PASSO PORDOI

The Pordoi Pass is the most famous and panoramic among the Dolomite passes as well as the highest point on the great tourist route linking Bolzano and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Its landscape is impressive and of extreme interest for tourists. Here the mountainous chains of the Sella Group - with their over 500-metre-high (1,500 feet) walls - rise suddenly as huge rocky ramparts from the grass-covered slopes of the high pastures. This mountain pass is a vast meadow in the shape of a saddle with wide, slightly rolling, shallow slopes particularly suitable for slope soaring, even with models of over five metres wing span.
Flying is possible no matter what the wind direction. Flying on these slopes is certainly not demanding, for thermals are constant and of average intensity, while the valley breezes blow with an intensity of 4-5 metres per second (12-15 fps) all day long.
It is evident that with such metereological conditions it is possible to carry out aerobatic or long distance flights without any difficulty. Aerotows are also possible. Close to the flying ground there are hotels and alpine lodges where it is possible to have meals and spend the night. The view from the Pordoi Pass is extraordinary: on one side rise the Sella Group, the Sassolungo and Catinaccio chains, on the other the imposing Marmolada glacier.
The Pass is served by a cablecar which in four minutes covers a 700 metre (2,100 ft.) height difference and reaches the top of Sasso Pordoi from where it is possible to enjoy the view of all the Dolomite Passes: from Gran Pilastro (3.510 mt.) in the Aurine Alps to the Palla Bianca (3,736 mt.) in the Venoste Alps. To the West, Mount 0rtles (3,899 mt.). Mount Adamello (3.554 mt.), The Brenta Group (3,173 Pit,), and Mount Pasubio. To the East, one can see all the Eastern Dolomites up to the Austrian Alps.
The Pordoi Pass is a starting point for famous hiking routes and footpaths such as the Viel del Pan linking the Pordoi Pass with the Marmolada.