Man goes mad in Madesimo
Italy
The air turned blue when ROB FREEMAN swapped his skis for a specially converted BMW on the ice driving track in Madesimo
“PUT your foot down, faster,” said Omar. The road was snow-packed in some places, sheet ice in others. “'Faster, faster,” said Omar. I mean, he really was mad as a box of frogs.
But he did know what he was doing... and he was trying to pass on his expertise in keeping complete control of a high-powered car in conditions that would have seen every road in England closed down for weeks.
And in the charming Italian ski resort of Madesimo it did seem entirely reasonable driving behaviour as Omar insisted I accelerate even harder into every ice-packed corner and never, ever, use the brakes. I can't wait to explain the sense of all this to Buckinghamshire traffic police the next time we have a few inches of snow in the Chilterns. ‘Yes, officer, and I can give you Omar's email address if you want to check it out with him.’
Then Omar said he’d take the wheel to demonstrate for a few laps. I buckled myself into the passenger bucket seat and took notes and
Rob Freeman with the talented but mad Omar, ice-driving instructor with Patentando
here I refer to them. “ *****!!! ****ing ****!!! **** my old boots!!! Oh, for ***** sake!!!” You get the drift.
Omar is chief instructor of the Patentando ice driving school and rocketing round the newly-created ice track in Madesimo in an adapted BMW (by adapted I mean it has been stripped of every creature comfort and fitted with two oversized tin cans instead of seats) is one of the thrilling non-skiing activities on offer to supplement an also very thrilling ski agenda. As it's not on the public road, there's no minimum age limit - a 13-year-old had had a bash the previous week.
Also fabulous fun and very exciting was snowmobiling at night with the Extreme Team on some of the 70 kilometres of high-level trails. The twisting, soaring routes, brilliantly lit by the snowmobiles' powerful
At the top of the Canalone in Madesimo, one of the Alps' severe tests.
headlights, ascend to the border with Switzerland. If you want to maintain the high thrill rate on the slopes, that’s easy to do. Just head for the Canalone (which means gorge or couloir, not cannelloni, which you can enjoy at one of the restaurants later) run. This starts at the top of the Pizzo Groppera cable car at nearly 3,000m.
This is a classic run, marked but left unpisted so it can be anything from powder to huge bumps or shiny ice. In whatever state you find it, you can be confident it’ll be interesting.
When I first skied it nearly 30 years ago the middle section was sheet ice and nets had been put up across the run at its narrowest point to catch fallers.
The skiing lower down the mountain is mostly cruisy, unintimidating and pretty. The black Marcadello run is the toughest to be found, in the shadow of the dramatic Nostra Signora d'Europa - a 50-ft high stature covered in gold leaf and one of the most spectacular man-made sights to be found on a ski mountain.
The village is as Italian and laid-back as can be,
straddling a river and with a seemingly randomly-planned mix of ancient and modern buildings. But naturally, this being Italy, some very chic, stylish and welcoming bars are spread along the main drag as well as hidden away in little side streets.
The excellent range of restaurants includes the Michelin-starred il Cantinone at the Sport Hotel Alpina - I honestly had no idea until my visit here that, if you're having it served with chestnuts and wine vinegar caramel, an egg must be cooked at 62C. If you find yourself in il Cantinone, follow that with pumpkin and mushroom ravioli with Casera cheese and suckling pig cooked in beer. Wine? The Rosso di Valtellina Insieme, 2009 of course.
The quirky old customs house up near the Swiss border is a warren of nooks and crannies that houses the Dogana Vegia restaurant and the go-to place for fabulous local dishes and wine.
And Madesimo does have another X-factor... it has every right to be on the list of destinations suitable for short breaks. An Italian resort in very remote-feeling Valchiavenna, in Lombardy, might not be the first place you'd consider for this. But Madesimo, maybe surprisingly, fits the bill - not least because a number of hotels here are willing to take non full-week bookings, which is not always the case at European ski resorts. The Momentum ski holiday firm specialises in such programmes, as well as longer trips.
London to Milan flights are frequent - with BA from Heathrow or EasyJet from Gatwick. The transfer is fun in itself - you can try to spot George Clooney's pad as you go north on the shores of spectacular Lake Como. Closer to Madesimo the route executes some dramatic corkscrewing manoeuvres through tunnels and galleries as it snakes up the mountain.
And with the opening of the new two-kilometre Tunnel di Monza between Lissone and Vimisellio Balsamo the transfer time to Madesimo from Milan's Linate airport has been cut to just one hour and 45 minutes - and that's with someone driving at normal speed, not with Omar at the wheel.
Snowmobiling by moonlight in Madesimo.
Travel facts:
Momentum Ski (www.momentumski.com, 0207 3719111) offers tailor-made packages, including seven nights at the four-star Hotel Andossi (www.hotelandossi.it), half-board, from £795 per person based on two sharing, with flights from Heathrow to Milan and private transfers.
Six-day Ski hire starts at €90 for adults,€60 for children. Six-day ski passes start at €135 per adult and €103 for children.
Madesimo Vallespluga Ski School has five-day group lessons for €100
Il Cantinone: www.sporthotelalpina.it/ristorante
The Customs House: www.doganavegia.com.
Snowmobiling: www.teamextremeteam.com.
More information on Madesimo: www.visitmadesimo.it
