Travel Eye on Sestriere (Italy)

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Overview:

Sestriere was the first purpose-built village in the Alps. It hosted the 1997 World Championships and will run many of the races at the 2006 Turin Olympic Games.

Until 1930, the spot occupied by Sestriere was a meadow used by farmers from the surrounding hamlets and boasted just one small hotel, built in 1921. In 1930, a Senator Agnelli built the first ski-lift, together with the famous round tower hotels. Thus was created Italy's first modern ski-resort, which has now grown into a stylish destination. 1½ mls long and 600 yds wide, it is small enough to get around easily but big enough to offer a wide variety of shops, accommodation and principally good-quality skiing.

The resort itself is not overly attractive, as opposed to the stunning scenery around, but it does have everything you need off-snow: plenty for non-skiers to do, a good range of restaurants, mainly hotel-based accommodation and up-tempo nightlife at the weekends, which caters to the Italian brigades up from Turin and Milan.

There is steep terrain and off-piste for advanced skiers, great scope for intermediates and good facilities for beginners. This is all supported by a continually improving lift system, which only gets overloaded at weekends and on major holidays.

Most of the modern buildings are privately owned holiday apartments, so the place is much busier at weekends and at Italian holidays. There are over 20 hotels and apartment complexes, mainly in the 2- and 3-star range. Most of the better-quality 4-stars are run as "club hotels" like Club Med and its Italian equivalent.

Sestriere has a reputation as a resort for the Italian jet set, as it hosts the Alpine Skiing World Cup every year. However, outside those few days, it has appeal for most types of keen skiers wanting modern resort facilities rather than quaint alpine villages.

Locality:

Sestriere is in the NW of Italy, on the W edge of its Piemonte region, in Torino province. It is 10 mls from Claviere on the French border, 58 mls W of Turin, 138 mls SW of Milan's airports. Sestriere is set on a high mountain pass between the valleys of the Chisone and Ripa rivers. Most of the resort sits on fairly steep ground facing generally S, overlooking the N-facing local pistes. The exit roads to the E and W drop down steeply into their respective valleys.

Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:

Skiing - Night skiing, Heli skiing, Torchlit descents.

Snowboarding - Snowparks: 1, Quarter pipes: 1.

Other Snow Sports - Cross country: 15km, Cross country equipment available, Snow shoeing, Snow shoes available, Skidoos.

Sestriere itself has 7 main lifts (mainly drag), which are arrayed along the SE edge of the town. Skiers also have access to the 92 lifts of the Via Lattea (the regional ski-network), comprising 3 cable cars, 35 chair-lifts and 54 drag-lifts. Via Lattea's 10 ski-schools have a total of 600 ski-instructors, a fair proportion of whom speak English. Sestriere's main ski-school is at the bottom of the "Baby" drag, with another near the back of town. The ski-pass covers the whole of the Via Lattea.

For the shoppers there are loads of outlets of all types around the Piazza Agnelli, along Via Pinerolo and in the pedestrianised Piazza Fraiteve, plus the odd local shop elsewhere.

The daytime boasts all types of skiing, including off-piste heli-skiing; paragliding; skidoo hire; dog sledding; ice-skating and snow park. An American Sports Centre offers squash, massage, solarium, gym etc. In summer the resort can offer Europe's highest 18-hole golf course.

The nightlife is not that wonderful for an allegedly jet-set resort, it consists of 1 disco but plenty of bars with music, and flood-lit skiing.

There are plenty of restaurants all over town and all serving Italian cuisine, pizzas etc. Also adequate cafe bars can be found on the pistes.

Highest lift: 2840m (9317ft)
Lowest lift: 1840m (6037ft)
Vertical drop: 1000m (3281ft)
Number of lifts: 92
Uplift capacity: 70900 p/hr
Number of slopes: 146
Beginner: 29%
Intermediate: 50%
Expert: 21%
Total piste length: 400km
Snowboard parks: 1
Cross country: 15km