Cortina d’Ampezzo: A regular visitor’s guide to the Winter Olympics host town

Is it worth flying 13 hours and driving another five for butter? High up in the Italian Dolomites, in its heart that is the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, SanBrite serves one so exceptional, it feels deserving of the restaurant’s Michelin star all on its own.

It arrives heaped atop a rustic wooden vessel, shaped like one of the mountains outside the window. So light and fluffy is the texture that the waiter only uses an offset spatula to slice a portion off, before setting it on a piece of dolostone that doubles as a butter pat plate.

No guilt is felt when liberally smearing it on the toasty-warm homemade bread – because the next day, all the calories will be burnt while skiing. Stay in the immediate vicinity of Cortina and there are 120km worth of slopes to whizz down. These are connected to a broader network with a distance of up to 10 times more, spread across 12 different regions, like the Val Gardena and Alta Badia.

This is one of the reasons why Cortina is one of the two main hosts of the Winter Olympics 2026, with Milan as the other. It last welcomed the world’s best athletes in the 1956 edition of the games. Sports aside, it has a reputation for attracting the European jet-set who come for the culinary, retail and hospitality experiences.

Even though I’ve been skiing in Cortina since 2013, I’m neither a downhill thrill-seeker nor one for the apres-ski scene. Married to an Italian who, in turn, is married to his family tradition of visiting the town every winter for up to two weeks at a time, I go along because “it has always been like that”.

SLOPES FOR ALL LEVELS

My attachment to all things sea level meant I struggled, for many years, to banish my irrational fear of falling off the mountain, while strapped tightly on to two planks of fibreglass. It didn’t help that the training blue slope for newbies on the Tofane cluster of mountains, accessed via Socrepes (say so-creh-pehs), always looked dizzyingly steep, narrow and long.

From where I stood at the top, after alighting from the ski lift, the beauty of the UNESCO World Heritage Site splayed out before me. On a clear day, the dramatic, snow-dusted striations of the Mt Cristallo massif opposite, with its jagged ridge, appealed to my inner geography student. In its shadow, the town sprawled in all its alpine splendour.

Taking a deep breath of lung-chilling air, I used to push off slowly, gingerly snow-ploughing my way down, much to the frustration of the instructors. It was only on my sixth trip there, in 2018, when I was assigned a female instructor, that I finally upped my game. Beatrice Mezzacasa taught me the most important lesson of all: to relax, complete with the wiggling of her hips and flailing of her arms to prove her point.

Since then, the training blue slope is where I warm up and I have joyously pointed my skis across other trails. Further up the Tofane is Pocol, which has a collection of wider runs. While some sections are short and steep, the terrain flattens out quickly, and for long stretches.

The other favourite is Mt Faloria, dominated by reds and blacks. I froze on a slope early on. It was a Sunday and a competition had just finished, which meant there were some really professional skiers zooming past me at what seemed like breakneck speeds.

Intimidated, I fell onto the snow and decided to stay there and have an afternoon picnic. It was only the threat of having to cough up €200 (S$301; US$238) to be rescued by the Carabinieri on a snowmobile that melted my freeze and forced me down the slope. My “reward”? Apres-ski at the Super G – Faloria Mountain Club, with a cup of Bombardino in hand.

Going right to the top of Mt Faloria involves taking three ski lifts, but the incredible vistas are worth the patience. At an elevation of approximately 2,123m, the entire Ampezzo valley and the peaks of the mountains surrounding it are visible – including the Mt Cristallo range, Tofane cluster massif and Mt Marmolada.

Coming down from there is hairy business, especially the first stretch, which is narrow and steep. To make matters more challenging, an alpine restaurant, Rifugio Capanna Tondi, takes up some of that precious width. We’ve stopped there several times for me to stock up on carbs and courage.

My proudest moments have to be going down the Vitelli Bassa (Red). Approaching it from the Pian de Ra Bigontina – Costa Faloria chairlift is deceptively simple. The terrain is almost flat and we have always been alone. Then, at the end of that stretch, Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C minor starts playing in my head.

On the right, the Vitelli Alta (Black) looms menacingly and I don’t even want to go there. On the left, the red run is gentle for a few metres, before it dips into a trio of short, steep slopes with a long, flat finish at the base. I do what I have to do, knowing this is the most difficult part.

Thereafter, we glide through long gentle stretches, flanked on both sides by snow-ladened conifers. In between the branches, the craggy mountains play peek-a-boo. The remoteness of it all from any form of urbanism enhances the magical connection to Mother Nature.

As the last rays of sunlight caress the Dolomites’ peaks, a radiant pink known as alpenglow or Enrosadira cloaks them. A natural phenomenon brought about by the composition of calcium and magnesium of the mountains and the way the sun’s rays reflect off them, it seems to give the "Queen of the Dolomites" (another moniker for Cortina) a sweep of blusher before the evening revelry begins.

