The Plose is the house mountain of Brixen. The gondola starts in Sant'Andrea, seven kilometres outside the town, and takes you to 2,050 metres; the Pfannspitz cable car continues to 2,545 metres. From there the view opens onto Sass de Putia (Peitlerkofel) and the Odle (Geisler) group — the northernmost mountains of the UNESCO Dolomites.

The area is smaller than the big Dolomite carousels, and precisely for that reason it's interesting. The pistes are wide and mostly of medium difficulty, waiting times are short, and even in the school holiday weeks it stays manageable. Anyone who doesn't fancy Sellaronda queues finds enough terrain here: 43 piste kilometres served by around 15 lifts, plus long valley descents down to Sant'Andrea.

The real difference lies in the valley. Instead of a purpose-built lift village, you have Brixen — a town from the 10th century — as your base: cathedral with cloister, arcaded shopping streets, wine bars, the Acquarena with seven sauna cabins for a rest day and, three kilometres outside town, Novacella Abbey. That opens up a completely different range for evenings and rest days than a purely ski-focused location does.