noo days. A lulimptertran
ferfunAlta Badta to the Mannolada
Glacier costsfrom about t100 a person.
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ftfransen,Sweden
-::62 iegrees north,24-hour daylight in
:rd is a certainty from early May. lt gives
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3 ot can land anywhere, any time. in
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