Valles

Passo Pordoi has 33 hairpin bends and climbs to 2,950 m. It was fun but very slow going. Several corners required shunts to get round. The views, however, were spectacular and the towering cliffs of the Dolomites add drama with a hint of danger. Fortunately there was very little traffic otherwise we might have caused a few queues. We arrived in Arabba late in the afternoon and found a great motorhome parking site ideally suited to Baloo – big grate for emptying the tanks, fast fresh water tap and plenty of space – perfect.

The next day, the forecast promised “light snow”. As it turned out there was about 50cm of light snow. We dug the snow shoes out and took Cent for a walk in the woods.

The next couple of days, I went skiing. Diane was not so keen. There was quite a long walk up to the ticket office and lifts. Tricky in ski boots. The conditions for skiing were not so great and the slopes were very crowded. The fresh snow had been chewed into moguls and icy patches within hours. After a 50 minute queue for the cable car, I made it up to the top of Marmolade – the highest peak in the area. Very cold and windy. Also very crowded. Getting down on hard, icy snow and very busy slopes proved to be quite difficult and not much fun.

Time to move on. We drove north and up an easy valley to the little village of Valles. By now the weather was overcast and drizzling. We walked around the village. Next day we walked up the valley and discovered Llamas and wooden sheep with strings on. Finally, the weather came good and we went skiing. The snow was not brilliant, a bit slushy and heavy for turning. However, the sun was shining and the slopes were not too busy. We had a pleasant day. Come late afternoon we set off home. Disaster, in the shape of a young lad skiing backwards, struck. He caught Diane’s skis and flipped her down the slope. She landed with a bit of thump but, initially, thought that she had just acquired another bruise. Five minutes later she was back on her feet but very shortly after that she realized that she could not really stand up at all. The lad and his parents had long since gone. I called the ski rescue who, quite remarkably, turned up less than five minutes later. By the time we had loaded Diane into a sledge behind a snow-mobile, she was getting very uncomfortable. Painful waves of cramp all the way down her thigh.

At Brixen hospital they discovered that Diane had broken her femur. Snapped it clean through so that the ball of her hip joint was detached. The same evening, surgeons operated to pin the joint back together. They are very experienced with ski injuries here and very good at fixing them. I moved Baloo down the valley closer to the hospital. Me and the dog sat down and waited. Because of Covid, I was not allowed into the hospital so I next saw Diane when she was discharged three days later.