Another great and sustainable place for skiing that features both
family-friendly and more demanding slopes is the Pfelders resort
in Passeiertal valley. The entire village is car-free and especially
popular with families, because the little ones can have lots of fun
out in the snow without having to watch out for traffic. Spend
some cosy nights up in the mountain huts, go for some night-time
skiing or a moonshine walk, take a hike on one of the scenic paths
or hire a horse sleigh for a romantic ride through the winter wonderland
of the forests surrounding the Alpine village. In the village
itself, you can also find a natural ice rink, a 3.5-kilometre-long
toboggan run and floodlit paths for cross-country skiing that you
can even use at night. And each year, near Corvara, climbers will
find a huge ice tower where they can make their way up high into
the sky.
The fifth ski area is the Val Senales glacier ski resort, which
features 35 diverse kilometres on the slopes at an altitude of
more than 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) and is guaranteed to have
snow. While skiing down the mountain you can enjoy the impressive
panorama of the Alps’ majestic peaks. The piste leading from
the glacier down into the valley is eight kilometres long, and the
modern cable car takes visitors back up to the mountain station
in just six minutes. After a great day of skiing, you can have some
fun on the toboggan run, which is more than three kilometres
long, or on one of the gorgeous high-altitude cross-country trails.
Waiting for Santa –
the Sterntaler Christmas market
In Lana, the weeks before Christmas are truly special. On the four
weekends before Christmas and on the morning of the 24th of
December, 19 nicely decorated Christmas market stalls offer a
variety of seasonal products including original crafts and culinary
delights, and a festive programme conveys the truly special atmosphere
of the Christmas season.
The air is filled with the flavours of mountain pine and Swiss pine,
roasted chestnuts, cinnamon, cloves and oranges. Quiet music
plays in the background. Visitors stroll around the market, looking
at the stalls, tasting fruit-filled chocolate, savoury mountain
cheese or South Tyrolean speck, a bacon variety. And there are
plenty of souvenirs and Christmas presents to be found here for
family and friends: products made from wool, felt, wax, glass or
wood. Some great activities await the little ones, too: pony riding,
a family of sheep at the Mair-Rimblhof and some crafts classes in
a Christmas workshop.
Every year, the Sterntaler girl sells Sterntaler lottery tickets in the
four weeks leading up to Christmas. You should definitely try your
luck with some of these. There are great prizes to be won, and the
Sterntaler lottery is a charity that donates some of its revenue to
the “Stille Hilfe” (silent help) organisation which helps families in
need – a great gesture to show support from within the community.
The nearby city of Merano is home to one of the most beautiful
Christmas markets in the entire Alpine region. It is held at the
Passer Promenade and opens to the public in late November.