FOR THE MOST DELICIOUS AND LEISURELY SKI EXPERIENCE, you’ve got to come to Italy. The day typically begins around ten-ish, with a stop at a caffè, and then along your ski path you can stop at restaurants and rifugi (wooden huts) where for lunch you could go gourmet (lobster) or rustic (pizza from a wood-burning oven). Top it off with the best of the region’s wines or prosecco, and then you’re back on the slopes until late afternoon. Why push it when the après ski scene—spas, shopping, and evening jazz or disco—is such fun?
You can score a bargain package of this routine by going in for a settimana bianca (white week), which Italy’s ski resorts regularly offer.
Where? With all the mountains and volcanoes, there is skiing in every region. Doing Sicily’s Mount Etna could be exciting or you could take off on the slopes of Abruzzo’s national parks. But the best is on those glorious mountains at the top of the boot, where you can ski from November to mid-April.
Bormio, Lombardy
When Sara Chamberlin, from Milan, had to pick the perfect place for her girlfriend’s bachelorette party, she chose Bormio. This place near the Swiss border in the western Dolomites is not only great for skiing, but has an equally splendido attraction: natural thermal springs. Picture it: outdoor steaming pools you can relax in after ski time, right in the midst of snow-covered mountains.
The Hotel Bagni Vecchi (www.bagnidibormio.it) is the place to be based to get the best of them. “There’s nothing else like it in the world,” Sara said. The twelve-room converted convent is built right into the mountain. Its spa has thirty areas, some that incorporate original Roman bath structures and others that are tiny natural caves. You can even go into one that’s built into the mountain, directly where the water springs from.
The skiing is fab, with a 5,000-foot vertical drop and twenty-four lifts. Runs are good for beginners and intermediates, without many super-challenging ones, so head to nearby Santa Caterina and Livigno if challenging is what you’re looking for. Lots of fun is to be had on Thursday nights, when Bormio lights up the slopes until 11 P.M., with music and entertainment.
For dinner, head to Baita de Mario (www.baitademariobormio.com) for specialties like pizzoccheri (buckwheat pasta with cabbage and fontina cheese), bresaola, and the rustic red wine of the region: Valtellina Superiore.
The town of Bormio has a chic pedestrian-only center of zigzag cobblestoned streets filled with fun shops and both Romanesque and Renaissance architecture. And how about a grappa tasting? You’ll have much more than a skiing vacation here in Bormio.
Alta Badia, Alto Adige (www.altabadia.org)
Here’s a Tyrolean Italy. You’ll hear German, Italian, and Ladin—a language that’s existed since before the Romans came, which about twenty thousand natives still speak. The area originally belonged to Austria until after World War I, so much of the architecture is chalet-style—old farm huts, which blend in with the green meadows and rugged Dolomite Mountains. On menus you’ll find unusual dishes like venison carpaccio, and a full-bodied, bright red wine called Lagrein.
What’s wonderful about Alta Badia is that there is so much ski area. It’s made up of six rural hamlets, so you can ski from place to place, with hundreds of runs to choose from. It’s perfect for families-with a renowned ski school, a nursery to take care of the little ones while you’re getting snow time, and cross-country paths. There are also sleigh rides and horse shows. This all sounds very folksy, but there’s a sophisticated edge-three Michelin starred restaurants in the area.
“And you should see the men! They have beautiful blue eyes…. I even saw George Clooney there, at Rosa Alpina (www.rosalpina.it), playing cards and drinking wine with the hotel people,” says my friend Marzia, who comes here from Rome. Marzia e-mailed me a photo to prove it, full of many exclamations!
Sauze d’Oulx, Piedmont
Of the five Via Lattea (Milky Way) towns in this alpine area that borders France, Sauze d’Oulx is the liveliest, beloved by British and French skiers for its great variety of 140 runs as well as its pubs and discos where partying goes on til the wee hours. I loved dining at l’Ortiche (0122 850 329, www.ortiche.com) that serves delicious seasonal specialties, such as tagliatelle with shaved truffles and a divine panna cotta. The Grand Hotel Besson (www.grandhotelbesson.it) is a choice 4-star to settle into a friendly, woodsy atmosphere, and relax in its big spa with a saltwater pool.
Golden Day: In Alta Badia (www.altabadia.org), base yourself in the village of Corvara at the Hotel Posta Zirm (www.postazirm.com), which has a Feng Shui-designed spa with a huge pool. Eat at Club Moritzino (Piazza La Ila, 0471 847 403, www.moritzino.it), where Marzia recommends the five-course dinner with fresh lobster: “Eating seafood up there at 4,000 meters is amazing!”