It is one of the three ski poles of the Maiella together with
Campo di Giove and Passo San Leonardo, the largest and most important of the three, reachable from the north from
Scafa-
Lettomanoppello, from the east from Pretoro, from the west from
Roccamorice. The upper part of the district also falls within the Piana Grande della Maielletta nature reserve, while to the west of the Blockhaus it borders on the Valle dell'Orfento nature reserve.
Passolanciano Surrounded by woods of
beech from 1100 m up to approximately 1550 m in altitude, it has several
ski lifts with
chairlifts and
skilift that reach 1600 m of altitude and serve several
ski slopes of different difficulty.
Maielletta From the Maielletta slopes, starting from 1600 m up to 2000 m of altitude, it is instead possible to see on clear days, in addition to the highest peaks of the massif, the
Gran Sasso to the north, the Velino-Sirente to the north-west, in the distance to the east also the view of the
Adriatic Sea (the only ski resort in the Abruzzo Apennines, together with
Prati di Tivo, where you can ski with a sea view in the distance), with the whole underlying hilly and flat part and the related centers of
Pescara and
Chieti, 1500 M|2000 m further downstream.
Ski mountaineering and
hiking in summer on the
paths towards the peaks of the Maiella.
Block house The top part of the area, located at the end of a long and demanding climb with a small ridge plateau at high altitude, is known as Cima Blockhaus 2143 m, whose road access has been forbidden to the transit of vehicles since 2010 starting from an altitude of 1980 m just beyond the Bruno Pomilio refuge, with the summit (where there is the Blockhaus plateau and the statue of the Madonnina) reachable only on foot or by bicycle. It represents an ancient surface of
erosion formed when the relief had a modest height, and was found in sub-tropical environmental conditions. The original coral island, which emerged from the sea, was subjected to physical and chemical degradation phenomena, which could make the surface thinner. The process continued over the millennia, leveling the island and the roughness, while the biogenic activity of the organisms that manufactured
calcium carbonate continued in the submerged edges. The elevation caused the mountain to arch, keeping these internal surfaces in a sub-level position; glacial erosion then formed valleys which reduced these areas, isolating the central part. It therefore had the shape of a triangular acrocorus, since the surface was not eroded with the glacial activity, as in other cases of the Majella, transformed into crests. == Ski areas ==