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The Italian job? Find your way through the trees

words & photos: PHIL DOYLE

IT’S FEBRUARY 4, 2013 and there’s 40cm of fresh snow across the Dolomites Mountains of northern Italy. Dolomites Ski Tours’ head ski guide Mario Longhitano could have chosen to ski off any of the Dolomites’ 450 ski lifts, or at any of the region’s 45 resorts or 12 valleys. But no, he has decided to lead his followers to an obscure forest of gullies and chutes within clear sight

of a busy chairlift. Why?Sydney-based Mario is skiing with his fellow Aussie ski guides. It’s the guides’ day off, and though they would normally use it to do their washing or maybe even grab some shut-eye, there was to be no rest today.We’d taken the 125-person cablecar out of Campitello village to the peak of Col Rodella, but within view of the top

The enchanted forest

Mario Longhitano – into the forest of fun.

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In the Dolomites Mountains of northern Italy you can ski long distances and through many ski resorts and valleys in a single day. It’s the world’s largest lift-served skiing region and there’s almost unlimited skiing terrain here for all standards of skiers. Together we ski 45–75km in a day without ever needing to catch the same lift twice! The Dolomites offer a superb blend of skiing, food, culture and unspoiled alpine beauty. It’s largely undiscovered by Australians and is one of the world’s best-kept skiing secrets!

www.dolomitesskitours.com.au☎ (02) 9997 2475

E-mail: info@dolomitesskitours.com.au

g Gourmet food & wine

g Spectacular scenery

g Modern infrastructure

g Traditional atmosphere

g Guided & independent weeks

g Adventurous ski safaris

28 years in theSki Italy business

450 lifts, 45 ski resorts, 12 valleys – 1 lift pass

The world’s largest skiing region!

Ski as far as the eye can see – and never catch the same lift twice!

SKI ITALYDOLOMITES MOUNTAINS

ski_italy_t1936.indd 1 24/04/13 6:27 PM

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/ITALY/DOLOMITES

station, our leader’s smirk had faded to earnest study. The glorious powder that might have been this fine morning had been packed by fluky, high-altitude winds.Mario briefly confers with fellow ski guide Anthony. They exchange a couple of Italian place names, as if speaking

in code. “Follow us!,” they shout confidently.Despite being in full view of a chairlift, this stash is frustratingly difficult to pinpoint – one wrong turn and you’ll end up in a gully of no return. Go too far and you’ve blown it. Enter 20 metres too soon and you’ll need to be ready to slog it out

of “the gully of bottomless sludge”!Mario cuts a line through the lonely forest. It’s deep. We ride his track like faithful sheep. Within a minute we are standing atop a series of sunny gullies. The virgin snow is noticeably untouched by loftier winds.No crust here. We smile. Mario lunges in...

Mario Longhitano – enlightened in the Dolomites.

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In the Dolomites Mountains of northern Italy you can ski long distances and through many ski resorts and valleys in a single day. It’s the world’s largest lift-served skiing region and there’s almost unlimited skiing terrain here for all standards of skiers. Together we ski 45–75km in a day without ever needing to catch the same lift twice! The Dolomites offer a superb blend of skiing, food, culture and unspoiled alpine beauty. It’s largely undiscovered by Australians and is one of the world’s best-kept skiing secrets!

www.dolomitesskitours.com.au☎ (02) 9997 2475

E-mail: info@dolomitesskitours.com.au

g Gourmet food & wine

g Spectacular scenery

g Modern infrastructure

g Traditional atmosphere

g Guided & independent weeks

g Adventurous ski safaris

28 years in theSki Italy business

450 lifts, 45 ski resorts, 12 valleys – 1 lift pass

The world’s largest skiing region!

Ski as far as the eye can see – and never catch the same lift twice!

SKI ITALYDOLOMITES MOUNTAINS

ski_italy_t1936.indd 1 24/04/13 6:27 PM