The flavor of the New Year Eve is festive, you greet the past year welcoming the new one with good intentions ... and then why not spend a last day of the year with activities outside the ordinary? Here are our tips to live a December 31st outside the box.
After the garments of the winter collection signed by Livigno, this year the Piccolo Tibet surprises its visitors with two new products that enhance the tradition and the history of the resort, but also the entrepreneurial spirit and the initiative of its community, which has contributed to makingthis ancient alpine territory, one of the most prestigious mountain resorts in Italy.
Filón- al plu guz da Livign (the board game that rewards the most cunning of Livigno)
Who is looking for an original gift, has one more reason to visit the Little Tibet: from Thursday 23rd of December it will be possible to buy Filón"- al plu guz da Livign (in Livigno's dialect -the most cunning of Livigno). Filòn is the new board game set in Little Tibet where you can challenge friends and family and, at the same time, get to know the commercial activities of the town, from the Livigno Dairy to the Aquagranda center. Once you have chosen your pawn, the game begins that leads the participants to buy, sell, build and bargain hotels, apartments and ski lifts in order to bankrupt the opponents, and prove that they deserve the title of the most astute of Livigno.
Between Quiz cards and Occasions to be taken on the fly, the game rewards cunning, shrewdness and ability to face adversities and transform them into opportunities. Filòn well represents the locality and its history, also dotted with individuals with tenacity, ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit and flair for business.
The first inhabitants of Livigno, of unknown origin, settled here despite the harsh climate, building their houses in the valley in single file, directly on the meadows, carefully mowed once a year to obtain forage necessary to feed the cattle.
In the course of the centuries, also because of its isolated position and a subsistence economy, at theterritory of Livigno were recognized special rights, from which derives the status of customs-free zone. In spite of certain fiscal advantages, the village did not change either its aspect or habits and in the next one hundred and fifty years, the inhabitants remained almost all peasants and farmers.
Once the Foscagno Pass and the Munt la Schera Tunnel were introduced, within a few decades, ski facilities, comfortable hotels and lodgings, entertainment and accurate services were built. Today, old stables and barns have been partly converted into perfumeries and luxury boutiques, the houses have multiplied to welcome the ever more numerous visitors. The snow, which in the past had condemned this territory to isolation in the past, has turned out to be one of its most precious resources, combined with uncontaminated nature and the high quality of services and infrastructure.
"Jole has fun tripping all her classmates that go back to their seats".
Fifteen years should be enough, for the stature of limitation to expire. However, to be sure, I kept all my school booklets with the teachers' notes.
Because you never know.
Dutifully stacked in my drawer, they stare at me, ready to remind everyone where my temperamental behaviour comes from.
According to the first one, it looks like I had fun tripping my classmates that walked back to their seats, oblivious to any reprimand and proud like a pirate with an eye patch.
Not one, not two, not three classmates.
Everyone of them, without exception, when they got back from the restrooms or, who knows, recess even.
It is hard to believe I made each and every one of them fall, also because I hope that, after the first ones, the others were intelligent enough to understand it was best not to walk by my desk. However, given the occasion, we will take for granted that I tried with everyone who walked by.
Falling on your noses is not that bad, I thought, since I liked it so much. When I was little, I spent my afternoons playing with my big brothers, and often I was a guinea pig in their applied mechanics experiments. Like when my brother decided to tow me around Livigno's streets inside a crate with wheels made entirely of Lego blocks, on his Rollerblades.
Even though the cockpit shattered after the first gutter and my butt ended on the ground, I laughed my head off and started reassembling the pieces of my multicoloured racing car.
My knees were always scraped and full of crusts, as it should be when you are a kid, and I never thought that a few healthy falls could spite the teachers so much.
"After being reprimanded,
Jole continued to go down the stairs climbing on them"
Alas, this one is also true.
I never liked doing things like other people did. Where is the fun in blending into the crowd?
Going up and down the stairs is like going up and down a mountain. There are precise rules I often showed I wasn't keen on following.
