In the Dolomites, after a winter that was stingy with snow, spring has arrived a month early. This unusual warmth has forced many ski resorts to shut up shop and has also set alarm bells ringing at the high-altitude ones, where the season usually carries on until late spring. The risk of an “early closure” is becoming a far from remote possibility, given the lack of snowfall during the winter and the high temperatures of recent weeks.
In Cortina d’Ampezzo, however, they are not giving up: while it is true that the ski lifts lower down have already closed, the Ski Area Faloria is holding out, as there is still snow there and the ski season continues. The forecasts are not encouraging, though, so the management has put an emergency plan into action: “bring in the snow by truck”.
For several days now trucks have been supplying the Faloria slopes with “fresh snow”. The snow is taken in large quantities from the cross-country skiing trails – in some shady areas the snow is still holding up well – loaded with mechanical shovels, and the trucks carry it up the mountain, shuttling back and forth from the valley to the top, where snow groomers spread the snow over the ski slopes.
The management stresses that the operation is necessary to keep the season going at least until the Easter holidays (when there are already numerous bookings for ski weeks), and if temperatures return to normal the season could continue until May 1, the traditional closing date for the lifts in Cortina d’Ampezzo. It is not yet possible to predict whether 40 truckloads of snow will be enough to save the end of the season at the Ski Area Faloria, but at least this Easter, too, will be spent on skis.
What do you think? Is it right, or is it against nature to bring in snow by truck? Leave a comment below
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