Eighty kilometres of history and nature, along slopes covered in perfect snow, amazing altitudes, views unequalled anywhere in the world, and frozen waterfalls: this, in essence, is The Great War Ski Tour. In winter you can do the entire Tour in one day: ski bus, slopes and lifts create a ring touching the Giau Pass, the Falzarego Pass, the Badia Valley, Arabba and Alleghe, completely skirting the Col di Lana. It is a spectacular route, suitable for everyone, winding around the bases of the most famous peaks. In no other place are there so many memories concentrated as in the Lagazuoi - 5 Torri area, where you can see the emplacements of the open-air museums. You can start out from the Civetta on a bus which takes you to the Fedare refuge at the Giau Pass, from where the chair lift goes up to the Averau refuge. At the 5 Torri (Five Towers) the Italian trenches can be seen. The terrace of the refuges command splendid views of the Col di Lana, the Tofana di Rozes, the Castelletto and the Col dei Bos. At Falzarego Pass you can go up to the Lagazuoi by cable car, to reach the highest point of the Tour, a full 2800 metres high. From the cable car cabin can be seen the openings of the Italian mine tunnel and the Tre Sassi Fort on the road to the Valparola Pass. The Austrian emplacement Feldwache 4 (FW 4) on Mt. Lagazuoi is the only emplacement on the
front line that can be reached on skis by turning right directly after the departure of the slope at the top station of the Lagazuoi cable car Lagazuoi. It was dug into the ridge, called Muraglia Rocciosa by the Italians: a rock wall fortified by the Austro-Hungarian soldiers in order to defend the Lagazuoi saddle. This emplacement is a tunnel dug into the rock with two armoured
emplacements for machine guns and two embrasures for the observation of the areas Col dei Bos and Castelletto. Today, there is a reproduction of the Schwarzlose machine gun. On the western slope of the ridge you can see the recesses which have been dug into the rock for the Austro-Hungarian huts.
You then descend by the Armentarola slope, in one of the most fascinating environments of the Dolomites. At the bottom, a horse-drawn tow takes the skiers to the slopes of the Badia Valley, where they proceed to Arabba, Padon and Marmolada. You will need to have a Dolomiti Superski skipass for use the free ski bus service. In order to complete the Tour at leisure, you should leave early in the morning.
The Great War Ski Tour from Falzarego to the 5 Torri - If you follow the Tour in an anticlockwise direction, you can reach the slopes of the 5 Torri from Falzarego on skis. From here, you can first take the modern four-seater chair lift to the Scoiattoli refuge and then the second lift to the Forcella Nuvolau. You then go down the "Fedare" slope to the homonymous refuge, where there is a shuttle service providing the link with Pescul and the Civetta, and the continuation of the Tour.
The Great War Ski Tour starting from Badia - You can start from the Upper Badia using a paying taxi-bus leaving from Hotel Armentarola and stopping at the Falzarego Pass. From the Pass, you can take the cable car to the top of Mount. From there, you descend along the "Lagazuoi" slope to reach the Gallina Ridge ski lifts and thence the 5 Torri chair lift, continuing the Tour in the direction of the Giau Pass.