When I was told something, I very often did the exact opposite.
A little bit out of conviction, and a little bit for sport.
And I tried many, many different sports, believe me, until I found the right one for me. Space is not an issue in Livigno, nor are options, and between rock climbing, mountain bike and cross-country skiing, in the end I chose skiing, because I could follow in my brother's footsteps - my hero.
He is eight years older than me, and when he set off in the afternoon to go skiing, I made my mum take me along too, even if I couldn't join his team. Quite the contrary.
While he came down diligently, in line with his team-mates, I followed them around accompanied by my mum, an unwanted guest at the end of the group, so that I could do what he did.
There was no way to make me change my mind, or I would start bellowing and ruin the peace and quite of the entire valley, and not even his coaches' nasty looks would make reconsider.
"Jole throws pieces of paper in class.
Her lack of interest for our activities continues, this year too"
Maybe when I was little, I was a little over dramatic, I must admit it. However, this does not change the fact that there are always different versions of the same story, and you shouldn't judge until you hear them all.
If you paint the pieces of paper thrown in the air, they become confetti, and maybe they were my way to express joy. Same goes for my lack of interest, that cannot only be blamed on those who show it, instead of those who caused it. What is certain is that, although I was never an easy student, or an easy athlete, I had something to give, and somebody understood it, at some point.
Sometimes it is a teacher, other times a friend, or an American uncle, but in my case it was Lorenzo, my coach, who understood what I'm like right away.
I always tell it like it is.
Even when it goes against my interest.
Especially when it goes against my interest.
And if I must choose between being a little bit more of a suck-up, or continuing to be myself, well, you know the answer to that.
Everything is immediate, with me. I've always been good at recognizing who is standing in front of me right away, and this is why I talked to everybody, but I trust very few people. There are many good coaches, especially in our field, but there are only a few of them you can talk too, and for my mental well-being, being able to express myself is at the root of everything.
"You sucked": if you say it in the right way, some athletes may gain the right energy to go back uphill and do everything better.
I'm not one of those athletes, and behind my broad shoulders, there is a hidden sensitivity that no one can see, and that jumps out only when I'm really mad.
No screaming or crazy things, I retire in a corner and cry alone, so that no one can see me.
Well, everything has always been easy with Lorenzo, because he knows when to say something and when not to. When to speak with his eyes and when to trust my expression. I know what I do, even if this does not mean I'm always right.
"Jole's behaviour at the gym becomes increasingly improper and dangerous. I found it hanging head down from a piece of equipment."
Head up or down, everything is relative. It depends on what side you are looking at me. A good idea quickly becomes a bad one, however, I've always been lucky to have people that understood me right away, by my side. Take my sister, for instance.
She was the one who convinced me to switch sports.
A spin worthy of a great contortionist, or better yet, a freestyler, which suits me best. I was going pretty good with alpine ski. But not enough to make me completely happy. When I reached the border between the European Cup and the World Cup, which usually defines your maximum level, I got stuck in the middle.
I did my first competition in the senior circuit in Soelden, at the beginning of the season, and I made the team thanks to a few injured athletes, sure, but also because of my merits.
I even brushed to top 30 qualification.
And then nothing.
Not a single call.
Maybe, to deserve another chance, I should have won that competition, who knows. The fact is that I never got over that glimpse of adventure, left left mid-game.
Too old to be truly young.
Too young to feel so old.
Today still, I struggle to place myself in time, and in those seasons that followed that single Austrian bib, I always felt out of place, and sports had become a duty, while skiing was still in my heart. I got back home moping, sad like an ibex without its antlers, until my sister - who apparently knows her psychology stuff - advised me to change.
"Jole says she did not deserve the punishment and she doesn't want to do it"
Enough punishments, especially if undeserved.
Enough feeling the right person in the wrong place.
Enough feeling all eyes on me, if I want to drink a beer after training, with my life-long friends.
