European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 11, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The massive peaks of the Sas Stungo Langkafel Rise before this group skiing Sella Ronda. Visitors take a break on one of the Quot Snow beaches Quot at Sella Ronda. A amps photos by Jim Derheim continued from Page 3 wonderful. That s because Arabia had utilized its enormous Snow making ability and round the clock grooming to make it so. The French resort of alpe d Huez claims the largest Snow making ability but while facts Are hard to get from Italy the combined Snow cannons on the Sella Ronda appear to certainly outrun any comparable area. We set off on the Sella Ronda about 10 . Under a cloudless sky and blinding Sun. The slopes around Arabia were still mostly in the Shade and were lightning fast. After about an hour we came into a huge sunny Snow bowl near the Nordoi pass and stopped for a Coffee break. There simply because the Snow conditions were so Good we made the first of several excursions off the Ronda before taking a Long chairlift to the top of the Belvedere. From there a Steep and crowded Chute one of the few Dicey spots we encountered on the Ronda brought us Down into a Long series of woodsy trails where you could really let out All the stops. From then on it was one lift after another followed by some rather icy trails and sparse Snow leading Over to Val Gardena and its resort of Selva known to German speakers As Wolkenstein. Some say the dolomites suffer from being in Italy. If so it is All the fault of the restructuring following world War i. When the map was redrawn the South Tyrol formerly part of the Austro hungarian Empire was awarded to Italy for the Sake of giving it a defensible Frontier at the Brenner pass. Had the line been drawn a few Miles farther South skiers would now be flocking to the austrian Dolomite resorts of Wolkenstein St. Ulrich and Furfar instead of heading to the italian Dolomite resorts of Selva Ortise and co Vara to give these polyglot villages their italian names. German is the preferred language of the Sella Ronda s villagers and the resorts Are much to the liking of germans who make up the bulk of the area s clientele. Italian and English Are also spoken in the resorts but. Visitors will make out better by using Cerman. Skiers doing the Sella Ronda would be Wise not to attempt it on a sunday because they May Well be delayed by bottlenecks at lifts particularly around Selva. We made our transit on a saturday and aside from a few minor Waits around Selva encountered no lift lines. The Only pauses were caused by ourselves As we repeatedly stopped to Marvel at the rugged Beauty rising around us up to 11,000 feet. Anyone who hates to bars will love the Sella Ronda. In a whole Day of skiing we ran into Only one cursed to bar and it just happened to be the last lift of the Day. The bulk of the lifts in the area Are mostly state of the Art gondolas and chairlifts or easy to use Poma lifts. A succession of lifts brings skiers High above Selva and from there it is All downhill to co Fosco followed by a quadruple chairlift shuttling skiers horizontally Over to a 4 stripes Magazine March 11, 1993