Dizzy heights in the Dolomites: Hard skiing and history lessons in the German bit of Italy
We had watched enough downhill racing from Val Gardena on Ski Sunday for the colossal fists of limestone punching skywards out of giant snowy pillows to appear familiar. What my teenage sons and I were not expecting in the Dolomites was a history example on skis.

But, over a few days on these slopes in the Sṻdtirol – the largely German-speaking part of northern Italy bordering Austria – we kept stumbling across snippets of the past.

A different form of Europe: The Dolomites are where Italy and the Germanic world meet
First, we learned that this region was ceded to Italy in 1919 as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s price for being on the losing side of the First World War.

Hard powder: The Sella Ronda circuit has plenty of black runs for expert skiers
Not that Ladins have ever have referred to their homeland as the ‘Dolomites’. This staggeringly scenic and geologically-unique chunk of the Alps was, according to a leaflet I picked up, named after the aristocratic 18th-century French geologist Dieudonne Sylvain Guy Tancrede de Dolomieu.

Travel Facts

Crystal (0871 231 2256, www.crystalski.co.uk) offers seven nights half-board at three-star Serena Hotel in Selva from £714, including flights to Verona from various UK airports and transfers.
A six-day lift pass for the Dolomiti Superski area costs £196.  Further information: www.valgardena.it.