Risultati di ricerca

Domobianca is a ski resort between 1088 m a.s.l. and 1845 m a.s.l., representing the set of a group of mountain pastures located above the town of Domodossola. The road reaches only the lowest mountain pasture, the Alpe Lusentino, from here several chairlifts and ski lifts lead to the Pianali, the highest point of the ski resort, located at the foot of the summit of Moncucco. There are 13[1] tracks, a total of 21 km long. Skiing in Domobianca was born in the 70s, when we began to think about the establishment of the Domodossola ski resort. The area identified for the creation of the station was the one corresponding to the north-eastern slope of Moncucco (1896 m a.s.l.). The plants were supposed to start from the Alpe Lusentino, where the carriage road ended and should have reached the Pianali, a plateau immediately placed under the summit of Moncucco. This was how the works for the creation of the ski lifts started, the construction of which was commissioned to the company Leitner di Vipiteno. In 1978 the new ski resort was inaugurated, which at the time included the seats for Motti, Prel and the Pianali ski lifts. In 1980, always by the company Leitner was also built a sciovia Baby all'Alpe Foppiano, a place where the Motti chairlift arrived and from which the chairlift Prel was starting, which then led to the Pianali exit, which reached the homonymous locality at the foot of the summit of Moncucco. In the 1980s and 1990s the station recorded a good influx of skiers, but suffered competition from other ossola ski resorts and winters with little snowfall. In the third millennium, the winter resort of Domobianca-Alpe Lusentino aimed to make a decisive leap in quality, through the introduction of planned snow, essential to keep the tracks less open all winter, and new facilities. In 2004, in fact, a Leitner ski lift was repositioned at the Pianali, with the aim of allowing skiers a greater attendance of the best snowy area of the area. The real leap in quality, Domobianca, does so, however, in 2006, when taking advantage of the funding that the Piedmont Region grants thanks to the Turin 2006 Olympics, sees some welcome innovations that came into operation. The planned snow is expanded on almost all tracks and two new two-seater chairlifts are built. The two plants, both made by the CT & Sacif companies, are of considerable importance for the station. The chairlift Torcelli, took the place of the Pianali ski room, dismantled following the construction of this plant, while the Casalavera chairlift allowed an expansion of the area, on a side up to that moment little frequented. In 2007, the night ski system on the Prel and Prati slopes also went into operation. These innovations have led Domobianca to be one of the best and most popular resorts in the Neveazzurra area, which includes all the ski resorts of the VCO. Domobianca offers kilometers of perfectly prepared slopes for all levels, from the wide “baby” track, a beginner’s paradise, to the famous “muro torcelli”, a real challenge with an extreme slope! All served by 4 chairlifts, 2 ski lifts and 3 treadmills. Domobianca is also one of the two ossola stations, together with San Domenico Ski, to offer the opportunity to experience special evenings thanks to the night skiing experience, with 3 km of track illuminated by day: a by-night descent among the longest in Europe. Return to visit the site to be informed about the openings of the ski slopes.

When we talk about Val Formazza it is automatic to think of one of the most famous attractions and visited by the Toce Waterfall, a place that is absolutely worth visiting to bring with you the memory of a magnificent experience. The Toce Waterfall, also known as La Frua, is located in the municipality of Formazza, in the hamlet of Frua, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piedmont, and is considered one of the most scenic symbols of the Val Formazza and the Alps. Located at a height of 1675 m, a stone’s throws from the Swiss border, the Toce Waterfall makes a jump of 143 m, is one of the highest waterfalls in Europe and offers an enchanting spectacle to admire. On the top a fantastic vantage point is the wooden balcony stretched above the water jump. On the top, stands the famous hotel built in 1923 and designed in Decò style by the architect Piero Portaluppi, one of the greatest exponents of the architectural style. The Toce Waterfall is born from the Toce river, the main waterway of the Val d’Ossola, which is formed in the Riale plain from the confluence of the Hosand, Gries and Rhoni streams, gives life to Lake Morasco, an artificial basin located upstream of the waterfall, at 1815 m high. The waters of this lake, whose dam was built in 1930 by the Edison company, are used for the operation of the Ponte hydroelectric power plant and, for this reason, the waterfall is not visible all year round, but only in the period from June to September and only in a few hours of the day. A river, the Toce that in the past was called Tuxa, a name that could be linked to the barbarian invasions, that is, Athisone, as mentioned by Plutarch. We are in an area where once stood a Walser village, born as a high altitude summer pasture. The history of the waterfall goes hand in hand with that of mountaineering. Already in 1777 a passionate Horace-Bénédict De Saussure, considered the founder of mountaineering, tracing the way that was followed by the Reverend and Mountaineer Coolidge, the Helvetic Studer, then again by the legend of mountaineering Cust and Riccardo Gerla called “The Apostle of Ossola”. The flood of the waterfall takes place at very specific times. To stay up to date on the opening of the Toce Waterfall returns to visit the site, constantly updated.