MORE THAN WINTER SPORTS

Regardless of how tired we are, my husband insists on a walk in the town before we go back to our hotel. My condition is we stop first for hot chocolate so thick the teaspoon is able to stand upright in the cup for a millisecond. A plate of whipped cream arrives with it for an extra layer of richness and decadence.

There are two places we frequent: the traditional Cafe Lovat and the contemporary Pasticceria Alvera. Both welcome with anti-keto displays of desserts – everything from tarts to cakes and pastries. I usually settle for a fruit tart to deceive myself that it is a bit healthier than a tiramisu or sacher; my lame attempt at mitigating the sinful hot chocolate.

Back out on the main street that is Corso Italia, we join the glamorous crowd snugly wrapped in full-length fur coats and ushanka hats. Those in ski outfits are usually clad in the latest sports collections from Moncler, Dior and Prada Linea Rossa. Above us looms the tower of the baroque-style Basilica dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo that opened in 1769.

Aside from the sport and luxury fashion boutiques, there are art galleries, stores selling jewellery and homeware, and a few delicatessens. My must-visit is the Duca di San Giusto for its made-in-Italy cashmere collection, some of which is light enough to wear in Singapore. Slightly off the beaten track on Via del Mercato is Enoteca Cortina, an old-school wine bar that charms with its barrel-vault ceiling and alpine fittings.

DESIGN-FORWARD ALPINE STAYS

Cortina’s hospitality scene finally started to see a rejuvenation towards the end of the 2010s. The “traditional alpine” options remain available, where cosy rooms come with locally sourced wood, such as oak, chestnut and larch, to make the extensive panelling, furnishings and exposed beams.

Building on this, many hotel owners have since signed off on contemporary interpretations of this aesthetic, resulting in a wide variety of options for the well-heeled. On the southern end of the town stands Faloria Mountain Spa Resort that has a beautiful sun room to have breakfast in and minimalist architecture – a gabled roof with vertical lines from the wood siding down the front of the main building.

On the northern end is Hotel Dolomiti Lodge Alvera that seems to be popular among owners of Lamborghini and Audi SUVs, judging from the number of them parked out front. The Grand Hotel Savoia is an over-the-top property for those who prefer residing in opulence. If not, there are a handful of gorgeous boutique options, such as the Hotel de Len and Eight Cortina.

Our personal favourite is Camina Suite & Spa, run by husband-and-wife team Umberto and Valentina Guaitani. The rooms are generously sized, at up to 37 s qm, and the common areas are homely with vases of fresh mountain flowers and coffee-table books. Breakfast is an indulgent affair with a spread of locally made jams and honey on a variety of baked goods. The kitchen is on standby to whip up eggs and daily specials, such as boiled oats and pancakes.

When we checked in for two weeks one year, we opted to stay in for dinner on some nights and the chef did not disappoint either. But unless you’re residing at the Savoia, where 1224 Restaurant Cortina (formerly Baita Pie Tofana) makes a do about its towering heap of gelato served tableside with nuts and jams, make sure to head out and explore the establishments in the valley.

While Sardinia is about 900km away from Cortina as the crow flies, it did not stop Fabio and Aurora Sturlese from opening Ristorante Leone e Anna to serve dishes from their hometown. Be sure to order the roast pork, cooked for up to five hours to ensure the meat is tender to the bone and the skin is paper-thin and crispy.

On the other side of the valley, chef-owner Graziano Prest steers the Michelin-starred Ristorante Tivoli with a deft hand. He puts his own unique spin on regional, seasonal ingredients, including a colourful venison fillet he calls “A walk in the woods”. Baita Fraina is another excellent restaurant for local dishes, with the added bonus of being located in a mountain hut. The drive up is on completely dark, winding roads where our galaxy of stars are visible on a clear night.

But the crown jewel of fine dining restaurants must surely be SanBrite of the butter fame. Originally a dairy farm, my husband has fond childhood memories of pit stops to stock up on cheese before departing Cortina. Today, chef-owner Riccardo Gaspari helms the restaurant, designed after his family’s agricultural heritage.

The dining room is the picture of rustic chic, complete with bouquets of dried alpine flowers hanging from a recycled wood ceiling beam. Apart from the butter, the other signature is the spaghetti with mountain pine. Its needles are used to make an oil that finishes the pasta; every bite feels like we are crunching our way through a pine forest.

We’ve not journeyed to Cortina yet this year. It is being swept up in the melee of the Winter Olympics. If it continues to snow and work permits, we might travel there later in the season. In the meantime, I’ll just have to be content with SCS butter and mountains of skyscrapers in Singapore. Yes, they are 18 hours away but if the Dolomites have taught me anything, it is that to experience the extraordinary, this is a small price to pay.