Snow in Gardena Valley

We spent a good bit of time on a ridge that undulated around the 2,150 meter mark. Now and then we dipped below treeline which was particularly pretty.

Our free day, September 12, was a bit dreary with on and off again rain in the morning and especially afternoon. Clouds were pretty low so views from above the valley floor were all but nil. I suppose the weather made my minestrone soup at the mountain refuge at the upper terminus of the funicular (call it 2,100 meters elevation) more enjoyable but a view of something other than clouds would have been nice. We spent a good bit of time wandering around the town of Ortisei and then a fair bit of time just hanging about the hotel in Selva. This is all to give you a sense of the change in the weather. Snow was forecast for that evening and snow is what we got. Now, keep in mind that it can snow up high and do nothing or at most rain down low. That is what happened. The snow line was probably just over 2,000 meters but probably not quite 2,100. The higher you would go the more snow there would be. We planned to reprise the hike Mom had done Tuesday which spent much of the time contouring along a ridge with several fine views across the Gardena Valley. The official walks were either too much or too little as far as we were concerned.

The snow line was not that far below the upper terminus of the funicular. Where we spent much of our day, around 2,150 meters, snow was a couple inches deep on the slopes. The hiking paths were clear.

From the funicular we passed over the snow line not long before reaching the upper terminus. Today you can see Ortisei as the cloud ceiling is much higher.

The mountain hutte is not far from the funicular (to the east). A s all church, not shown, is not that far west of here.