Winter activities
The Duca d’Aosta refuge is surrounded by enchanting ski slopes, and in the Tofana ski area ski lovers will find plenty where they can have fun. The ski slopes are among the most beautiful and evocative of the Dolomites and offer the opportunity to ski on world-class slopes, immersed in a breathtaking landscape.
Among the most famous and technical slopes, the Olimpia and the Schuss di Tofana stand out, which host the women’s Alpine skiing World Cup races every year and it is well known how much the athletes love the steep, technical and well-groomed competition slope impeccably by the experts. And in 2021 the Tofana ski area hosted the World Ski Championships.
On these slopes, with dizzying slopes, the best skiers in the world compete, having to face jumps, walls and channels among the Dolomite rocks. It is no coincidence that in the biennial survey promoted by the Sci-Il Mondo della neve magazine, the Olimpia slope was voted the most beautiful in Italy.
But in addition to the Olimpia slope, many others offer excitement and fun: the Canalone and the Labirinti and the Vertigine Bianca, which due to its beauty and steepness is never beaten by the snowcat, giving expert skiers the opportunity to try their hand at descents in fresh snow . Thanks to the chairlifts and the Freccia nel cielo cable car, the refuge is also optimally connected to the Ra Valles area, where the Bus chairlift reaches 2750 m.
The Ra Valles area is especially known for the Forcella Rossa slope, but we cannot forget the Bus de Tofana, one of the most famous off-piste in Cortina, steep, long and exciting, suitable only for expert skiers. Also from Ra Valles, lovers of freeriding and extreme skiing will also be able to try their hand at narrow and steep gullies which allow them to descend again onto the Valon de Pomedes and Canalone slopes.
These descents are decidedly difficult and require experience and the ability to evaluate the snow cover, and are therefore reserved for high-level skiers with proven experience.
Further down in the Socrepes and Pocol areas, there are easier slopes suitable for beginners and a snow park for freestyle enthusiasts. Ski slopes are marked with three colors indicating their difficulty level: blue for easy, red for medium difficulty, and black for the most challenging. The difficulty of the track depends on its longitudinal and transverse slope. The Socrepes and Pocol area offers slopes suitable for the whole family, such as the Druscié B, which winds through the woods in a magical atmosphere, or the Stries, which allows you to return to the center of Cortina with skis on.
A note of merit goes to those who take care of the slopes and ski lifts with such passion and experience.
The safety factor also occupies a top-notch position, and in the event of heavy snowfall the danger of avalanches affecting groomed slopes is averted thanks to the use of the helicopter which, with special equipment, deliberately causes the artificial release of the avalanche.
In this video you can see how the helicopter deliberately causes a huge mass of snow to detach right above the Duca d’Aosta refuge.
The Tofana ski slopes are therefore an unmissable destination for skiing and nature lovers, who will be able to live a unique and unforgettable experience among the peaks of the Dolomites.
You can go up to the refuge even just for a good lunch, given the excellent quality of the cuisine and the possibility of having lunch on a sunny terrace located in a privileged position, which offers a magnificent view of Cortina and the Dolomite massifs that surround the valley of ‘Ampezzo.
For your evenings, we organize dinners with a possible return by sleigh, along the renowned Tofanina slope which allows a long descent, mostly not steep, through the beautiful pine, fir and larch woods which make the sled down to the valley unforgettable and fairytale-like.
Olympics Slopes
In 1956 the Winter Olympics took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo and the Tofane area hosted most of the competitions. It was the first Olympic event held in an Italian city. Cortina, which should have been the host of the Olympics already in 1944, was elected by the IOC in the first round for 1956, beating the candidacies of Montreal and Colorado Springs.
The Olympic torch was carried to its destination by athletes such as Zeno Colò and Lino Lacedelli; the skater Guido Caroli turned on the tripod; Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo (the first woman in the history of the Games to do so) read the oath. The novelty of that edition was the winter debut of the Soviets who won the highest number of medals. But the true protagonist of Cortina was the Austrian Toni Sailer who won all three Alpine races: a record never equaled again.
Toni Sailer
In 1956 the Winter Olympics took place in Cortina and the Tofane area hosted most of the competitions. It was the first Olympic event held in an Italian city.
Cortina was elected by the IOC in the first round for 1956, beating the candidacies of Montreal and Colorado Springs.
The Olympic torch was carried to its destination by athletes such as Zeno Colò and Lino Lacedelli; the skater Guido Caroli turned on the tripod; Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo (the first woman in the history of the Games to do so) read the oath. But the true protagonist of Cortina was the Austrian Toni Sailer who won all three Alpine races: a record never equaled again.
