Snow in Roccaraso, Italy

LC had a Friday off so we decided to head to the mountains to go pal yin some snow. We had heard that there was a place fairly close to Naples where you can ski and sled and enjoy snow but we had no idea what we were in for. We did a little bit of research before we left and saw there was a few ski resorts and areas to play in the snow, but we also saw a lot of "secret" and "hidden gem" in the advertising and informational sites. It was about a ~2 hr drive and on the drive up we kept thinking, how could there possibly be snow. But once we started to get close we saw it with our own eyes. The road took us back in this valley and the roads kept going up. Soon we started to see the accumulation on the the roadsides and soon after that the accumulation was higher than our car.  We were blow away when we popped out of a tunnel and into the Roccaraso area. I had to pull over to put the chains on the car to make it the rest of the way. They had a ton of snow there and it was great. 

The weekend prior to Roccaraso, we thought it would be a great idea to hike up Mt Vesuvius.  It was a blue bird day -- the skies were blue and we were hoping for a nice view from the top. The info we received from others who have went said the road takes you to the 1km post, at which you hike the rest of the way up. We knew there was snow at the top and thought the roads would be clear.... but they weren't. After we started to spin out, we decided it was best to try again another day. So we parked the car and we just played in the snow. 

There is the top of the mountain... But the roads weren't clear. 

So this was in Roccaraso... we parked the car at the hotel and immediately put on our snow gear to go play in it! 

I think they just received a bunch of snow prior to us getting there. The snow tractors outfitted with son blowers were everywhere clearing the roads. They had to shoot the snow up and over the road because there was not room to grate it to the sides. The girls got a kick on how deep it was. They kept getting stuck when they trekked through the fresh snow. 

When the clouds started to clear you could see the valley.

This was about how high the snow was everywhere in the city. Crazy. 

We spent most of Saturday at the sledding hill. This place was great! 

This was the warm-up hill we hit a few times prior to going up to the giant mountain. 

This is the magic carpet that takes you up to the top. 

Up up up! 

Playing on the snow bank! 

We still couldn't get over how much snow they had!

This was the drive home.... we had to get a pic of the sides of the road!

We played in the snow the last morning before we left. E made a tiny snowman that she named "Peach."

This sledding hill had a ton of people.... and it was honestly like bowling everytime you went down. LC and I only got ran into one time but there were no injuries. Overall it was another great trip and good to know that there is a place close by incase we have another itch to go play in the snow!