Category: Kronplatz-Plan de Corones

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A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol

Copyright: IDM South Tyrol / Valentin Pardeller. The Dolomites are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The rose garden glows impressively in the evening glow on the horizon of the regional capital of Bozen.A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol – Sudtirol.

South Tyrol (or Sudtirol) is open for visitors this summer. On June 3rd, borders will start opening for regional tourism within the EU and Schengen countries (all depending on Covid-19 cases keep on being down), so, I’ve thought I could put together a Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

A classic South Tyrolean village with the impressive Dolomites in its backdrop. Photo: © IDM Südtirol. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.
A classic South Tyrolean village with the impressive Dolomites in its backdrop. Photo: © IDM Südtirol. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

South Tyrol is the northernmost province in Italy, bordering the Tirol and Östirol regions in Austria. Actually, it used to be part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire as part of the Tirol region (it was actually called Mittletirol). It changed hands to Italy after the defeat of the central powers on WWI in 1918.

How to get to South Tyrol

Fly to Innsbruck in Austria or Verona in Italy. If not, you have the options of Bozen/Bolzano airport, that is a smaller regional airport, or Bergamo, Venezia, Milano Linate, Milano Malpensa or Munich.

Copyright: IDM South Tyrol / Harald Wisthaler. Rowing boats at the Lago di Braies Nature Park, one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen in my life, worth a visit and a walk around the lake, which is easy for anybody! A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.
.Copyright: IDM South Tyrol / Harald Wisthaler. Rowing boats at the Lago di Braies Nature Park, one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve seen in my life, worth a visit and a walk around the lake, which is easy for anybody! A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

Driving to South Tyrol

 

Coming from Austria, just pass Innsbruck and take the Brenner Pass, and you’ll be there. From Verona, go up the Brenner Motorway (A22 Autostrada del Brennero) and drive north. South Tyrol is part of the Trentino Alto Adige province, located in the northern side (the Alto Adige side).

Copyright: IDM South Tyrol / Clemens Zahn. From St. Zyprian in Eggental there is an impressive view of the rose garden, here against a clear blue sky. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.
Copyright: IDM South Tyrol / Clemens Zahn. From St. Zyprian in Eggental there is an impressive view of the rose garden, here against a clear blue sky. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

Languages in South Tyrol

70% German, 25% Italian and 5% Ladin. The Ladin is a mountain language, what is considered a Romansh language spoken in the Dolomite valleys of Val Gardena and Alta Badia.

Photo: IDM South Tyrol / Clemens Zahn. Autumn is colorful in the Meraner Land, like here at Lebenberg Castle above Tscherms, where thanksgiving is celebrated. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.
Photo: IDM South Tyrol / Clemens Zahn. Autumn is colorful in the Meraner Land, like here at Lebenberg Castle above Tscherms, where thanksgiving is celebrated. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

What to do in South Tyrol in the Summer.

Go to the area of Kronplatz and Brunico.

 

Kronplatz is a mountain in the border of what is Dolomites and Alps. The mountain itself has a shape of a Panettone with a punch in the middle. It is a very interesting mountain, which is connected with four villages around and lifts to each one on each sides.

Kronplatz in the summer. Photo: Kronplatz. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.
Kronplatz in the summer. Photo: Kronplatz. A Must-Read Guide to Summer in South Tyrol.

Kronplatz is not only interesting for skiing in winter or hiking and mountain biking in the summerr. There is a good reason to go to the top of the mountain all year round, even if you don’t ski, ride, hike or bike! It is the only mountain, that I know of, with two really grand museums on its peak! These museums are Lumen Museum and MMM Corones.

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3 Zinnen will continue with its plan to install the Helmjet Sexten 10-seater cable car.

Helmjet Sexten. Drei Zinnen will continue with its plan to install the Helmjet Sexten 10-seater cable car.

3 Zinnen will continue with its plan to install the Helmjet Sexten 10-seater cable car.

3 Zinnen Helmjet Sexten – 3 Zinnen Hotels, where to stay in 3 Zinnen, 3 Zinnen Restaurants,  on-mountain restaurants in 3 Zinnen and where to eat in Sesto and the villages.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

3 Zinnen (Tre Cime) ski resort is going ahead with the plan of replacing its old 40-year-old gondola which connected the village of Sesto/Sexten with the ski mountain of Monte Elmo/Helm, with the new premium 10-seater gondola called Helmjet Sexten.

