Dolomites Resorts Upgrade Ski Facilities

Italian ski resorts in the Dolomites are upgrading their lifts and snowmaking facilities to ensure "better slopes and connections."

The resort of Fassa-Carezza is launching a renewal of the Carezza-Costalunga ski area with a new eight-seater cable car linking Carezza to the Costalunga Pass, and a four-seater chairlift at the Costalunga Pass.

The resort of Val Gardena-Alpe di Siusi is building a six-seater detachable chairlift with a 300-metre downhill extension called ‘Panorama' to replace the four-seater chairlift. There also will be a new eight-seater cable car ‘Col Raiser' to replace the existing cable car.

Tre Valli is building ‘Ronchi-Valbona-Le Cune' an eight-seater hook-on cable car to replace the ‘Ronchi-Valbona' and ‘Valbona-Le-Cune' cable cars. New lifts also will open in the resorts of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Alta Badia, Arabba-Marmolada, and Alta Pusteria.

The Dolomiti Superski area underwent a lot of improvement during the summer. Nine lift systems were modernised, several slopes were widened to improve safety, and the programmed snowmaking system was expanded.

This year, the 1,200 kilometres of slopes in the Dolomites will benefit from almost 100 per cent snow coverage thanks to the new programmed snowmaking facilities. The winter season in the Dolomites kicks off Nov. 29, 2008.