Скачать или смотреть Pralongia - panorama 360°

The Alta Badia plateau between Pralongià, Piz La Ila, Col Alto - only for families with children and MTB cyclists in summer. Well, yes, but there is also one very typical thing in the Dolomites: Go to the not so nice or famous mountains and enjoy the panorama of the beautiful and famous ones surrounding it instead of vice versa.

Col Alto was our start taking the cable car from Corvara (Sellaronda bike paradise). It is actually not quite "hiking", but more a decent walk on gravel roads (strade bianche) from lift to lift and from rifugio to rifugio: i Tablà, Rifugio Bioch, Rifugio Pralongià to name the ones we came by. The 360° panorama includes (counterclockwise) La Crusc and Conturines with San Cassiano in the foreground, beyond Passo Valparola there is Lagazuoi, Setsas, Col di Luna with Pelmo and Civetta in the backgroud, beyond Passo Campolongo it is La Regina delle Dolomiti, Marmolada (però devo dire che non mi piace molto), Passo Gardena surrounded by il Sella, il Gruppo di Cir, Sassongher, and the Gardenaccia plateau with Puez-Odles in the background. If you wonder if there is anything missing from the Dolomites? Well, yes, there is: Dolomiti Sestino and Tre Cime, Dolomiti Ampezzani with Cristallo, Sorapis, Antelao, Dolomiti Bellunesi, Pale di San Martino, Catenaccio, Latemar, Sassolungo, ...
Coming back to where we are on this walk, the panorama is magnificent and the touristic infrastructure is great. There is an Alta Badia ticket allowing to take the cable cars at every corner of this area as often as you want within a day, 3 out of 4 days, etc. The rifugi are very well equipped with good kitchen, drinks, and menu offering, nice terraces, and the Movimento bike parks offer not only for MTB cyclists, but also for families with kids nice offerings to spend a day on this plateau.

All in all, I am not sure whether we will be back. Highly recommended for anyone not looking for apline hikes, but for us, the infrastructure is overdeveloped as a response to winter mass tourism sacrificing authenticity and locality. Setsas might be a destination from Pralongià, but it is probably even nicer from Passo Valparola.
It was a really nice walk regardless and, well, the view - sit and watch how God (or whatever divine power you may believe in) shows us that he is indeed the greatest sculptor ever.

Please, only go to the mountains well equipped - especially to the Dolomites, although this plateau does not require any special equipment. And, please, respect no fly zones - check D-Flight for details, as the plateau has many no fly or restricted fly zones.