The Red Bulletin August 2020 (US)

Do it
G U I D E
MULTISPORT MADNESS
IN THE DOLOMITES
Call us sentimental, but after
everything northern Italy has
been through this year, it
makes sense to throw a little
love thataway—not that it’s
ever hard to rave about a place
like the Dolomiti. Spires and
towers, so blocky they’re
almost architectural, jut like
molars out of gentle emerald
foothills and Insta-ready
towns, all dotted with highalpine
huts and connected
by strings of ski lifts. “I’m a
mountain lover, and I’ve
visited many mountain ranges
in the world, but I’ve never
seen anything that compares
to my Dolomites,” says Enrico
Maioni, an IFMGA guide and
Cortina d’Ampezzo native
who’s worked the rock for 36
years. There are hundreds of
limestone walls and craggy
pinnacles to climb here, most
of which start at your front
door: 5.10 Tofana di Rozes is
long and demanding, “a local
classic,” says Maioni. Piz
Pordoi has 20-plus pitches
of amenable, 5.7 cruising.
Cortina, especially, is known
Whether you want
to hike, bike or run,
the local trails dish
out crazy-good
scenery.
for the suspension bridges and
ladders of via ferrata. To cover
more ground, take a mountain
bike on the Sellaronda, a 40-
mile or so circumnavigation—
up chairlifts, down singletrack,
through mountain villages—
of the stunning Sella Group.
(You can bike the roads, too.)
Hikes range from idyllic
meadow strolls to nearvertical
scrambles: the10-plusmile
loop from Selva Val
Gardena to Rifugio Puez has
all of it. Don’t miss the crowsnest
of Rifugio Nuvolau, says
Maioni; it’s the oldest hut
in the Dolomites, with
360-degree views, and
exemplifies the civilized
adventure you find here. It’s
the kind that starts with
cappuccino, ends in Nosiola
and exudes a living nostalgia
we’ve come to crave.
Stay For Maioni, a night at
Rifugio Lagazuoi can’t be beat:
a Finnish sauna built from
local larch, hearty dinners
and 9,000-foot views. Each
room at the Ambra Cortina is
unique—from cow prints to
elaborate boiserie—and it sits
square in the middle of town.
Après adventure is on a higher level at La Stua.
Resplendent in the middle
of Alpe di Siusi, the largest
mountain plateau in Europe,
Adler Lodge Alpe has none of
the Tyrolean twee of many
hotels in the Dolomites.
Eat In Cortina, Ristorante 5
Torri has more than 50 kinds
of pizza—all likely better than
anything you can get in North
America. St. Hubertus, in Alta
Badia, has racked up three
Michelin stars for super-local
wild game and mountain
herbs. The Dolomites region
is known for a unique Ladin
culture and language, and
family-owned Maso Runch
Farm is the spot to try its
cuisine: filled savory pastries,
barley soup and furtaies (a
spiral-shaped, fried dessert).
Drink On the edge of Selva, La
Stua has a big sunny terrace
and large platters of speck (get
a small balcony if you want an
exclusive sommelier). Enoteca
Cortina serves Soave, prosecco
and local cheese under
vaulted ceilings. For good
beer, Bar Sport in Cortina is
usually packed. Wherever
you are, try a bombardino—
brandy, warm egg liqueur and
whipped cream.
Guide For climbing and via
ferrata, Maioni knows the
Cortina area front and back;
he was part of the Gruppo
Scoiattoli (the “squirrel
group”), the most famous
group of climbers of Italy.
Bike Hotel Linder, in Selva,
has knowledgeable guides
and all-inclusive packages.
Rethink roughing it at the Adler Lodge Alpe.
82 THE RED BULLETIN