SKI APENNINISMO – Italy – January 2002
Text and photos by Sarah Ferguson

In my diary, this ski tour in the Italian Apennines begins in Tuscany with a game of ping-pong in Andrea’s house followed by a midnight full moon ascent of Monte Rondinaio near Abetone. Eccentric, yes, but inevitable with these friends. Two days later, and 500km further south, we were cooking up a feast in a deserted stone refuge in the Simbruini range. Travelling with Italians does have its advantages. Icaro might not always have his hands on the steering wheel when he’s talking but when it comes to food he’s got the magic touch.

The Apennines, run for hundreds of miles down the length of Italy and many peaks are over 2000m. This doesn’t sound high by Alpine or Himalayan standards but for free heel ski touring, when snow conditions are poor in the Alps, this is a very worthy area to explore.

We had hoped to explore the Sibellini range in the east of Perugia but had heard that bad weather was forecast on the Adriatic coast. Instead, we were melting local cheese scamorza over an open fire in Refugio Ceraso in the Simbruini Range southeast of Rome. Then heading a further 200km south to the Abruzzo National Park.

In the heart of the park is the medieval village of Barrea, the river Sangro, Lake Barrea and the charming hilltop village of Civitella Alfedena. The Park is home to the Marsican brown bear, chamois, wolf and hospitable fellow telemark skiers - Rosaria Domenella and Sergio Azzarello were perfect hosts. Who better to explore the region with than a Park Ranger with a passion for free heel skiing? We had met them at Hotel Paradiso, Paso di Godi whilst sinking a couple of beers after our first ski tour on Monte Godi, 2011m. Rosaria asked me where we were staying. I had explained that I was sleeping outside in my bivi bag and the guys were in the van. “But what about the wolves?” she exclaimed with a terrified expression, “I think you should all stay with us!” I was immensely relieved. This was a wild place, the bears I had hoped were still hibernating but I didn’t fancy being woken in the night by hungry wolves.

Each day we would pick a different peak to climb - including Serra Rocca Chiarano, 2254m; Monte de la Meta, 2242m and Monte Marsicano, 2245m. Each descent was divine untracked corn snow, something of a rarity these days. On Monte de la Meta we came across a large herd of chamois and only once did we come across any people and they were on foot. Nearby, in the Majella National Park, we explored the huge limestone escarpment with deep valleys and canyons; skinning from Fonte Romana to Forchetta di Majella, 2450m, to view the vast high plateau, the Valle de la Femina Morta (the Valley of the Dead Woman), an intriguing and beautiful place.

Each afternoon at around 4.30pm as we descended from one of these mountains, Icaro and Andrea would start discussing what we could eat for dinner. Should we prepare the pasta like this or like that or the risotto with this or with that? There would be a lively discussion of their preferences. My mouth would water at their descriptions of what was on the menu and we would then go shopping, thankfully able to sample the myriad of different locally produced cheeses to keep me going before their effortless preparation of a simple but delicious meal.

Italian gastronomic delights aside, my fondest memories of the southern Apennines are of the beech forests, which cover the lower slopes and give the skiing an exotic feel. Each tour begins and ends through these enchanting forests. The trees are politely spaced out and anyone with a love of skiing among trees, whether aspens, pines or larch hasn’t lived until they have had the experience of cruising through these ancient ‘faggi’.

Thanks to: Andrea Gobetti; Icaro de Monte; Rosaria Domenella and Sergio Azzarello; Rifugio Ceraso, Simbruini; Le Prata (Azienda agrituristico), Scanno; Antonella and Sandro di Martino at Monte di Cocci; Pipo and Roberta Iacoacci - and Kasha the dog.