At first, skicross did not convince me, because it was impossible not to see it as a fall-back. My sister had devoted her body and soul to short track, and had been one of the last athletes left out before Turin 2006. She did not want me to feel the same disappointment. So she pushed me to try something new, and - against all odds - it worked, because I feel in love with it right away.
Coming down side by side with your opponents gives you an unmatched adrenaline rush, and a heated competition fares well with my personality, as edgy as an elbow.
In reaping good results fast, there is the pleasure of discovery and vindication, and - like a gift you weren't expecting under the tree - I perceived a much more relaxed work environment, where I can be myself, without fear.
Today, the chance to go to Beijing is real, and so is the prospective of competing against the best athletes in the World in the future, which is something that, in alpine ski, would have been impossible, for many reasons, half of which depend on me.
If I arrange all the teachers' notes I got as a kid in chronological order, I end up with a nice story, that makes someone laugh and someone else gasp in astonishment; yet, if I read it carefully, it can explain the way I am, because if I went back in time, I'm sure I would do the same mischief, only this time more cleverly.
And if I end up going to the Olympics, I'm sure the cafeteria manager will get the chance to write me a nice note. He doesn't even have to struggle to come up with the words. He can copy what my teacher wrote, fifteen years ago:
“Jole roams around the desks, as if she were in the city square."
Happy as a clam, I'd add.
JOLE GALLI / CONTRIBUTOR
Livigno on the starting blocks to officially kick off the winter season from November 27th, many news in the program to give visitors a warm welcome back on the ski slopes.
The "Little Tibet" announces the beginning of the winter season 2021-2022, from the end of November in fact it will be possible to put on the boots to have fun on the snow thanks to more than 115 kilometers of ski slopes and lifts scattered all over the valley. Already since October 23rd athletes, such as the Norwegian national cross-country skiing team, sportsmen and ski enthusiasts can have fun and train on the ring dedicated to cross-country skiing, made with the snow stored during the summer through the Snowfarm. Work includes completion this Saturday of the first mile of the ring.
As a destination of excellence for outdoor sports, the proposal of Livigno to enjoy an active vacation, includes fat biking, ice skating at the Ice Arena, horseback riding or snowmobiling, ice climbing, spectacular high-altitude experiences such as paragliding or Sunrise Emotion & Luxury Breakfast at Sitas Ski Area, to ski at the crack of dawn, and even ski mountaineering and snowshoeing.
In this regard, there are many activities to discover the area in the name of fun: there are many "managed trail", monitored and easily passable thanks to the indications and signage. The Alpine Guides are also always available to accompany visitors on these routes and in paths of greater difficulty according to individual needs.
In this resort you can combine outdoor activities with many other experiences such as being pampered at the Aquagranda center for a day of wellness and fun for the family; learn about the traditions and customs of the area at the Mus!: museum of Livigno and Trepalle; devote yourself to the most exclusive shopping along the kilometer of boutiques, specialty stores and single brand that animate the center; taste the delicacies in restaurants and local shelters to be conquered by flavors and fragrances anchored in tradition but aimed at innovation and new contaminations.
The "managed trails" for snowshoeing and ski mountaineering
Not to be missed for the more active visitors are the "managed routes" of the Freeride Project dedicated to snowshoeing and ski mountaineering to venture independently along special marked routes, which allow even the less experienced to go to the discovery of beautiful panoramic trails. With regard to snowshoeing, seven routes have been mapped out, marked by special green poles to discover independently the Tee Val Federia, Val delle Mine, Sentiero dell'Arte, Crap de la Paré, Baitel da Plascianet, Giro delle Tee and in the Dairy area the Tea dal Brun route. All maps can be consulted free of charge by visiting: https://www.livigno.eu/en/snowshoes.
With regard to ski mountaineering there are four routes available, Costaccia, Trepalle-Li Crapena, Croce Valandrea and Deschana, marked by blue and orange poles. All routes have an initial check point to verify the proper functioning of A.R.T.V.A., once the check is done, you can venture along the paths that are constantly beaten and monitored by freeride experts.
