The Best Backcountry Skiing Routes in Dolomites

Use the lift system from Armenterola to make this easy tour a circuit/loop, and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that! The famous Rifugio Pralongia is the start point, and is easily reached via a series of chairlifts from either Corvara, Arabba or San Casciano....

Although close to the Dolomiti SuperSki area, this trip is remarkably wild and takes you along a rarely travelled ridge in amongst some epic peaks. The parking area, between the villages of Corte and Contrin, is very small, with a space for a maximum of 3 or 4 cars....

Accessed from the truly enormous Super Ski Dolomiti lift system, this tour feels wild but is remarkably easy to get to. Make your way (from anywhere around the Sella Towers) to the top of the Frara cable car and from there skin north up the broad gully directly above you....

The striking Sella towers look like an impregnable fortress and the famous Sellaronda piste tour runs in both directions around the entire floor of the mountain range. As such, the gondola lift to the summit of Sass Pordoi (and the Pordoi Pass itself) is usually ignored by skiers focused on skiing the entire Sellaronda....

The length and variety of this tour is such that it "should" be a ski tour - the fact that you can ski it without a single second of going uphill feels like cheating! The lift network in the Dolomites is fabulous though, and it enables you to ski routes like this with zero effort....

A traverse of the iconic Sella Massif followed by a jaw dropping Dolomites couloir - the Val Setus is a truly unforgettable itinerary, widely considered to be among the most beautiful in the region....

When you're riding the Sass Pordoi cable car you pass right over this slope and it is just begging out to be skied. If you're really lucky you'll get it in powder but it faces south so you'll need to be here right after a snowfall, and find safe conditions if you want soft, deep snow....

This adventure is about as good as Dolomites ski touring gets - it takes you over the highest mountain in the entire range and down a fabulous north-facing bowl. Start out from the dam at Lago di Fedaia where there's parking and a bar....

Best done as a return from Corvara using the lift system, this is a brilliant journey through the Sella Massif. Start by riding the lift system up to Sasso Pordoi. Ski down north-east to a col and then climb Piz Boè via its south ridge....

With the lift system saving you a great deal of effort, this tour requires a relatively small amount of climbing in return for a fabulous, long descent. The skiing feels wild and exciting, yet you're never far from the pistes and chairlifts....

A linear tour over a towering summit, there are some logical issues to solve before taking on this trip, but it's simple and well worth the effort to deal with them....