Last Saturday, Chuck and I went snowboarding at Abetone. Abetone is the most important ski resort in Italy and well known all over the world. It is just a short drive from Maranello, about two hours away and south-west of Maranello.
It was really nice that it was just a short drive up to the mountains as we were able to sleep in a little and take our time getting our equipment ready. Chuck made us a calorie loaded breakfast so that we'd be energized for boarding all day.
Breakfast of champions!
Whew! We made all our equipment fit in the Fiat Panda.
We were worried that there wasn't going to be much snow on the mountains since on the drive up to Abetone, the snow was scarce on the ground. We were pleasantly surprised to find more snow on the ground than we expected.
Abetone is at 1400 metres above sea level. It owes its name to a huge fir which was cut down towards the half of the 19th century in order to build the road which links the Tuscany Grand Ducky to the Estensi's lands. The ski slopes are situated between four linked valleys: Val di Luce, Valle dello Scoltenna, Valle del Sestalone, and Valle di Lima. These valleys form one of the most beautiful, famous and natural scenery of the Appenines.
Chuck getting the boards ready and getting dressed.
This is the first time this season to go snowboarding and so I needed more breaks than normal. My legs weren't used to all that squatting and my abdominals were getting more action than they've seen in awhile! The snow was groomed and hard-packed. Not the best of conditions, but at least it wasn't icy and didn't catch any edges on my board. Also, the weather was really nice; a sunny and clear day. Visibility was awesome.
I needed that rest break!
Posing on the chair lift.
We were famished by noon and decided to take our lunch. We went into town and found a restaurant at the Hotel Regina. I had a salad (insalata mista) and tagliatelle con porcini e tartufo (pasta with porcini mushrooms and truffles). Chuck had spaghetti con tartufo (pasta with truffles). Oh my goodness! The pasta was freshly made and the truffles were delicious. A very tasty lunch. We also shared a sangiovese from Tuscany....it was really difficult to get back on the board, but we did it!
Enjoying the beautiful view
We ended up doing two more runs down the mountain after lunch. We headed to the other side of the mountain where there were better runs and a gondola! After four hours of boarding, we were tired and headed back home to Maranello. Overall, a very fun day of snowboarding.
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