Skiing

It’s difficult today to imagine the Alta Badia landscape without the sinuous curves of the ski slopes, the tracks left by skiers and all the scenic facilities that accompany the ascents. And yet, as it is easy to imagine, the same slopes, skiers and facilities have not always been there.

Corvara, Colfosco, La Villa, Badia and San Cassiano are all names that feature in the winter dreams of numerous ski enthusiasts, yet even during the early years of the last century, these were small and above all isolated farming villages. While the nearby Val Gardena and Cortina could already boast a certain tourist splendour and appeal, Alta Badia lived almost exclusively thanks to the hard work in the fields of its industrious inhabitants and Col Alto, Piz Boè, Sas dla Crusc, La Varella, Sassongher and Sas de Putia – the enchanting peaks amidst which Alta Badia is set – were then simply vast, cruel and almost insurmountable white barriers for the valley dwellers, immobile in their sublime whiteness and at times even frightening, especially when in the harsh winters the snow fell copiously and the silence of the valley meant even more solitude and isolation.

How much has changed since then: the panorama that surrounds us, of course, but also and above all the lives of those who still live among these peaks, thanks to the courageous ideas of a few pioneers who over the decades, have seen a new path outlined for these places, in the shining white of the snow.

But what is this skiing, anyway?

The first certain datings of the use of skis take us back in time to 4-5,000 years ago and a rock engraving on a Norwegian island which bears witness to this, showing a skier wearing skis three times his height. It is therefore in the far north of Europe that we must look to find the origins of these items which are so familiar to us today. Of course, the use that was made of them in the past millennia was very different as well as the shapes, the styles and the technologies, and yet, sliding across the snow with long wooden planks strapped to the feet is something almost as old as the wheel. Arriving in the Alps only at the end of the 19^th century, these strange planks with the upward facing front tip underwent various modifications, at the hands (and feet) of these mountain inhabitants, gradually satisfying ever newer needs, because if at first skis were considered above all "means of transport" in the difficult mountain winter conditions, they gradually became an ever more indispensable accessory for doing exciting new sports activities on the irreverent Alpine slopes.

In Alta Badia, the first to wear these unusual tools at the end of the 19^th century were Vigil Pescosta and Jocl Castlunger, both from Colfosco. Castlunger, commissioned by the German/Austrian Alpine Association (Alta Badia was then part of Austria) to build a hut on the Sella Group, went to do research beyond the Alps and discovered the potential of skis as rudimentary but very useful tools with which to facilitate work on the slopes of the  mountains. Since then, this practice began to prosper here too and almost all the inhabitants of the valley have never taken their skis off their feet (and out of their minds).

In order to ensure that guests also became passionate about this new winter delight (tourism at the time was almost exclusively summer), the first ski school in Alta Badia was established in Corvara in 1934 at the instigation of Francesco “Cesco” Kostner, a key figure in the tourist evolution of the area and together with his fellow countryman Giustino Sorarù, among the first to be awarded the title of national ski instructor by the FISI (Italian Winter Sports Federation). Shortly after, in 1935 and thanks to the instructor Pire Costa, the La Villa ski school was also established. Being able to teach the early skiers arriving in Alta Badia the techniques and secrets of skiing was certainly a big step for the development of the area, but much still had to be done. In fact, at that time Val Badia did not have asphalted roads and often in the long snowy winters, the tracks had to be cleared with a snowplough pulled by horses. It was Cesco Kostner again, who had seen far into the future success of skiing and who ensured that the valley was finally reachable, even in winter, by means of transport other than foot or horse. But how could these fearless skiers get back up the mountains? The ascent on foot with skins was arduous and the prerogative of a few daredevils, the slopes were trampled on and conditions in general were therefore not exactly easy. To increase the number of descents, it was necessary to invent a way of simplifying the ascent.

Accompanying the (re)ascent

An almost legendary figure in the birth of the ski industry in Alta Badia was Erich Kostner, son of Cesco. The person who best tells his exploits is the lift engineer Andy Varallo, President of Skicarosello, the Alta Badia Cable Car Consortium and Dolomiti Superski, as well as Kostner’s grandson. “The first sledge lift was built in 1938 on the slopes of Col Alt, but it wasn’t enough for my grandfather” says Varallo. However, a cable car was financially impossible for the young man and a ski lift was too inefficient so Kostner, heir to a family of hoteliers and owners of the first transport line in the valley, used all his knowledge and contacts to get funding and financing, even from beyond his beloved mountains. He also rolled up his sleeves and got down to building with his own bare hands (“on one day he climbed Col Alt 8 times with sandbags on his shoulders…” Varallo recalls) and the result was Italy’s first chairlift. Inaugurated in 1946, it was made using pieces of sheet metal from tanks left over from the war, the engine from a Leitner tractor (today a world leader in the construction of cableways and a position which developed precisely from Kostner’s farsighted intuition) and the reducer from a Trieste motorboat. From that first courageous undertaking, which gave winter tourism in Alta Badia a fundamental and never-ending boost, many others followed, but Kostner – who was also awarded the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro – never took advantage of his prominent role, nor did he lose his humility, his deep sense of work (he passed away in 2018, he was already getting on when he passed the baton to his grandson Andy) and his deep love for the land that he had helped to develop so much. After that first facility on Col Alt, many others followed, such as the first ski lifts in Colfosco built by another pioneer named Gottfried Declara; the first facilities in La Villa created by Hermann Pescollderungg and the La Varella company of Alfonso Pizzinini which through a series of events and new constructions then converged in the Gardenaccia area; the two-seater basket lift in La Crusc inaugurated in 1960 and later replaced by the current chair lift; or the Gran Risa cable car, the famous World Cup slope, the setting for legendary ski races and feats. But that’s another story, which we’ll tell you about on another day…

