When I told my family of lifelong skiers I was off on a trip to the 3 Zinnen Dolomites (also known as the 3 Peaks Dolomites), none of them had ever heard of it. Yet, it is only a couple of hours' drive from South Tyrol favourite Val Gardena, where I remember completing the 26km Sellaronda ski circuit with them when I was seven.

The skiing area I was about to visit, named because of its trio of distinctive neighbouring battlement-like peaks, is not one of the better known resorts. Everyone loves the Dolomites, though, with its dramatic scenery and plentiful sunshine, so this resort, a stone's throw from the Austrian border, had a lot to live up to.