Who would have ever thought of a second year in a row without snow in the Dolomites in early February? Everything has been so unpredictable in these last winters, so the key word is definitely “being flexible.” Janet and Shel just came to the Dolomites for 4 days of off-piste skiing and ski touring, unfortunately we had to change our whole plan doing a bit of everything, and it all worked out pretty well. The first day we climbed the via ferrata on Piccolo Cir (one of those jagged towers sticking out above Gardena Pass) with our sneakers on, of course we were alone up there and we did have some snowflakes on the way down, just to remind us it’s winter time. The second day we tackled the Sellaronda with the skis on, it was not all about skiing lots of runs and taking several chairlifts. We had a mission, a gourmet one. Go and meet Daniela to her lovely cafe at Villa Frainela, where cold cuts trays, quiches and cakes are without any doubts the number one around the Sella massif.
The last two days we headed to Austria, we first stopped in the Pitztal Glacier (nice resort if you’re looking for off-piste skiing with not some many competitors) where we enjoyed some great powder turns using the lifts. The last day in Sankt Anton we skinned up to Rossfallscharte, a classic ski touring trip of the valley, where we found few tracks and beautiful snow down the Malfontal.
Good weather, good snow, even good climb. We didn’t miss anything on our journey around the mountain.

Finally some bad weather is bringing the first snow in the Dolomites. Let’s keep fingers crossed…