I've done a lot of skiing over the years, but mainly in France. This year we decided to opt for Italy instead. Sestriere is one of the higher Italian resorts, so we chose it to try and maximize our chances of good snow.
It's based in an area called the Milky Way, which comprises Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, Sansicario, Claviere and Montgenevre. You can buy lift passes for each individual area, or a pass that includes all the Italian areas (everywhere except Montgenevre, which costs an additional premium).
The town of Sestriere is not picturesque, but functional. It is improving all the time as they will be hosting many events for the Winter Olympics, Turin 2006. There is a variety of accommodation, from self-cateringapartments
to very nice hotels. I know at least one hotel was very nice indeed because we had friends staying there and they made us very jealous by describing how each evening they had a jacuzzi before going to their 6 course dinner! There are enough bars to suit all tastes, from small friendly Italian bars, to large, noisy, brash English bars. I think you can guess which I prefer.
We were staying in the aforementioned self-catering apartments, so were a little disappointed to find a poor selection of supermarkets. There were 3 in the town, but they were all very small and did not have a great selection. But on the plus side the one with a deli counter would make up very nice sandwiches for lunch if you can speak enough Italian or have a good phrasebook!
My biggest gripe about the town is the traffic. Sestriere is on a main mountain road that goes on to more resorts. This means that there is often quite a bit of traffic, which makes the walk back in ski-boots at the end of the day a little treacherous. Especially with those Italian drivers!
On to the skiing! We were very lucky with the weather, having had lots of snow in the weeks before we went, and clear blue skies for the whole duration of our trip. The runs in Sestriere itself are mainly red and black, with a few blues. However don't be too put off by this if you're not an expert as there are no really difficult pistes. The reds are mostly like French blues and the blacks like reds!! There are certainly no narrow steep black runs like there are in most other resorts have been too.
Many of the lifts in Sestriere have been recently modernised to cater for the upcoming Olympics, so there are many fast 4 person chairlifts. However there are still a lot of draglifts, so boarders beware. Also the lift passes are the modern electronic type, so no more fumbling around in ski gloves to find your pass. All you have to do is put your pass in a pocket - where the pass gets near enough to the sensor it lets you through. This of course can lead to entertaining antics depending on where your pocket of choice is located!!!!!
The queues were almost non-existent, which was a very pleasent surprise. However the Italians do try their hardest to create queues by randomly deciding not to open some lifts on some days. This was very peculiar, although they usually only closed lifts that were doubled up so this wasn't too much of a problem.
The ski-school in Sestriere is very good. It is located centrally, and is skiable to. My girlfriend went in one day to book a private lesson and was given a time just 2 hours later with an English-speaking instructor. And of course they run group classes to suit all abilities on whatever basis you choose.
Before we went I had read some blurb about the town and mostly it was not very complimentary about the mountain restaurants. We were pleased to discover that this was wrong! The mountain restaurants were numerous, offered a good selection of food and drink, and best of all were very reasonably priced! The only downside is the strange European idea that holes in the ground are an adequate substitute for real toilets, especially knowing that everyone will be wearing ski-boots and salopettes.
On to the other ski areas. All are interconnected, but only just!!! The only way to escape Sestriere (apart from by road!) is on a bubble lift. This leads to the top of the Sauze d'Oulx area. Unfortunately there are only 2 ways back to Sestriere, a tedious trip down the bubble again, or a red piste that ends at the wrong end of town for all the lifts! Not too bright if you ask me, maybe they'll build more lifts in the next couple of years.
Sauze d'Oulx was my favourite skiing area. There were more blue pistes here, including some nice ones through the trees. If you want to try something very odd, ski all the way down to Sauze, the only way back up is on a very old chairlift for which you must remove your skis and hold them in your hand all the way up. And then of course get of at the top and run out of the way in ski-boots!!
Sansicario was also a very good area, with a good selection of runs. However the only way to get there from Sauze d'Oulx is up a long drag lift, and they only way back is down a black run. So unless you are a competent skier you may find it too difficult to access all the areas.
Finally Claviere and Montgenevre. Claviere takes a long time to get to as it involves going down and back up again on some very slow chairlifts. The runs over there are nice, but we had little time to explore them. Montgenevre was even further on so we didn't even get near there.
Having said that there is plenty of skiing in Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx and Sansicario to keep anyone amused for a week.
As a bonus there is a floodlit piste in Sestriere, and every Wednesday and Saturday night they turn them on and allow night skiing. The floodlit skiing is included as part of the 6 day lift pass, and is a novel thing to try. Also the ski lift operators organise an race under the floodlights. The race itself is definitely worth a go as it is a light-hearted affair, although some people take it very seriously!! Photographers take your photograph which you can inspect before choosing to buy - makes a very nice souvenir.
Although we had good snow, I know that the area is renowned for not always being so lucky. So be careful when you go.
And if you go, make sure to visit the wood-carving shop where the carver works in the store so you can see how it is done.
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Advantages: Great location for the beginner, right through to the advanced skiers. Plenty of drinking holes and eateries. Disadvantages: 1.75Hr Coach travel from airport to the resort not very nice, given the road conditions (snow) and the sheer cliffs the roads pass by :/
jaspinall 23.02.2001 (24.02.2001)
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