The new gondola will be a premium upgrade for the 3 Zinnen ski resort in the Dolomites, especially because longer waiting lines in the peak season can now be avoided, due to its capacity to bring around 3.000 people at the top per hour.

Drei Zinnen seen from the Drei Zinnen ski area - photo PXHere.com. Drei Zinnen will continue with its plan to install the Helmjet Sexten 10-seater cable car.
3 Zinnen seen from the Drei Zinnen ski area – photo PXHere.com. Drei Zinnen will continue with its plan to install the Helmjet Sexten 10-seater cable car.

Mark Winkler, CEO of 3 Zinnen Ski Resort Dolomites said:

“Every new lift we build is special to me. But the “HELMJET SEXTEN” is a passion project: we have all been waiting for it for many years. In a way, it is the jewel in the crown of the 3 Zinnen Dolomites sports and mountain destination—the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle of investments we made over the course of the past years. We are giving our main entrance in Sesto a massive upgrade: the state-of-the-art facilities will offer our guests much greater comfort while reducing the rush and waiting times of the old system. Personally, I cannot wait to sit in the new ‘Symphony’ premium gondola for the first time and take in the views of the Sesto Sundial.” 

Completing the puzzle of the resort with Helmjet Sexten.

The Monte Elmo Sesto cable car was first built in February 1981. At the time, it was extremely modern. For nearly forty years, it carried skiers, hikers and families to the top of Monte Elmo daily, until this changed in 2020. This year the dated cable car is replaced by the new detachable premium 10-seater Helmjet Sexten cablecar lift.

Six years ago, the 3 Zinnen Dolomites ski resort (called at the time “Sesto Dolomites”) – consisted only of only 50 km of slopes on two mountains. Today, just over half a decade, the 3 Zinnen AG has turned the area into a little gem of five interconnected mountains and 115 km of slopes, with 31 modern cable cars and chairlifts serving them. On the mountain you find family-run restaurants, ski and bike rental services and the Punka Service Centre, the most advance service facilities in the Alps.

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Review of Hotel Petrus in Kronplatz.

Photo: Hotel Petrus. Review of Hotel Petrus in Kronplatz.

Review of Hotel Petrus in Kronplatz.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

The Hotel Petrus is located in Riscone, in one of the bases for Kronplatz ski resort, just outside of Brunico in Val Pusteria It is a lovely family hotel run by three sisters (Brigitte, Christina and Daniela Aichner) and their parents (Hans and Gerti). They are very much involved in making you feel welcome. From taking you hiking or playing golf, to skiing and making you feel at home away from home.

Photo: Hotel Petrus. Outside pool. Review of Hotel Petrus in Kronplatz.
Photo: Hotel Petrus. Outside pool. Review of Hotel Petrus in Kronplatz.

I had the chance to go and visit it last week and I was very impressed, definitely somewhere I’ll suggest people to go.

Kronplatz is a very interesting mountain, looks like a Panetone punched in the middle. It is famous for its good snow and long runs to the four resort villages. Also it is a great viewing point of all the Dolomites, you see what is Dolomites and what is Alps from the top. And is renown also for its two museums – the Messner Mountain Museum Corones, which design was created by the late Zaha Hadid, and the new LUMEN Museum of photography, created on a disused tram top station.

The Hotel Petrus is 5’ by transfer from the base of Riscone, and if you can ski down a black run, it is ski in as well. A transfer offers rides every 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon to go to the base area.

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Spot on White Deer – San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge

The entrance to the San Lorenzo Lodge - White Deer- Photo: The-Ski-Guru. Spot on White Deer – San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge.

Spot on White Deer – San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge

This past long weekend I was lucky enough to visit Sudtirol and four of its resorts: Kronplatz, Alta Badia, Val Gardena and Alpe di Siusi. It was a bit like a marathon, or a ski-safari, with a chance to see a bit of all the things Sudtirol has to offer.

The first night we were there, we went out of town of Brunico, into the mountains, to visit the San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge.

