St Cristina Skiing Holidays

• St Cristina Resort Statistics+

  Slope Direction	N S
  Very Easy Runs	0
  Easy Runs	32
  Medium Runs	23
  Difficult Runs	4
  Toughest Run Name	Nogler
  Skiable Vertical	1088m
  Number Of Lifts	81
  Top Lift Height	2518m
  Night Skiing	N
  Snowboarding Parks	0
  Half Pipes	0
  Swimming Pools	0
  Night Clubs	2
  Mountain Restaurants	31

• St Cristina Transfer Times+

  Milan:	4 hours
  Munich / München:	4 hours

St Cristina is quite a small village compared to its neighbours, lying on the sunny side of the Val Gardena, in front of the mighty Sassolungo, at a healthy altitude for good snow cover. The resort is sandwiched between Selva, the best known resort in Val Gardena, and the larger settlement of Ortisei below.

Val Gardena is a large enough ski area as it is, with varied slopes for all standards, but the lifts and runs continue beyond it, as it is linked in to the world's second biggest inter-connected ski circuit, the Sella Ronda, which is like the hub of a wheel.

Ski lifts and runs circulate the inner wheel passing through resorts such as Arabba, Corvara and Canazei, and from this inner ring valleys radiate off, including Badia, Fassa and Gardena.

The entire area is within the larger-still Dolomiti Superski pass, which covers nearly 500 lifts and 1,200km (750 miles) of piste in a dozen valleys in the surrounding area - although the rest are not connected by ski lifts and you'll need to rent a car or take a bus to reach them. However the hands free lift ticket will automatically open the lift turnstiles at every lift you approach.

All three Val Gardena villages are marketed together, so if you are interested in a particular restaurant or hotel it is important to check which village it is in, as it may not be in St Cristina!

An efficient bus service links the resorts along the valley floor as the ski lifts do above. A further complication is that the area was once part of German speaking Austria as well as having the local Ladin dialect and the Italian language, so each village has at least two names.

• Beginners+

  There are nursery slopes on the gentle meadows on either side of the village and, as the resort's altitude is quite high for a traditional village, with the added benefit of extensive snow making, these are normally open all winter long.
  
  There's a friendly ski school and progressively longer easy blue runs to move on to as your confidence increases.

• Intermediates+

  There are endless opportunities for intermediate skiers in one of the world's largest ski areas, with 176km (110 miles) of piste in Val Gardena and much more on the Sella Ronda and Dolomiti Superski passes.
  
  The village provides easy access to all ski slopes in the area, being at the base of the Monte Pana, Ciampinoi, Col Raiser and Seceda lifts. The ski lifts open the route over to Alta Badia with wonderful long reds plunging back down to the valley.
  
  Across the valley Piz Sella and Ciampinoi dominate the varied terrain, which continues to Alpe di Suisi further down the Gardena Valley or towards Canazei and the Fassa Valley if you wish to get on to the Sella Ronda.
  
  Runs are up to nine kilometres (nearly six miles) long with more than 65 reds covering over 100km (63 miles).

• Advanced+

  Val Gardena has many attractions for advanced skiers and is the annual host of World Cup racing. There are 18 black runs in the area, the longest being the 10.5km (seven mile) Nogler descent.
  
  Ski touring is also very popular throughout the region and off piste courses are led by the local ski school.
  
  One way to get a feel for the more advanced level terrain in the Val Gardena is to try out the marked “1970 World Championship Skiing Tour".
  
  This takes you via Ciampinoi, Plan de Gralba and Piz Seteur in the excellent ski area between the Sella massif and Sasso Lungo, and takes in the World Cup giant slalom run and then on to Dantercepies, for the great Saslong run, another World Cup piste. The tour continues to Col Raiser and includes a nine kilometre (six miles) romantic run back down to Ortisei.

• Snowboarding+

  The Gardena Valley once again does not disappoint, with a whole range of prepared terrain features for boarders. There are two boarder cross courses at Passo Sella (served by the chair lift Grohmann-Cavazes) and in the Comici/Piz Sella region (this opens from mid-January).
  
  There's also a choice of half pipes with a natural pipe served by the Sotsaslong lift and a specially created one on Alpe di Siusi accessed by the Laurin chair lift.

• Other Activities And Facilities+

  The Iman Sports Centre in the village has an indoor climbing wall and a natural ice rink. Other options in the valley include indoor tennis and a swimming pool complex down in Ortisei. The Fitness Center Rives in St Cristina offers aerobics, step, funk, pump, stretching, body building and cardio-fitness equipment.
  
  Winter hiking is popular in the area with more than 100km of cleared walking paths in the valley and there's a similar amount of cross country skiing trails.
  
  For those interested in the traditions of the area, as well as the Ladina culture, there are a number of craft shops linked to an age old tradition of wood sculpture. Snowshoeing, winter climbing and paragliding are also available.

• Apres Ski And Dining Out+

  St Cristina has mid-range après ski with a moderate selection of bars and restaurants.
  
  Café Andy has a nice atmosphere, Bar 2000 is another good choice. The main nightspot is Piz5 in the Hofer's Alm which is open from 9am to 3am daily with live djs from 10pm on.
  
  There are several dozen places to eat in the village ranging from basic pizzeria to gourmet establishments. L Fudle is good, serving home-made dishes, including their own pizza, at lunchtime.
  
  Many other restaurants are within local hotels, including the restaurant in the Alpenhotel Plaza, which serves fresh trout and South Tyrolean regional dishes.

• Families+

  Children aged from four months to eight years can be cared for in the village (the only facility in the Valley) at the Casa Bimbo nursery.
  
  The ski school offers children's ski kingergarten and ski school from age four and up, available all day. Skiing for children is free to age eight, one of the most generous offers for the youngest children. Once children are age eight however prices are not so good compared to many resorts in Austria and Switzerland, as the resort follows the French and Italian model of asking children to pay two thirds of the adult cost.