Hotels near Cinque Torri

Cinque Torri is the friendliest of Cortina's sectors and the one with the most history buried under the snow. The operator counts 16 slopes served by 7 lifts: the 5 Torri chairlift from the Bai de Dones base up to Rifugio Scoiattoli at 2,255 m, then the A.A. 5 Torri, the Averau lift towards Rifugio Averau at 2,413 m, Croda Negra, and the Fedare and Forcella Nuvolau lifts. The showpiece is the Lino Lacedelli, 1,500 m long and homologated for competition, with Scoiattoli, Potor, Averau, Fedare, Croda Negra and Nuvolau filling out the rest. Total piste kilometres and exact base and top altitudes are not published by the operator, so treat any round number you find elsewhere with suspicion.

The sector doubles as the Cinque Torri open-air Great War museum, a set of restored First World War trenches and tunnels dug into the ground below the five towers, which you ski past rather than visit. It is also home to the Super8 Ski Tour, a figure-of-eight round 5 Torri and Lagazuoi: 16 km of piste plus 8 km of bus and taxibus to close the loop, blue and red the whole way, about three hours if you keep moving.

Getting here from Cortina asks you to choose. The Cortina Skyline gondola from Son dei Prade has connected the Tofana side to 5 Torri on skis since winter 2022, which is the elegant option and keeps you on the snow all day. The blunt one is the 20-minute drive west on the SR48 to the Bai de Dones car park, which is what most people do on a short day or when the wind shuts the high lifts.

Pro Tip: Book a table at Rifugio Scoiattoli for 12:30 and ski the Lino Lacedelli straight after. The competition run sits directly below the hut and empties out while everyone else is still on dessert, which gives you 1,500 m of clean piste to yourself.