The entrance to the San Lorenzo Lodge - White Deer- Photo: San Lorenzo Lodges. Spot on White Deer – San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge.
The entrance to the San Lorenzo Lodge – White Deer- Photo: San Lorenzo Lodges. Spot on White Deer – San Lorenzo Mountain Lodge.

This specific lodge of the  San Lorenzo Mountain Lodges, called White Deer, is one of the three properties of Stefano and Georgia Barbini. It is located high up the mountain, in the Val Pusteria, over the towns of Brunico and S. Lorenzo di Sebato and near the big mountain that looks like a Panetone punched in the middle that is Kronplatz ski resort (or Plan de Corones, as is called in Italian).

The house is an old lodge that has been refurbished in an authentic way, with four bedrooms, three doubles and one bunk bed rooms for 4 – all lovingly decorated with lots of beautiful details. The front of the house is as it used to be when it was built in the 1600.

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Season Opening’s at the different ski resorts of Sudtirol and Christmas Markets

These unique Dolomite vistas encompass the extensive Alta Badia ski area, with magnificent views of the Sasso Lungo Peak and the Sella Mountain Range. Season Opening’s at the different ski resorts of Sudtirol and Christmas Markets. Photo: IDM Sudtirol.

Season Opening’s at the different ski resorts of Sudtirol and Christmas Markets

When you think of Sudtirol you think of the Dolomites in Northern Italy. The province of South Tyrol, or Sudtirol is bordering in the north with the Tirol in Austria and to the south with Trentino. The scenery is to die for, in reality, I have never seen more impressive and beautiful terrain in the world, the mountains are impressive and very rocky sculptured peaks, and at dawn or dusk, they turn into pink, thanks to the Enrosadira effect.

Cross-country skiing through the calm winter idyll with a view on Mount Sciliar/Schlern: the snow-capped wooden fences of the high plateau are the sole witness to the pastoral activities of summer. Season Opening’s at the different ski resorts of Sudtirol and Christmas Markets.
Cross-country skiing through the calm winter idyll with a view on Mount Sciliar/Schlern: the snow-capped wooden fences of the high plateau are the sole witness to the pastoral activities of summer. Season Opening’s at the different ski resorts of Sudtirol and Christmas Markets.

Enrosadira is the term given to the phenomenon whereas the peaks of the Dolomites turn into a pink/reddish colour, and then gradually turning into a violet. The reason of these changing colours is because the calcium carbonate and mangnesium carbonate of the dolomite, the mineral found in large quantities in the rocky walls of the Dolomites. Enrosadira is a Ladin term meaning ‘turning pink’. Ladin is an ancient language of the inhabitants of the Dolomites.

There are more than 30 ski areas located across all of South Tyrol. Most of these are part of the two larger ski associations.

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Dolomiti Superski spends 90 Million Euro investement for the upcoming ski season.

Dolomiti Superski- 3 Zinnen Dolomiten- New Chairlift Mittelstation-Helm. Photo credit: Dolomiti Superski. 90 million Euro investment for the 2018-19 ski season.

Dolomiti Superski is the largest ski carousel in the world, composed of 12 well-known ski resorts and 1,200 km of pistes. Now at the start of its 45th winter season on 30 November 2018, Dolomiti Superski, the world’s largest ski-pass network, will offer many new cable cars and other lifts, new slopes, more snow-making and mountain attractions, with a total investment of 90 million Euros.

130 different member companies that compose Dolomiti Superski have invested 90 million euros. 70% of these investments are in lifts, and 30% on snowmaking.

Dolomiti Superski- Val di Fiemme new rifugio Busabella in Alpe Cermis- Rendering credit: Dolomiti Superski.
Dolomiti Superski- Val di Fiemme new rifugio Busabella in Alpe Cermis- Rendering credit: Dolomiti Superski.

New lifts:

Coming 2018-19 winter season, Alta Badia will replace the “Roby” 2-seater chairlift with a new modern 6-seater- chairlift. Meanwhile at Seiser Alm and at the Three Peaks Dolomites ski resort the same will happen with the “Mezdi” 2-seater chairlif and the “Mittelstation” 2-seater chairlift. In San Martino di Castrozza, the new 10-passenger cirulating ropeway “Colbricon Express” will replace a 3-seater and a 4-seater chairlift.

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