TECHNICAL CARVING CAMP Cavalese, Val di Fiemme · Dolomites, Italy 14–19 December 2026 · 6 Days Skiing · Max 7 Skiers · €1,150 per person
The Dolomites in the week before Christmas. There is no better time to be on skis.
The Val di Fiemme is quieter than most people expect. While the world rushes toward the holidays, the slopes here are still largely empty — wide, perfectly groomed and bathed in the low December light that turns the Dolomites a colour that has no name in any language I know.
I have been coming to this region for over thirty years. Eight of those seasons I spent coaching here at the beginning of my career. The Val di Fiemme is a different character from Moena — slightly wider valleys, a different rhythm to the terrain, the same extraordinary snow quality and the same irreducibly Italian atmosphere that makes coaching in this part of the world unlike coaching anywhere else.
Six days. Carving technique. The Dolomites. The week before Christmas.
Some things do not need more explanation than that.
Dates · 14–19 December 2026 Arrival · 13 December 2026 — afternoon Location · Cavalese, Val di Fiemme · Dolomites, Italy Duration · 6 days skiing Group size · Maximum 7 skiers Price · €1,150 per person
Why the Val di Fiemme
The Val di Fiemme has a specific character that makes it ideal for this camp. The terrain around Cavalese builds progressively — wide groomed pistes at the lower elevations giving way to more demanding gradient higher up — which gives us exactly the structure a technical carving camp needs. We start where everyone is comfortable and we build toward where everyone wants to be.
The snow in December here is compact and grippy in a way that glacier snow cannot match. When you commit to a genuine carving arc on a Val di Fiemme piste — edge high, pressure loaded, body inside the turn — the ski holds and fires and you understand in your body what carving actually means. No description of the feeling is adequate. You have to feel it.
The pistes are wide and largely empty in this second week of December. Safety nets line the technical sections. The grooming is immaculate. Every distraction and obstacle has been removed — what remains is the turn and the coaching and the mountain.
The Val di Fiemme is also the home of Nordic skiing's most prestigious events — the Tour de Ski finishes here, on the famous stadium slope in Cavalese. There is a seriousness about athletic performance in this valley that permeates the place. It suits a technical ski camp perfectly.
The Technical Focus
Six days of carving — long radius turns, speed work, racing style turns and the fundamental movement patterns that connect all of it. We stay on groomed pistes throughout. The Dolomites groomed terrain gives us everything we need — wide, safe, perfectly prepared and progressively more demanding as the week develops.
The approach is the same as in all my camps — remove the barriers first, then raise the standard. Wide pistes remove the fear of space. Perfect grooming removes the fear of unpredictable snow. Safety nets on the demanding sections allow full commitment without fear management competing with technique. When a skier can focus entirely on what their body is doing rather than on the consequences of getting it wrong — that is when real technical progress happens.
What we build across six days:
Long radius carving — the foundation Edge angle, angulation, pressure timing, turn initiation. Building the carving turn as a technical movement rather than a shaped arc. Feeling the ski grip and hold through the turn rather than slide and skid. This is the work that changes everything else — and the Val di Fiemme groomed terrain is the perfect surface to feel the difference.
Speed carving on groomed terrain The Val di Fiemme gives us the space and the surface for this. Wide, consistently groomed pistes where we build speed progressively and feel the carving turn perform at real velocity. This is where technique becomes visceral — where you feel the forces through the turn and understand in your body why committed carving is the most rewarding discipline in on-piste skiing.
Racing style turns — GS and SL technique Not gate training — technique education. We ski GS and SL style turns on open groomed pistes — the same arc shapes, the same movement patterns, the same timing and rhythm that racing technique demands, without gates or course setting. The GS style teaches arc management, pressure building through the turn and speed generation. The SL style teaches rapid turn initiation, edge-to-edge quickness and rhythm under pressure. Both make your free skiing dramatically better and both translate directly into carving performance on any groomed terrain.
Steep groomed terrain — commitment under pressure The upper mountain gives us gradient that demands full technical commitment. The same carving movements applied where the slope gets serious — where your technique either holds under pressure or reveals its weaknesses honestly. Safety-netted, perfectly groomed and deeply rewarding when you get it right. We stay on the piste throughout — the Dolomites groomed terrain gives us everything we need.
