Livigno, is a township of about 5000 permanent residents. Situated at 1800m, Livigno is one of Italy's highest habitations. The town runs north-south along a narrow strip in the middle of the valley floor. It has obviously developed this way due to the constant threat of avalanches which can pour down from the 3000+ m peaks on either side.
Starting life as a small & struggling agricultural community, Livigno is now a major tourist destination. Through some quirk in history, Livigno enjoys a tax-free status. This means, petrol, alcohol, cigarettes and luxury goods are all cheaper here than in Europe. Add to this, reliable skiing in the winter, beautiful summer hiking and the fabulous Italian food and hospitality and you have all the ingredients for a wicked tourist destination.
2/ The wonderful old wooden houses
Most of the buildings in the village are brick and stone, but a few of the ancient wooden cabins have been restored to their former glory.
The ski resort has 2 parts. East of the village is Carosello 3000, the larger more developed area and to the west, Motollino. Both sides are connected by a free bus, servicing the whole of the village. But both areas are big enough that you can easily spend the whole day without having to cross the valley.
It was still snowing lightly this morning with low cloud obscuring the mountain tops. Despite the weather we were excited to get out amongst it and be part of this La Skieda Festival.
The La Skieda Telemark Festival first started in 1993 with 53 attendees. This year there were over 1200 telemark skiers registered, such is the popularity of this festival. The organisation is massive. Part festival, sales conference, film festival, huge party and sporting event, La Skieda has something for everyone. If you want to see a really neat website about the event - click here. Every year there is a theme and in 2009 it was a "Fairytale" theme with an emphasis on reducing the impact on the environment.
The township of Livigno, on its own, has a strong history of telemark skiing and everyone seems to embrace and passionately support the La Skieda festival. Even our landlady Genni is a keen telemark skier. She and her boyfriend Fabio have taken the week off work just so they can attend the festival!
To get our bearings, we spend the morning testing the greatest selection of Telemark equipment you could possibly wish to see on the Mottolino side of the hill. All the latest boots, bindings and brands of telemark skis! Graeme was in seventh heaven, tearing up and down the slopes trying all sorts of the latest telemark gear. Meanwhile I was coming to grips with the concept of 7 days on the "misery sticks" as I call affectionately call them!
Today's La Skieda events included a ski tour (which unfortunately was cancelled due to avalanche danger & weather), a classic ski race hampered more than a little by the poor visibility and ski testing. This evening is the opening of the Livigno Film Festival, followed finally by a "Fire Party" with free food and drink in a forest venue up the valley.
Confessing to a "Nana Nap" after the trauma of my first day on tele's, we made the opening film of the Livigno Film Festival late afternoon. The opening film was the "The Fine Line" an interesting film with great photography and ski footage, but also some rather sobering images and commentary about the increasing number of deaths and injuries from avalanches.
Back to the apartment for a quick bite to eat then off in the car (sorry environmentalists!) to find the Fire Party. Located at the southern end of the village, a magical pathway, lit by laterns led us deep into the forest. Arriving at the bonfire, the party was well underway. But at this early stage, getting to know people is proving tricky due to the language barrier. So many of the people are from Livigno and neighbouring villages. They all know each other. We are very much the newcomers! We have our ears tuned to pick up on any native english speakers. But so far, no luck.
It has snowed on & off today and the snow is still coming down even more heavily tonight....looks like another powder day. Can we really take anymore of this??
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