The problem with conventional ski holidays is that every day is more or less the same. You step eagerly out after your hotel breakfast to take the same ski-lifts and ski on the same slopes every day, and return to the same room every night. It can feel like a work commute, albeit a bit more fun. 

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Ski ‘safaris’, by contrast, offer a far less humdrum experience; but the terrain must be right. In the case of the Dolomites, a ski safari works precisely because the ski area is made up of loosely interconnected resorts with, crucially, a series of rifugi (mountain huts) high up on the slopes providing food and accommodation for an overnight stay. 

For the most part, Dolomites skiing is pretty unchallenging, consisting mostly of fast blue and red runs, which means that a bit of variety during a week-long stay is essential. Thankfully, a safari offers just that – the opportunity to explore a major part of this vast system and never to ski the same piste twice. 

There is, too, a genuine sense of adventure. Skiing becomes a mode of transport by which you travel through an area – 50km or more a day is the norm – out of which there is some 8,000m of downhill. This means that the safari is not for beginners –........

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