Why You Should Choose Seiser Alm
Finding the right ski resort in the Alps can be overwhelming task for many skiers and snowboarders. Unless you have recommendations from family or friends you might be tempted to head to the larger, well known resorts, however these are generally overpriced and often overly crowded. When I researched for our snowboard trip I was lucky to discover the winter holiday area in the Dolomites, the largest mountain plateau in Europe, Seiser Alm/Alpe di Suisi. I favoured the area due to its emphasis on the variety of winter sports, rather than having a focus on parties and vast hotel and resort complexes. Without a doubt, the magical mountainscape and guarantee of snow due its higher altitude, were also deciding factors and makes the Seiser Alm the ultimate place to ski and snowboard in the Alps.
Our Little Guide
In this post I will try to summarize the advantages, activities and restaurants based on our own experience, our little guide to help you discover the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi ski region. Maybe you will be hitting the snowy slopes there or near there sometime…
Skiing:
Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi is part of the enormous Val Gardena-Alpe di Siusi ski resort, offering 175km of slopes, with ski and snowboard slopes for all levels. We never experienced long waiting times at the lifts and the spacious slopes were never overcrowded. The lifts felt safe and modern throughout.
Snowboarding:
I recently rediscovered snowboarding and Jerome learned the skill during our trip. There are a number of pistes, where at the end of a run, due to lack of speed, we were forced to unstrap our boards and walk a fair amount before reaching the lifts. However this was a minor annoyance and we tried to avoid these slopes later. With skis and poles of course this is less of an issue.
Fun Park:
Officially known as the best and largest snow park in Italy, it offers a large number of obstacles and runs for entry to pro levels. Whether you are a freeskier or snowboarder you can certainly enjoy fun jumps for days. Jerome and I can only dream of attacking the obstacles…we need to get better!
Speed Trap:
Set the new record for the fastest ski run at one of the speed traps throughout the resort. We watched a few reach nearly a 100km/h at the Goldknopf run and just watching made our head spin!
Sledging:
We enjoyed our runs on the sledge from Zallinger downhill past snow capped fir trees and around hairy bends gathering speed to be the first to arrive in the valley. There are a number of long sledge run through the stunning countryside in the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Suisi area, many are accessible by car and toboggans can often be taken onto the lifts to access the slopes. Sledges can be hired from mountain huts, the mountain stations and ski rentals.
Cross Country Skiing:
Lovers of cross country skiing will find over 80km of trails and many mountain cabins en route for a culinary stop and to enjoy the mesmerising landscape. Even the pros train here, the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi has been a favoured training spot for international cross-country ski teams for years.
Walking and Snow Shoes
There are a number of other activities you can experience on a winter holiday in the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi, even the less fit could enjoy a winter walk or snow shoe hike across the trails so I am sure even if you are not a keen skier or snowboarder you will not be able to get bored in winter wonderland.
Ski and Snowboard Equipment hire:
Owning your own skiers or board is expensive and so it might be cheaper and easier to hire winter sports equipment. We did borrow clothing for Jerome, helmets and boots from my brother, but I needed to hire a snowboard and boots for myself. Our experience of K&K Sports in the village was excellent and we happily recommend their services. They also helped us book our one to one snowboard lesson and provided us with plenty of useful advice. I had booked a board online beforehand, collection was very easy and the snowboard and boots were in perfect condition.
Ski and Snowboard schools:
The ski school offers a vast range of courses for all levels and sports. We chose to take one to one snowboard lessons for Jerome and based on our experience we believe his skill improved faster than he would have done in group lessons, but of course he missed out on being part of a group.
Ski and Snowboard Lessons
Group and private lessons can be booked through the school’s offices or online. Families might also enjoy the option of a family teacher!
Fun Park for Little Ones
Children will love to discover the joy of winter sports in dedicated fun parks while parents can savour the pistes on their own and be assured their little ones are in trusted hands.
Ski Pass:
Ski passes for adults can be purchased online, families with kids and seniors over 65 may only buy their passes in the office to get a discount. You have the choice of purchasing a ski pass for the Val Gardena/Seiser Alm or Dolomiti Superski, starting from 0.5 days to entire season passes.
Eating en-Piste
Savouring local food should always be part of any holiday. We enjoyed our lunchtime stops at a number of mountain huts discovering mouth-watering dishes like Kaiserschmarrn (a typical pancake dish) and Speckknoedel (bacon dumplings). Here are our favourites:
Puflatsch:
The views of the Schlern mountain is breath taking and the food equally enjoyable. There are plenty of South Tyolean dishes on the menu and kids will have a large selection to choose from.
Almschenke Huber Schwaige
Our absolute favourite restaurant on the Seiser Alm. Organic home cooking at its best! The mouth-watering dishes forced us to return three times during our stay in the ski resort.
Tschon Schwaige
The food reminded me of my Grandma’s cooking, but Jerome had difficulties choosing from the relatively small selection of meals!
Goldknopf
Originally I had wanted to stay at Goldknopf Hotel but we could not get a room at short notice. Therefore I knew that we had to at least have lunch on one of our snowboard excursions, which was sadly a bit of a disappointment. My beetroot gnoccis were too salty (maybe the cook was in love) and Jerome was rather disappointed with his burger. Considering the higher price point of the food we would have expected better!
Tirler
Hearty dishes in a charming atmosphere! Although at times the service was chaotic and we had to remind the staff a few times about our drinks and food but we would not refrain from lunching at Tirler again.
Accommodation:
There is an abundance of accommodation options for travellers in the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi. We chose to stay at the serene Zallinger mountain hut although some may find it remote and quiet. Families and other winter sport fans can choose from apartments, to bed and breakfast options, your own charming mountain hut and of course luxury resort style hotels with pools and spas. The best oversight of hotels and accommodation can be found here.
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Wonderful pictures. You inspire me to paint snow, but it’s getting mighty warm here. Maybe next year.
Thank you! Pleased to hear you enjoyed the photos. It’s hard to get into the mood for snow now that winter is nearly over. We had very warm temperatures over the last few days here in London and are hoping the cold spells are over for now!