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Sauze d'Oulx & Sestriere
Sking in Sauze with Lorenzo an Kappa!
Lots of snow, and some warm weather for the time of year. Fresh mountain air, and Italian style lift queues :)
Apres ski was also good fun!
The Milky Way, or Via Lattea, straddles the border between France and Italy and is reached more easily from Turin than Grenoble. In recent years, snow cover has been unpredictable. In much of the 2001–2 season the region suffered from a dismal lack of the white stuff – as it has done for three out of the past four. The exception was 2000–1 when the Milky Way enjoyed some of the best conditions in the northern hemisphere. At its best, this is one of the great ski circuits of Europe, boasting 400km of groomed pistes served by 93 lifts. Sestriere is the venue for the 2006 Winter Olympics, and we can expect a major and much-needed investment in mountain facilities throughout the Milky Way during the run-up. Let us hope that there will be snow on the day.
British skiers are more familiar with Sestriere’s lively sister Sauze d’Oulx (pronounced Sow-Zee Doo) in the neighbouring valley, which is slowly but successfully shedding its reputation for lager-oriented nightlife and gaining just recognition for the quality of its slopes. Annoyingly, the resort bus service is no longer free.
The third major resort (and the only French component) is Montgenèvre, an old stone village perched on the col separating France from Italy. It has been pleasantly developed for tourism and retains considerable charm. The first impression is of a higgledy-piggledy collection of bars, restaurants, shops and hotels lining an extremely busy main road where skiers joust with pantechnicons. The older part of the village is tucked away on the northern side and has plenty of atmosphere, despite the heavy traffic. Shopping facilities are limited, but the weekly open-air market adds colour and offers the occasional bargain. The Italian border is on the outskirts of town and the introduction of the euro has provided visitors with welcome unification.
The main part of Sauze d’Oulx, adjacent to the slopes, is a largely uninspiring collection of modern edifices constructed with budget rather than beauty in mind. In its past, raucous revellers, still in their ski boots and awash with cheap lager, would stagger homewards at 3am to a collection of shabby two-star hotels for a few hours of further recreation before hitting the slopes again. To the young British skiers who flocked to this corner of Piedmont each winter in search of dissolute pleasures, it was known as ‘Suzy does it’. However, Suzy, it seems, has matured beyond the excesses of her youth and is trying to cultivate a more sober image.
Sestriere, once one of the most fashionable wintering holes in Europe, was purpose-built in 1930 by Giovanni Agnelli, the founder of Fiat, who was frustrated by the fact that members of his family spent so much of their winter skiing abroad. Its location on a high, cold and barren pass is not enchanting, but the snow here is usually the best in the region. The skyline is dominated by the twin towers of the Torre and the Duchi d’Aosta hotels that now both form a Club Med. The village is compact, but, despite being essentially Italian, appears to lack soul. Buses run to and from the satellites of Borgata and Grangesises.
The more shrewd Italians have now abandoned Sestriere for nearby Sansicario, which is a smaller, more sophisticated and modern development with its own ski area. It is linked to Sestriere and Sauze d’Oulx on one side and Cesana Torinese on the other.
Night life was fun. A mix of Italian and English in Sauze and the 'VIP' croud in Sestriere for the big night at the Black Sand!