Putting it all together The final days we ski freely across the groomed terrain — all turn shapes, all gradients, all the variety the Val di Fiemme pistes offer — with the technical framework we built across the week replacing the habits you arrived with. This is the session where it stops feeling like training and starts feeling like skiing.
The Programme
On snow daily:
- Morning coaching session — 09:00 to 11:45
- Afternoon coaching session — 13:00 to 15:30
- Real-time radio coaching throughout every run (Cardo system)
- Individual video analysis every afternoon
- One day free skiing or active recovery — chosen collectively by the group
Evenings: Dinner is included in the hotel halfboard rate — warm, substantial and waiting for you after a full day on the mountain. On selected evenings the group eats out together in Cavalese at restaurants worth visiting. Italy is Italy. We will not spend every evening in the hotel dining room.
Where We Stay
🏔️ Hotel Excelsior Cavalese · excelsiorcavalese.com
This is our official camp base and my recommended hotel for the week — a four-star alpine property in the centre of Cavalese chosen specifically for this camp.
Modern alpine design, a full spa and wellness area for recovery, and halfboard included in the hotel rate — breakfast and dinner taken care of, so the only thing you need to think about between ski days is recovery.
The breakfast fuels the morning properly. The dinner after a six-hour technical day is exactly what it should be — warm, substantial and waiting for you without having to find it. The spa and sauna close the day the right way.
Accommodation is booked independently. Contact Hotel Excelsior directly and mention the Snowsports Geri camp. The halfboard rate covers breakfast and dinner. Book only after the camp is officially confirmed. Alternative accommodation in the Val di Fiemme is available on request — contact me directly.
What Is Included
- 6 days skiing — 5 full coaching days and 1 free skiing or recovery day
- Real-time radio coaching every session (Cardo system)
- Daily individual video analysis
- Maximum 7 skiers — individual attention every run
Accommodation — booked independently: Hotel Excelsior Cavalese is our official camp base. Halfboard rate includes breakfast and dinner. Contact the hotel directly and mention the Snowsports Geri camp.
Not included in camp price: Lift pass, lunch, travel and insurance are organised independently.
Who I Want at This Camp
Advanced skiers who want to develop their carving technique on some of the finest groomed terrain in the Alps — and who want to do it the week before Christmas, in a valley that makes the whole experience worth remembering.
You ski confidently on red and black terrain. You have the basic carving turn in your repertoire and you want to take it somewhere it has never been — higher edge angles, more committed arcs, real speed on perfect groomed snow. You understand that six days of focused coaching in the right environment will do more for your skiing than a full season of recreational skiing without direction.
This camp works particularly well for skiers preparing for instructor certification at any level. Carving technique is examined throughout the Austrian and international systems and the Val di Fiemme terrain is ideal preparation for any groomed snow examination.
Minimum requirements:
- Confident skiing on red and black slopes
- Basic carved turns on groomed terrain
- Ability to link short and long turns with control
- Genuine motivation to improve technically
Not sure if this is the right level? Send me one run on video. I will give you an honest answer within 24 hours.
Why This Camp. Why Me.
I hold the Austrian Staatlicher Level 4 and the Hungarian Level 4 — the highest coaching certifications in both systems. My qualifications have been formally recognised and converted by the Italian Maestro di Sci programme, IASI Ireland at Level 4 and PSIA USA at Level 3. Five national systems. One standard.
I have represented Austria and Hungary at three Interski Congresses — Cran-Montana 2003, St. Anton am Arlberg 2011, Pamporovo 2019 — and two IVSI Congresses in Lech-Zürs and Hakuba Japan, as a member of the Austrian Telemark Demo Team and the Interski Delegation. As a former examiner and coach at Snowsports Academy Austria I have assessed and certified ski instructors at the highest levels of the Austrian system.
I coached in Italy for eight seasons. The Val di Fiemme is terrain I know with the familiarity that comes from time spent rather than research done. When I bring a group here I know which piste to take on which day, which gradient works for which exercise and which restaurant in Cavalese is worth the detour.
That knowledge is part of what you are booking.
7 Places.
The December Moena edition runs the week before this one. The March Moena edition runs in spring conditions. All three carry the same standard. Choose the date that works for your season.
When the spots are gone, registration closes.
The Val di Fiemme. The week before Christmas. Hotel Excelsior. Seven skiers. One coach.
Book My Spot — €1,150
