Every year at the beginning of February, Alta Pusteria becomes the venue for one of Italy’s most traditional cross-country ski races
Image gallery: Dobbiaco-Cortina cross-country ski race
42 kilometres classic or 32 kilometres skating, potentially adapted to current snow availability - the Dobbiaco -Cortina race takes place every year on the first weekend in February. It was in April 1977 that the then Olympic skier Alfredo 'Fredy' Dibona suggested organising a cross-country race following a heavy snowfall. The rest is history - a history spanning almost half a century.
Together with the Marcialonga in the Val di Fassa and the Valle di Casies race in South Tyrol, the Dobbiaco-Cortina cross-country ski race is one of the most high-profile and important cross-country competitions in Italy. The classic competition is held on the former route of the Dolomites Railway, which was built during the First World War and abandoned in 1962. The route leads from the military airport in Dobbiaco towards San Candido, back to Dobbiaco and on to Lake Dobbiaco and Lake Landro, to the Three Peaks View and into the Valle di Landro.
The Passo Cimabanche, a 1,529-metre high pass, is the highest point of the route and the border with the neighbouring province of Belluno. From there, it goes to Cortina. The skating race, which was added in 2007, also leads from Dobbiaco to Cortina, but skips San Candido. The jubilee edition '50 Years of the Dobbiaco-Cortina Public Race' takes place from February 6 to 7, 2027.
