Dolomiti Superski: Pozza di Fassa and the new Buffaure-Ciampac link

DOLOMITI SUPERSKI – POZZA DI FASSA – THE BUFFAURE-CIAMPAC SKI AREA – THE NEW SKI LINK INAUGURATED IN DECEMBER 2004.

Let's say one thing straight away: the area is super-famous, in the wonderful (and unique in the world) Dolomiti Superski ski area. All true skiers know it well: the Sella Ronda (green or orange) is an unmissable must! Any other tourist or geographic comment is superfluous and redundant. The Val di Fassa, the renowned resorts of Moena and Canazei, the Ladin villages of Pozza, Pera, Vigo and Campitello had long awaited this event. And in mid-December 2004 it came to pass. The ski link from the Buffaure area (at Pozza di Fassa) to Ciampac (Alba di Canazei) had been awaited for years, opposed until the last by environmentalists on account of four remote mountain huts and two stables down in the little valley below the Col de Valvacin toward Sella Brunech, where the chairlift now passes.

Now you "fly" from the Buffaure cable car to the arrival of the Alba/Ciampac cableway, gliding from the top of Sella Brunech, through unimaginable breathtaking panoramas. And then down the wonderful "black" run of Ciampac, which would be even better if maintained as it should be, like all the others in the area. Undoubtedly the new link (two chairlifts, a nice if short run descending from the Col de Valvacin and on the way back an easy, comfortable connecting run from Sella Brunech) has achieved its goals. Doubling of the flow of skiers to the Pozza/Buffaure lifts, which now no longer have to cover a further 13 km to reach Alba di Canazei, and a revival of the Ciampac area, the poor tail-end of the whole zone. In exchange (alas!) heavy road traffic and queues (never seen in the past) at the lift that carries you up. Still, acceptable.

From this year, moreover, the microchip ski passes should ease the flow, though at first the lift staff have to supervise proper use and regulate the traffic. Above all, one plea: that the cabins or the chairlift seats be filled and used properly and to the fullest, forgetting the various family and friends' huddles that slow the throughput! But it's typical of us Italians – even on a chairlift and/or "ovovia" (an outdated term, but that's what they say from Florence southward) – to always want to gather in groups, waiting for each other again and again at the lifts, thus holding back a proper flow and civil use.

Never mind, then let's not complain about the queues! Of course, now with this new link – provided you're up early and on the slopes by, say, no later than nine – you can do a wonderful Sella Ronda without having to use your own car to reach the maxi cable car at Campitello or the cable car at Canazei/Pecol/Belvedere, but instead using the shuttle buses (skibus) provided. The valley folk will be delighted, hotels and restaurants taken by storm. All in all, at the end of the day, the game is worth the candle.