(English) Welcome to Alpe di Siusi, home to Italy’s most exclusive ski resort

Seated in the backseat of a sleek Mercedes, I hear an electronic beep as we pull up to the window of an Alpine authority booth.
“We’re entering the protected natural reserve of the Alpe di Siusi,” says my driver, a sunburned woman who speaks Italian with a strong German accent.
“No cars are allowed in.”
Located in South Tyrol province, this fairytale land of mountain witches and dwarfs sits at the border with Austria.
Though this is Italy the locals speak German, leaving me feeling like a stranger in my own land.
Bond-style entry
Alpe di Siusi is the most untouched and exclusive patch of the Dolomites mountain range, a UNESCO-listed world heritage site.
Europe’s largest high-altitude plateau, it’s dotted with alpine huts and barns.
Sunlight turns its zigzagging peaks — dubbed “teeth” and “hand fingers” — pink. By night they’ve changed their hue, reflecting the silvery shade of the moon.
Access to the Alpe di Siusi is permitted only on skis or by cableway — unless, like me, you’re staying at the Adler Mountain Lodge.
Set at 1,850 meters above ground, much of this 5-star resort was built with “singing wood” — the spruce trees that provided the timber whistle when the wind blows.
The entrance could easily belong to a James Bond villain’s lair.
The driver presses a button, a female voice greets us and a tunnel opens, leading us into a garage that’s cut in the hill’s belly.
The lounge is filled with leather sofas and carpets.
The walls are glass, framing 180 degrees views of the Sassolungo (Long Rock) and Sassopiatto (Flat Rock) massifs — two 3,000-meter sleeping giants.
The sounds of silence
As I start asking questions, the manager, Daniela Demetz, hushes me.
“Shhhh… just relax,” she says.
“You need to feel the sensations of this unique spot. Please, sit down and let it sink in.
“It’s a movie theater: nature comes alive and changes in front of your eyes. The sun, the birds, the animals, the stars and moon. Everything moves.”
I obey and head to the patio, which appears to be suspended above a precipice.
There are crackling fires on jet-black cocktail tables.
Silence rules. All I hear are jingling cow bells, horses neighing and the cries of eagles.
Guests whisper to each other as we all sit and stare at the peaks, spellbound.
It might only be 4 p.m. but at the all-inclusive Adler, food and top wines are served nonstop.I grab a plate of a South Tyrol specialty, speck — peppered, smoked local ham — and a bowl of hay soup.