Snowshoeing in the Dolomites

St Zyprian in the Dolomites 4th – 11th February 2012

Now this is a good escape from the normal winter blues. I’d never tried being out and about on snowshoes before and was pleasantly surprised to find there was little to master, and they enable you to get out and into wonderfully unspoilt scenery – leaving all the skiers and the paraphernalia that goes with that behind.

Although we started off with daytime temperatures of -16c this wasn’t as unpleasant as it might sound as it is a very dry cold and we soon found we had to start taking layers off as we were simply getting too hot! We were lucky in having excellent weather on most days, and the day when we did have falling snow was still very atmospheric and made little difference to us as we went through forests and up an interesting path called The Labyrinth that weaves its way through a set of enormous boulders.

But on most days we were out under clear skies, wandering through ideal winter scenery and gazing across to various mountain groups in the Dolomites – and also across to the Oztal Alps that form the border with Austria. The hotel was also excellent, the food plentiful and good, and it had comfy rooms. And the free cake that awaited us after our walks was also a welcome treat!

As well as John, our Ramblers Worldwide Holidays leader, we also had a local snowshoeing expert, Isadore, who had lived in the village all his life and ensured we followed safe and interesting routes. So in all a good trip, and it provided a welcome chance to enjoy some easy winter “sport” – well, walking really.

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