I have just come back from a week's skiing in Sestriere. The resort is situated in the Italian Alps quite close to the French border. I was a bit worried about the snow and weather reports before we went but at least 50% of the runs were open but it was not possible to link up with the other resorts in the famous Milky Way.
However, as an intermediate level skier, I found plenty of enjoyable red runs in and around the resort. The resort is relatively high at 2035 metres, indeed one of our party actually suffered from breathing difficulties because of this.
The resort is going to host the 2006 Olympics and there was quite a lot of building work in progress which did tend to have an adverse effect on our enjoyment of the scenery.
We travelled with Equity Ski, who offer an all inclusive deal. The transfer from Turin airport is relatively quick at one and a half hours. We stayed in the Cavaliere hotel which was a 15 minute walk away from the centre of town. The hotel was comfortable and the rooms were particularly spacious, most unusual for a skiing holiday ! The food was buffet style and of good quality. It was interesting to note that this hotel was very popular with Italians which enhanced our trip.
We were disappointed to discover that the swimming pool in the centre of town was closed. There is a lively bar called the Irish Igloo in town that is worth a visit particularly if you are a sports fan.
There are a number of good quality mountain restaurants (17 in total) where it was possible to get an excellent lasagne for about £7.50. We didn't have to queue too much for any of the lifts. As there was a shortage of snow I was really impressed to see so many snow cannons in action.
I didn't take ski school lessons but those members of our party who did were satisfied with the standard of instruction. There are some nice wide nursery slopes and gentle blue runs perfect for beginners. I would imagine that expert skiers might be a bit disappointed with the number of pistes available but there certainly was plenty of activity on the World Cup downhill slalom run
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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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