This winter in the Alps is very dry and warm. Because there is no snow it is excellent to do some hiking instead. I’m closing the year with the family in the Italian part of the Alps, and we visited today the Fane Alm, a seasonal alpine pasture. The most beautiful small alpine village I ever have seen. It is located at the top end of the valley of Vals, South Tyrol, Italy.
Fane Alm
The origin of the village goes back to the middle age where it has been used as a lazarette for plague and cholera patients. The village is located at 1739 meter above sea level and an excellent starting point for extended hiking tours.
Wooden cross on the way to the Fane Alm:
Cross on the way to the Alm
View to the village from the South:
Fane Alm
In the village there is a small chapel:
Fane Alm Kapelle
Renewed Cottage
Happy Alming 🙂
MCU on Eclipse 
Great shots with beautiful surroundings. Is the village live? What snow depth do they get during the winter months?
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Hi Bill,
yes, the village is live, and we had a very good italian Espresso there too :-).
Snow depends on the winter, but it is typically in the range half a meter or more.
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Thank you for letting us come along on your family hikes. This was a nice place to visit – virtually.
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It seems very strange to me to see brown hillsides in the Winter. Here in California the hills turn brown in the summer and green in the winter. We’ve just had a lot of rain (~30cm since the beginning of October) after three very dry years (about 32cm a year), and it is nice to see the hillsides turning green again.
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Usually we don’t see them brown in winter because they are covered with snow, so normally we see them green during Spring, Summer and Fall. And white during Winter. They only turn brown if the summer is very dry, same as in California.
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