Skiing better together

If the traditional cliché presents mountain people as solitary and reclusive, perhaps it hasn’t taken the inhabitants of Alta Badia into due consideration. Here, in fact, the cliché is outdated and the reality is that of a community which has long understood that in order to combat poverty and isolation it is necessary for everyone to look in the same direction and create shared paths. “Every job, especially in the mountains is valuable and must be respected, because it is only through the union of every skillset that the mountains emerge both socially and touristically, contributing to the success and collective well-being”; Andy Varallo again, who repeats the far-sighted thoughts of his grandfather Erich. He was responsible for founding the Ladinia Ski Club in 1946, creating the Corvara Tourist Board in 1953 and the National Association of Cable Car Operators (ANEF) in 1978. Again, at the beginning of the 1980s, together with other visionary mountaineers, it was Kostner who imagined uniting various facilities in Alta Badia into a single consortium, which would connect the towns of Corvara, La Villa and San Cassiano. Thus was born the famous Skicarosello Corvara which brings together 5 companies in the cable car sector. However, it was not the first effort towards unification – not only of ski lifts and tourist areas, but also of mountain communities – that saw the light of day in these parts. The idea of ​​connecting various ski areas in the Dolomites had already been mooted in the 1960s, uniting them not only in logistical terms (a single ski pass) but also in organizational and social terms. The project came to fruition in 1974 when – once again at the instigation of Kostner – the Superski Dolomiti association (now Federconsorzi Dolomiti Superski) came to life. 250 facilities took part, spread across 6 Dolomite valleys, and after 50 years, the pioneers’ dreams can be said to have come true, given that today, Dolomiti Superski is considered a genuine example of world-class excellence, with 12 valleys, 450 facilities and 1,200 km of slopes. What makes this consortium successful is not only the marvellous Dolomites that give it its home and name, but also and above all the ability that the many characters involved (competitors) have had in order to carry forward a shared vision. Eliminating geographical boundaries, without forgetting the particular characteristics of each area, Dolomiti Superski is actually based on mutual trust and the desire to establish a fruitful dialogue, each partner working to their best.

And after skiing, finally the party

In the beginning there was the tea dance. When skiers were still few and far between, and in Winter they went up into the mountains mainly to enjoy the sun and the views, from 5pm  to 7pm the Rosalpina in San Cassiano offered its guests a delicious moment of leisure. “We had the orchestra until 1993,” recalls Paul Pizzinini, owner of the well-known hotel, “then the skiers became more numerous and above all they started skiing longer, returning to the hotel only in the evening.” This is why some hotels re-organised themselves to offer entertainment to their guests by organizing unforgettable parties in the various taverns, while in order to liven up the sunsets and evenings directly on the slopes, more and more refuges and après-ski were created, many of which are still open and well-frequented today. Among these, the Club Moritzino stands out, a historic venue on the slopes of Piz La Ila and probably one of the most loved and renowned in the Alpine region. “It all started because I failed my final exams” is how Moritz Craffonara, the tireless soul of the club that bears his name, explains it. That failure at school, in fact, led the young Moritz to open a refuge at the end of the 1960s, instead of choosing another job and another life. This iconic place, which has also inspired many others, is a fundamental element in the evolution of skiing in Alta Badia, because the skier on vacation does not live by slopes alone. “You also have to have fun” smiles Craffonara and since then, many have done so at Moritzino, including illustrious figures such as the actors Diether Krebs and Massimo Lopez, the Aga Khan (“he was a good skier” …), the photographer and entrepreneur Günter Sachs, ex-husband of the diva Brigitte Bardot, who, tired of eating “only” minestrone and sausages, gave Craffonara the idea of ​​differentiating the food on offer by constantly raising the standard. But it was not just about gourmet food, there was also and above all music from the afternoon until late at night, dancing and lots of fun. Indeed Craffonara himself, today a happy eighty-year-old, has never shied away from a good celebration, and this way of letting himself get involved, treating every guest like a friend – together with the right dose of madness (his words) – is undoubtedly the secret of his success. And if the club's consecration came in the 1980s in the wake of the World Cup which brought more and more skiers to the valley, Moritzino (now managed by his son Alexander) continues to prosper, also because, as Craffonara points out, "the best time is now".