Sestriere

The Alta Valle Susa lies right on the French border, a short distance from the well-known French ski resorts of Les 2 Alpes and Alpe d'Huez. The ski area spans altitudes of 1,350 to 2,850 m. Access is easy via the motorway through Turin, which ends a few km before Sestriere. The pistes: the ski area spans altitudes of 1,350 to 2,850 m. The Vialattea, the famous Milky Way, has 400 km of pistes. The lift system links five villages, so you can visit them all without taking your skis off. From Sauze d'Oulx in Italy you can ski via Sestriere, Cesana and Clavière to Montgenèvre on the French side. Preparations for the Olympic Games are under way across the whole region. Lifts are being modernised and new ones built. Many pistes have snowmaking, and by 2006 all of them will. The Games organisers are investing heavily in expanding the lifts, the pistes and the hotel base. A curiosity is the new type of lift gate. The ski pass does not need to be put into any reader. You just carry it with you and the whole region is open to you. Thrill-seekers can hire a helicopter with a heliski instructor and ski the untouched snow of the surrounding peaks. The system of 90 different lifts can carry around 100,000 skiers an hour. The quality of the pistes is secured by 950 snow cannons. You can ski here to your heart's content! The villages of Sestriere, Grangesises, Cesana, Borgata, Sauze d'Oulx, Sansicario and Clavière lie at altitudes from 1,350 to 2,035 m in the Alta Valle Susa, one of the largest ski centres in the Italian Alps. Grangesises is a holiday complex on the mountainside, 5 minutes by ski bus from Sestriere. You can also ski there, and one of the lifts starts from here. The complex consists of more than thirty buildings housing apartments and all the necessary facilities: reception, cafés, pizzerias, a disco, shops and everything a visitor needs. The stylish chalets were recently thoroughly renovated and offer a very good standard. There is a wonderful view of the mountains and the Piedmont valley. Sestriere is the central point of the "Via Lattea", the Milky Way, a loop on which you can ski round five ski resorts: Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, Clavière and Montgenèvre, which is the official starting point. Clavière is a village with quite a long tradition on the road to the Montgenèvre pass. Its lifts take skiers up to Col de Bercia (2,300 m), into the "Monti della Luna" (Mountains of the Moon) ski area. The run from Col de Bercia down to Cesana-La Combe is an exceptional experience. At Cesana-La Combe the routes of skiers heading for Montgenèvre and for Sestriere cross. An ingenious lift system has been installed on the slopes of Fraitève (2,701 m), so instead of a monotonous ride up on a single lift, skiers alternate between riding up one lift and skiing down to the next. Halfway up Fraitève sits Sansicario, a new-generation ski resort whose buildings blend well into the landscape. From the summit of Fraitève you can see Sauze d'Oulx (1,509 m) on its sunny terrace, from where you can reach the Sestriere ski area via Triplex (2,507 m), Colle Basset (2,424 m) and Borgata. Sestriere is a modern ski resort surrounded by the peaks of Fraitève, Monte Motta and Monte Sises, with hotels in the shape of cylindrical towers, a centrally located station for two cable cars and a large number of pistes. Skiing in Sestriere is concentrated mainly on Banchetta (2,823 m), Fraitève (2,701 m) and Sises (2,658 m). Sises is a top-class ski mountain with excellent, difficult pistes, and it is Sestriere's trademark.