Extreme northern offshoot of Piedmont, wedned between the Swiss cantons of Valais to the west and Ticino to the east, Val Formazza is a small alpine jewel of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, north of Lake Maggiore. The valley, a natural continuation of the Antigorio Valley, which begins north of Domodossola, is wide and verdant, with a typical glacial profile, covered entirely by the Toce river, which in the terminal portion forms the famous waterfalls of the Toce, a jump of 143 meters. Along the valley floor and its side slopes, especially the western one, there are large spaces where in summer hikers and mountaineers can find a myriad of different possibilities, also facilitated by the numerous and welcoming refuges: from the simple walks between the different hamlets of the municipality of Formazza, to more challenging trekking at high altitudes between large mountains and alpine meadows, from equipped cliffs and convenient access, up to itineraries on the glaciers of the highest peaks. And in winter, when a white mantle covers everything – here the snow is always abundant –, in addition to the long cross-country rings and the small area for alpine skiing, you can walk with the snowshoes at the foot along itineraries of every length and difficulty, but it is perhaps the ski mountaineering that in Val Formazza gives the most intense emotions, with paths really suitable for everyone, for those who approach this discipline, as for the collections. One of the peculiarities of Val Formazza is certainly the Walser culture, which still permeates the lives of its inhabitants and the management of the territory, as well as toponymy and architecture. It is assumed that in ancient times the area was inhabited by the Leponzi, a population apparently of proto-Celtic origin, subdued later by the Romans, which left evident traces of roads in the valleys of the Arbola and the Gries, used for commercial exchanges with Switzerland. Subsequently, the area came under the control of the bishop of Novara and the Valvassori De Rodis, then of the Duchy of Milan, finally following the events of the whole Ossola (except for some Swiss raids), which see an alternation of dominations, more or less bloody, by Spaniards, Austrians, Piedmontese and French, up to the definitive annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. But all this influenced very little on daily life in the high mountains, where the Antigorio Valley, overcome the steep barrier of the Casse, becomes Val Formazza, Alpine territories then almost uninhabited and used only as summer pastures. Here, between 1200 and 1300, for reasons still debated by historians come some groups of settlers from the Goms, in the upper Swiss Valais, which crossing the Gries Pass settle – with the approval of the De Rodis first and then the Duchy of Milan, which obtain undoubted advantages in terms of tribute – in the highest portion of the valley, giving rise to small villages dedicated to cultivation and above all to the breeding. For centuries the Walser people (from Walliser, inhabitant of Valais) have lived almost undisturbed in these places, without coming into contact with the neighboring populations except for the commercial needs, thus maintaining a cultural autonomy that has been perpetrated from generation to generation. The Alps and woods were and still are governed with a community order, and even justice, within certain limits (the arbitration of the major crimes belonged to the lord), was managed by the community itself with its own court. The Walser culture is also clearly identifiable in construction and language. The Walser houses, many still visible in Val Formazza, are recognizable by the stone base, above which rests the main body completely in wood, a material that was almost not used for homes in the Alps. But it is perhaps the language that is the most distinctive feature of this ancient and proud people: the Walser dialect, a mixture of ancient German and subalpine dialects, can be found in many place names in the municipality of Formazza (which in the walser language becomes Pomatt), even if unfortunately now only some old people still know how to speak it. Here then the signs at the entrance of the different hamlets still show the double name: Foppiano/Unrumschtald, Fondovalle/Schtafuwald, Chiesa/In d?r Mattu, San Michele/Tuffald, Valdo/Wald, Ponte/Zum Scht?g, Brendo/In d?ndudu, Grovella/Gurf?lu, Canza/Fr?duwald. A culture, that of the Walser, which affects other territories of the Alps, from Valsesia to some areas of the Canton of Ticino, and which fortunately sees a renewed interest thanks to which we try to keep alive the traditions and language of this people of the Alps. Basodino, Punta d’Arbola, Punta del Sabbione, Blinnenhorn: these are just some of the Three thousand that surround the Val Formazza, at the feet of which wind through paths rich in history, as along the passes of the Gries or San Giacomo, and paths among eternal ice – even if in constant retreat –, mountaineers where the precious Bettelmatt cheese is produced, abandoned Walser villages and large artificial basins.. An experience to be lived at a slow pace, letting the eyes fill with the green of the meadows, the white ice and the snow, and the blue of the sky and the lakes.