Any hints?  I am going this winter with a buddy who lives in Italy.  Any great ticket discount tips? Cheap but nice hotels/B&Bs?  Other hints or web sites are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I visited Alpe di Siusi for hiking in the Fall. I was underwhelmed by the slopes there, which were short and low angle. Beautiful scenary, however, and wonderful mountain restaurants. Lodging was also fantastic. A lot of folks from the UK forum, Snowheads, like Arabba, which apparently gets some of the best snow and has some decent steep terrain. 

http://snowheads.com/

Dolomites have not had the best snow record of late. Austria, Switzerland, and France have had more reliable snow. Can you give us a report after your visit? 

Actually, The Dolomiti's are my favorite place to ski in the world - although it's been over ten years since my last visit. the beauty of the area is

unsupassed vs other places I've skied: Alps, Rockies, California, Pacific NW, Albertaand BC..

I've skied 6 of the 12 areas, but most time has been spent based at Arabba, Cortina, and Val Gardena. The area's are all interconnected and it is very easy to ski sveral dirrerent area in one day. Ski the Sella Rhonda around one mountain and you'll put on about 25k of vert while visiting, if memory serves me, 6 different areas..I've spent no time atthe southern most of the areas (like Civetta) as I was always coming from Munich.

Passes that give access to all areas are pretty much dirt cheap. Living arrangements are typically at family owner smaller hotels that provide breakfast and dinner. People are very friendly. Americans are much rarer visitors than are those from other places on the continent.

Atmosphere varies by area -- from Cortina (the Vail of the Dolomiti's) to Arabba which is much less glitzy. In general the Dolomitis are set with much better snowmaking than their Austian brerthern north of them off the Brenner Pass. That's imporatnt in bad snow years.

If you have neve skied Europe, be aware that you will run in to lift ine combat. People push and shove and step on your skis in an effort of get in front of you. Be prepared for it and be prepared to play the game. If you don't it will ruin your day. Other than that, people are friendly and accomodating..

Enjoy the trip.

https://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en

In general we liked to stay  on the east side of Val Gardena.It provides good access to the rest of Val Gardena and the Arabba, Val di Fassa, and Alta Badia areas and is a good starting poin t for the Sella Rhonda. Within Val di Fassa is the Belvedere massif -- a massive mountain ridge that was the site of many WWII battles. Virtually unscaleable vertcall mountain walls mark the entire length of the massif. Bevedere is one of the most dramatic scenery features you'll ever see in any mountain range.

One of the places we stayed is the Hotel Sun Valley -- with a lft right across the street. 

http://www.hotelsunvalley.it/en/