Hotel Cir

Cortina Visit
The winter...

by sandysmith

Cortina Visit
The winter scenic winter views from Selva to Cortina via the Falzarego Pass will remain in my memory for many years - it was a stunning journey. Do you remmeber the Stallone film Cliffhanger? - well this is where it was filmed. A James Bond film has also used Cortina's setting. Cortina has wonderful views of the Tofane group and Monte Cristallo and even as non skiers we enjoyed going up the cable-cars here to enjoy the scenery and watch the skiers. Tip - buying a days ski pass was cheaper than buying separate cable-car tickets. Rumour has it that you can hire fur coats here and pretend to be a snob!

Col Raiser Rambles

by sandysmith

Col Raiser (opposite to Sassolungo) can be reached by gondola from St Christina - just down the valley to Selva. There are several huts in this area so makes for an enjoyable days rambling and picnicing amidst specatular scenery of the Puez-Odle Park area.

This is my favourite hut on Col Raiser - Regensburgerhutte. Many paths cross here and there is a large walking board here showing the routes and times.

From the Regensburgerhutte you can climb down the valley and the up to the Stevia Hutte - allow 4 hour for the hike. The rock steps up are hard going on a hot day so take plenty of water. Everybody stopped for a rest at the top of these steps.

Magnificent views on the way to the Stevia Hutte.

The hut was a simple one but very welcome and served delicious egg and sausage italian style.

We took a differnet route back to Selva - couldn't face those steps again. The path labelled the Wolkenstein (German for Selva) Express -lived up to its name as it was a steep but easy path back to Selva and had great views of the Sella Group at the head of the Gardena Valley. Back just in time for our afternoon tea and cake.

Right at the top of Col Raiser is a wonderful view of the jagged Odle peaks. The original plan was to climb down the narroww saddle between these peaks called the PanneScharte (not seen from this view) to reach the Brogles hut below. However there had been a landslide a few years back and it was closed off - I had a peak down and it loked decidedly unsafe - much too risky.

We eventually got to the Brogles hut later in the week. A very relaxing chairlift from Ortisei (next village down the valley) takes you up to the Rashotz area. (This is a toboggan run in winter)

There's a lovely view across to the Sassolungo from Raschotz so we enjoyed some liquid refreshment in the cafe here and soaked up the view before setting off to Brogles.

Its a fairly easy path to Brogles - approx 1 hour and the view is well worth it.

We started back from the hut just in time as a storm was brewing up - reminding us that weather can change very quickly in the mountains. The storm detracts from quality of this pic but it gives you an idea of the landslide down the mountain and why we couldn't reach it from Col Raiser as planned.