Adventure #11: Foppolo, Italian Alps

We knew we wanted to go skiing once in the Alps while living in Ireland, just so we could say we'd done it. I spent two full days researching resorts in Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany and Italy before we decided to book a ski weekend in the Italian Alps at a tiny village we'd never heard of called Foppolo. Foppolo is a mountain village about 1600 meters (5250 feet) above sea level and only 80km northeast of Milan. It's located in the Brembana Valley in the Lombardy region (marked in red on the map below). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foppolo



Hotel Cristallo, a 2-star hotel right next to the main ski lift, offered the best price for a ski package - 3 nights hotel, 2 days of lift tickets, 2 meals a day and transportation to and from the airport - so we took a gamble. And we got roundtrip airfare to and from Bergamo (a city near Milan) for just 30 euros per person, all taxes included. I was a little worried when I asked a colleague from Milan if he'd ever been there, and he said, "no." We were also nervous that there might not be good snow at a lower-elevation resort only 1.5 hours from Bergamo, but our gamble paid off. Foppolo had a few good days of snow just before we arrived, and beautiful blue skies and sunshine both days we hit the slopes.

Hotel Cristallo's bar is right at the end of the run, so you can ski right up to the terrace, take off your skis, sit down and order Prosecco, beer - whatever you fancy -and watch the skiers barrel down the run. The owners of Cristallo even put out traditional antipasti on the bar every afternoon - heavenly! We had the place practically to ourselves on Friday; only a ski school group of kids and a couple families from England were there. Then the crowds drove up from Milan on Saturday and Sunday, but the lines were still shorter than most we've seen in Lake Tahoe.

Foppolo is considered a good resort for beginner skiers. The main lift next to Hotel Cristallo is considered a green in America (Blue/facile/easy here). It was a little hard for me. Damon has only been skiing three times, and he beat me down the hill by probably 5 minutes every time. That's why there are so many pictures of me skiing and none of Damon. Only one time was I at the bottom of the run waiting for him to snap a photo - just because I rested while he went for another run. Sadly, I wasn't able to get a good shot right until he finished his run. He was so mad when he saw that the only picture of him skiing showing him doing the pizza!

The mountain tops were breathtaking and Foppolo chalets charming. This was an unforgettable weekend getaway.

Here is the ski map of Foppolo: