Following our sensational week in 3 Zinnen Dolomites ski resort we ventured to neighbouring Kronplatz / Plan de Corones. A cruisy 90 minute taxi drive with Taxi Bruno from Sexten/Sesto that delivered us to the delightful village of San Vigilio.
Our timing was impeccable as the Women’s Giant Slalom World Cup was in town and competing on the famous ‘Erta’ slope, which is Ladin for ‘steep’. Kronplatz has played World Cup host for 10 years and put on a tremendous show. The festivities kicked off with a free slope side concert featuring local bands, fireworks and a ski show. Two days later, the world’s best fearlessly took on the 1,325m course through 405m vertical, with a max gradient of 61%. The thousands of spectators cheered on the women with Austrian Julia Scheib taking gold ahead of Swiss Camille Rast and Swede Sara Hector. Watching them tackle the demanding course live is so much better and inspiring than on television. They’re super-fast, super controlled and super women.
It’s fitting that the world’s best ski at Kronplatz as it’s an absolutely world class part of the incredible UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites. Achille Linari, my good friend from Castel Bolognese (near Bolognia), has been encouraging me to ski at Kronplatz for years. And I’m so happy to have finally made it. This is such a lovely area with an absolutely massive amount of terrain to ski.
From San Vigilio a couple of gondolas take you to the enormous white plateau at 2,275m – aka the ‘panetonne’. From here it’s possible to take in a breathtaking 360° panorama and ski 270° down a swag of wide rolling runs that lead into the 5 feeder villages that circle the base of Kronplatz. The peak is a junction of 8 high speed lifts / gondolas feeding punters uphill from the north, south, & east.
The impressive centrepiece of this tangle of lifts is the phenomenal Peace Bell Concordia 2000. It booms at noon each day and features on everyone’s insta feed (including Snowaction’s). It’s 3.11 metres tall, weighs 18.1 tonnes and is dedicated to Saint Bernard, the patron saint of skiers and mountaineers. It also serves as a handy meeting point – in case you get separated from your crew.
The immense amount of resort infrastructure and terrain is truly something to behold … and just a tiny bit overwhelming. It took us a couple of days to get our bearings as the area is so vast and there are so many lifts and people darting this way and that. But the enormity of the resort means that the crowds quickly disperse across the 50 odd runs and the 32 lifts that can move 70,000+ people per hour are generally queue less. 350 guns spray snow on every run ensuring 100% access. And most of the chairlifts have heated seats that are more comfortable than our economy class flight.
We did our laps on a lift-by-lift / direction-by-direction basis. San Vigilio to the south, Brunico to the north, Valdaora to the west. It’s a bit disorienting as the sweeping slopes and gorgeous landscape seems endless. But once you get your bearings and follow the signs it all slowly becomes apparent – until it doesn’t and you dig out your map to figure out where you’re going.
The whole hill is a pleasure to ski. With perfect groomers, sweeping bends, forested runs and plenty of pit stops along the way.
“Kronplatz is great,” said first timer Vanha from Slovenia, “They have wide slopes that are nicely combed and I love how long the runs are – this is my favourite part.”
Mine too, the longest of the long is the 7km thigh burner ‘Ried’ from top to bottom arriving at the Perca train station some 1,355 metres below the summit. A magical red run that goes on and on and on. Special mentions need to go to Kronplatz’s legendary collection of blacks too – ‘Sylvester’, ‘Herrnegg’, ‘Pre da Peres’, ‘Erta’ (though closed for the World Cup), and my favourite ‘Piculin’ – with a max gradient of 71%.
From the base of Piculin it’s possible to jump on a ski bus and head over to neighbouring Alta Badia and the world-famous Sella Ronda. Piculin the most remote run / lift so it’s generally empty, built for speed and a great place to rack up vertical – 507m through a punchy 2km run.
Our travel agent, Tania Peccedi from SkiItaly.com.au recommended we stay in San Vigilio, due to its mountain charm, unique character and slope side location. We stayed at the brilliant 3 star Hotel Mirabel, complete with roof top spa & suana. It’s perfectly positioned a couple of minutes’ walk to the ‘Miara’ base station, from where we hired and stored our skis, grabbed our Dolomiti Super Ski lift passes and jumped onboard the modern 9 person Miara gondola for direct access to the superb slopes.
We opted for the half-board option and enjoyed a sumptuous buffet breakfast daily and 3 course dinner each evening. The accompanying wine list featured local Lagrein, effervescent Prosecco, Tuscan Montepulciano and Primitivo from Le Marche. Each night dinner was different with a choice of 2 or 3 starters, mains and deserts. Best on ground included tempura prawns, octopus salad, spinach spätzle, saltimbocca alla romana, semi-freddo and pannacotta. Unsurprisingly, I added a few kilos … which I’m still trying to work off!
My new favourite pick me up, the Calimero, didn’t help the waist line either. It’s a Bombardino with a shot of coffee – pure genius. Mariola stuck with the Pear Williams and Jack the hot chocolates. Food, drinks, more food, and more drinks – it was a week of delicious indulgence.
In need of a break (possibly from me), Mariola caught the local bus #461 from San Vigilio to the historic town of Bruneck/Brunico a mere half-hour down the valley. “There’s a huge castle on the hill overlooking the old town – which is really pretty. And there are so many nice shops, but most of them were closed for siesta,” explained Mariola, much to my relief. Nevertheless, she did manage to “save” some money … buying fancy new ski pants and an après jacket that just happened to be “on sale”. As she says – a penny saved is a penny earned!
If you’re into photography a visit to the LUMEN Museum of Mountain Photography is well worth it. The summit located museum is spread across four floors of a converted cable-car station and contains fascinating historic photos, impressive interactive displays and striking panoramic views of the Dolomites. LUMEN contains the oldest of black & whites, through to the latest digital creations, and the permanent & temporary exhibitions are tremendous. Pro tip – the elevator journey itself is a wicked work of art.
And just across the peak is the MMM Corones – one of the six Messner Mountain Museums dedicated to alpinism, the mountains and nature.
Kronplatz is huge, fun and a worthy addition to your list. The Dolomites are spectacular, the towns charming and the wide long runs rewarding. As Arnie would say – ‘I’ll be back’.
