8719 Snow Conditions

We are due to visit our house in a couple of weeks and hope to do a bit of skiing. Does anyone know what conditions are like at the moment. I know they had terrific snow in December but looked at a web cam yesterday and everything looked very green!! Perhaps (hopefully) this was an old shot but would appreciate hearing from the horses mouth so to speak.
Cheers

Jackie

Category
Do & See

Nay- Hay- Hay!!! Almost from the horse's mouth Jackie ..... lol My Italian friend was at Roccaraso last Sunday and the conditions there were good. I received an e-mail from a another friend today who is a few miles from Sulmona - "Here, the snow is melting. It's not too cold but a bit grey today" Temperatures too I see on the BBC Weather Forecast Online in Pescara as high as 16!!!

Jackie, I'm over next weekend and will hopefully have a day or two on the slopes so I'll give a report when I get back.

There's a bit of a thread on Roccaraso and area here [url=http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=34771&highlight=roccaraso]Rocarasso :: Global Ski Club, ski discussion forum[/url] not trying to advertise the forum but for any skiers it's great. I'm Grimsby Ranger on there by the way (QPR fan for my sins!).

Kerry

Hope you have a good trip Kerry - look forward to the report.

Thanks for that Sally - perhaps we'll be on the beach instead! Got the message by the way - will e mail you.

Jackie

we're going out on 17th Feb for a week hoping to get some skiing in, too. Last year was very poor for the Abruzzo ski resorts (Passo Lanciano was closed due to lack of snow when we tried to ski there), so no doubt they're praying for more snow this year! Fingers crossed...
Marc

hi jackie c

which is your nearest resort? we drove up to passo lanciano on new years day and it was buzzing! loads of snow.good luck

simon

We are probably equidistant from both Rocarasso and Passo Lanciano. We tried Rocarasso last Feb but as you say Marc, the snow wasn't good with snow machines in action. Conditions went from ice in the morning to slush by lunchtime!

Haven't been up to Passo Lanciano yet - I think it was closed last year.

The Christmas/New year pictures show plenty of snow. In fact on youtube there is a film of snow on the beach at Fosaccessia - looks really wierd to see so much snow and then the waves crashing! (will see if I can find the link but otherwise just key in Fosaccessia).

Best of luck to anyone travelling out for some half term skiing - hopefully it will be better than last year.

Thanks

Jackie

Brrrr... that looks really cold!

search youtube: 'fossacesia neve'
Marc

there is a brief bit [near the bottom of the article] about skiing in Calabria at;-

[url=http://www.anysubject.com/winter-olympics-torino-turin-skiing-in-italy.asp]Winter Olympic Games - 2006 - Turin - Torino - skiing in Italy[/url]

hi sara

all i know is that when i was considering buying a property in calabria,there was a ski lodge for sale there.also when driving through the area there was snow on some hills.

sorry cant be of more help
simon

Hi Jackie C

Just got back from Italy. Went to Roccaraso last Friday and Campo Imperatore for an afternoon on Monday. The conditions were better than I expected, especially at Roccaraso on Friday. With the recent snowfall we've just had and especially if the temperatures stay low you'll have good conditions. Most runs were open at Roccaraso, it was windy so they had to shut the top gondola but everything else was open.

A more comprehensive report can be found here. [url=http://www.abruzzolutely.com/forum/Blah.pl?m-1195157706/]Ski Abruzzo - Abruzzolutely Forum[/url]

Any questions I'll try and answer. Enjoy your skiing.

Kerry

Friends of our skied at Passo Lanciano on monday, there was new snow on Sunday and it was snowing whilst they skied.

Stribs

Thanks guys for the update - have been watching the weather forcast for our village and there seems to be snow falling (albeit in dribs and drabs) as we are less than 500 metres hoping there will be more at a higher level.

Geting V. excited as this will be our first trip of the year - just hope pipes haven't frozen!

Cheers

Jackie

You may find this site useful; I've given you a link for Roccaraso but if covers mostlarger resorts.

[url=http://www.ilmeteo.it/meteo-lungo-termine/Roccaraso]Meteo Roccaraso - Previsioni a lungo termine | IL METEO.IT[/url]

Off skiing in 5 minutes to Pila and shoud be on slopes by 11.30!:-)

Hi,

ITALYITALY asked about skiing in the south. The main area is in Sila National Park, a huge natural reserve in the heart of Calabria. There are lots of great things about Sila but the main thing is the sheer natural beauty of the area. Yo can drive for hours and hardly see a car or another person.

I've been there with my family every year since 2002 and most years snow has been good. We go in either early Jan or mid-Feb. There are 3 main resorts with decent pistes and some excellent facilities. One resort on Lake Ampollino has 25KM of piste.

It's cheap, uncrowded, friendly - the food and wine is fantastic. A great dinner is Euro 10-15 with wine and liqueurs, 1 litre of good local wine about E3, served right next to the ski lifts. 2 of the 3 resorts have very modern facilities, the 3rd less so but often has the best snow.

The area is almost completely unknown to foreigners although Ryanair flights now mean Brits have started buying lakeside properties which are really cheap (3 bedroom, 2 bathroom chalets for less than E90K, apartments for E40K).

Ryanair Italia are now flying down from Milan & Pisa so a few others are making the trip also. All the normal hire facilities are available. Generally half the price of anywhere else! Most skiers are locals or from Puglia or Sicily and mainly come up just on weekends. Even then it very rare to have a lift queue and on weekdays, it's like having your own private mountains!

I live in Calabria, on the Med coast most of the year and go to Sila every few weeks for a breath of fresh air, peace and quiet and to eat and drink like you just can't do anywhere else.

If anyone wants to try it, I've got friends with ski/lake properties there. Cheap for a weekend break, or longer. It's worth a look. Let me know if more info needed on any aspects of Sila. I can post a couple of pics if its allowed.

Paul

You've really whetted my appitite Paul. From next year we are hoping to spend a lot more time in Puglia and will certainly drive round to try the delights of Sila. We ski too so may give that a go.

May contact you when we need more info. Thanks for the intro - knew nothing about it - must have missed it completely when we drove around Calabria.

[quote=paulj190;82838]Let me know if more info needed on any aspects of Sila. I can post a couple of pics if its allowed.

Paul[/quote]
Great info thanks. Would love to see the photo's - and yes it's possible to do so easily.

back to roccaraso - we arrived on 14 feb and stayed up at the hotel Boschetta in Aramogne - right up at the base of the cable car as hubby doesn't like to walk far with skis. It was brill. We did full board for one night and the food was more than enough and excellent. All italian families. skiing was also good. I just sat in the sun watching the comings and goings and reading my book. Verdict - - we'll go back. But apparently this particular hotel only does week or weekend bookings until the last moment. If they have space at the last moment, it's a real gem

We've been contemplating an overnight stay sometime so thanks for the recommendation. Do you mind if I ask how much it was to stay please?

Thanks

Kerry