Val Senales, The power of the high mountain – travel for you

In Val Senales long winter makes the silence live both on the track at three thousand meters as in the valley, in the countries of the Carthusian monks

Article by Matilde Depoli

There Val Senalesthe first basin that catches north east from the lower Val Venostaunleashes the totemic charm of the early years. Warning the body to change to adapt silently to the ice empire is the almost mystical vertigo of the high mountainswhich ends the instinct and connects the human senses to the animal and natural worlds.

You slide on the white millenary roads of the Hochjochferner glacier In the company of the eagles, brown rocks in contrast with perennial snow, thin air that quickly vanishes in the nostrils.

This is the place he buried Ötzi for 5,300 years and which welcomes the warning of the dissolution of ice and the abstract enormousness of climate change: the work Our Glacial Perspectives of the artist Ambassador UN for sustainability Olafur Eliasson. The large astronomical glass and steel sphere can be reached from the glacier crest by crossing nine portals that count the glacial eras.

The Ski Resort Alpin Arena Senales area

From Short farm Ascends with respect for the High yoke glacierthe king of the ski area Alpin Arena Senales11 plants, 42 km of slopes between 2,000 and 3,200 meters for alpine skiing, cross -country skiing and sleds of different conformation that satisfy all mountain lovers, from athletes to families.

The horizon from the platform Iceman Ötzi Peak 3,251 m It would also be familiar to the man of Similaun: a picture of clouds that caress 126 peaks above the three thousand meters and shiny snow dunes of three nations, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The sun, up there, is very close.

The long winter at high altitude ensures optimal snow From September to May On all the white streets of the ski resort, far from the crowd and a few meters from the ski lifts.

One of them is the demanding via della transhumancetaken twice a year by the flocks of almost four thousand sheep directed towards the summer pastures of Ventria, in Austria. Their secular shift is UNESCO Unesco humanity cultural heritage and it is possible to observe the show of the return of the shepherds to Italy from a special position on the low and high yoke step.

It takes confidence with sport on Glocken, Finail and Gletschersee tracks The glacial lakes laces, the wind, the sun and the majestic width of the glacier basin in the uniform red and blue slopes are savored GRAWAND and in the two reds Hintereisleading to Bella Vista refugethe slopes of slope and the curves handled on the side of Lazaundarts like the champions along the 200 m of altitude difference to 60% slope of the black adrenalinic Leo Gurschler. The track of the smugglers Schmugglerabfahrt It marks the downhill descent to be enjoyed metro per meter in the 8 km of borotalco with medium slope walls alternating with extreme beauty passages up to a short farm.

Leo Gurschler’s dream come true in the Alpin Arena Senales

From there, in 1975 he left for Cima Growand The first race of the highest cable car in South Tyrol and the tourist development of the area, thanks to the stubborn dream of Leo Gurschler. Twenty -year -old farmer, to make the skiable glacier all year round, climbed the cracks of its mountains, those of the hearts of the valleys and in those of the institutional bureaucracy. He greeted his own life and partly failed, overwhelmed by debts and financial charges, abandoned by supporters.

This vital inheritance was adopted in the nineties by a group of friends, Senalese entrepreneurs who joined to raise the fate of the project and create an attractive service system. Between them, Paul Grüner He bought and restored vintage shelters in the area, driven by love for its territory, for the working sustainability of the inhabitants and for the mountain values ​​that translates into the sincere modern Tyrolean hospitality.

His Bella Vista refuge It offers everything you need to stay three thousand meters on the level of city life: roof and hot water, a clean bed, a plate of soup or dumpling in broth, wine that flows from an ancient knowledge like the people of the nets , a welcoming smile and of the stories to be shared in the stube or in the living room view of the sea of ​​mountains of the Dépendance.

The thought of Grüner It is crystal clear as the snowy air that inspires it from all life: “We must be aware of the strength of simplicity, which is the key to the union among human beings in the mountains”. The large totem to protect the hut translates it, as well as the menu based on the regionality of local products – “a mountain cuisine prepared with the heart” – and the artisan furniture. Silver cutlery, Loden upholstery, hand -painted wooden furniturewhite and red -red checkered fabrics of Austrian manufacture refine the alpine tract of the structure. The new suite with terrace and private bathroom reserve a view of 180 ° on the tops and the snow at the foot of the bed.

The countries of the Val Senales between Masi and Monastic Villages

Downhill towards the valley floor, the flexible road of the Val Senales winds for 1,400 meters in altitude, runs alongside the homonymous rio between steep forest slopes and allows many cultural and gastronomic stops between Mount of S. Caterina, Certosathe lake of Vernago And Madonna di Senales.

The Masi are the historical agricultural and pastoral housing expressions of the Eastern Alps and this land preserves of ancient stone and wood. The rustic facade of the Maso Kurzhof Start 600 years of history in its decorative layers, north of the Maso short chapel on the central grassy disposal of the village. Still in use for traditional works, some are devoted to the pleasures of the table, others reconverted in tourist accommodation or educational farms.

The breeding of sheep still represents a source of income for the Senalese, both for the processing of wool and for gastronomic products: theSenalese lamb – Slow Food garrison – is a must of the “30” km menu of theHotel Adler Nest of the Gamper family. In the Serafina gourmet stubecHef Daniel Reiner The “regional” label takes very seriously and serve on smooth stones of the Rio Senales from seven to nine courses of delicacies made with ingredients that grow in a maximum radius of 30 km, such as autochthonous gray beef, sheep in all sauces and alpine herbs, cheeses and crown butter, lamb speck of the farm owned.

Certosa, the village of the silentium

He dates back to 700 years ago the Maso plant Oberniederhof in Madonna di Senales, ownership of the Count Enrico di Bohemia which in 1326 was donated as a dowry to the monks of the future Certosatogether with nine other Masi and the appearance of soil still a virgin upstream of the angels.

In exchange for the remission of some sin, twelve painstaking placed the first stones of the abbey that for five hundred years isolated them in the most rigorous silence.

Crossing the Borgo di Certosathe architecture of the monastery emerges from the indissoluble plot with the post 1782 urban system, when the IJoseph II module ordered the closure of the abbey. Over time, the cells, the residence of the prior, the refectory and the abbey church turned into homes, tavern and new church for the small community: a new Charterhouse arose.

The absolute silence, amplified by the snowfall and narrated by the interactive path “Siletium” within the walls of the town, it is the same as the monks EVIbra with suggestive energy throughout the Val Senales.

The Vernago lake is the panorama of the Edelweiss hotel

Address for a simple and restaurateur stay, theHotel Edelweiss It is a miniature South Tyrolean alpine village. Overlook Vernago lakesurrounded by the woods, presents the hall in the central villa with bar and fireplace with exposed beams, the rooms open on the lake, the restaurant with stube and, in the three private design chalets, the suite from 2 to 4 people.

Textile details in cooked wool, inlaid and hand -painted furniture, floors in the local classic woods and the unmistakable aroma of the Cirmolo wood envelop the structure and welcome guests in tranquility.

The wellness area was obtained in the Maso Malga: the Finnish sauna, the outdoor whirlpool tank with water at 35 degrees and the relaxation room are a panoramic theater on the lake and on Punta di Lagaun, Jogo pocket And Cima Berglspitze. Infrared cabin, sensory shower and Turkish bath complete the picture of mountain well -being, with a focus on muscle relaxation, diverse of the joints through heat, balsamic benefit of the respiratory tract and skin.

Culled by silence, the mind lightens and the spirit floats on the changing forms of water in Val Senales.

For info:

www.valsenales.com

Chalets-edelweiss.it