Montgenèvre – Sauze d’Oulx/​San Sicario/​Claviere/​Sestriere (Via Lattea)

The ski resort Via Lattea – Sestriere/Sauze d’Oulx/San Sicario/Claviere/Montgenèvre is located in the Province of Turin (Torino) (Italy, Piedmont (Piemonte)) and in the Arrondissement of Briançon (France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Hautes-Alpes). For skiing and snowboarding, there are 400 km of slopes available. 63 lifts transport the guests. The winter sports area is situated between the elevations of 1,372 and 2,749 m.

Has the climate crisis and the higher temperatures affected snow conditions in Montgenèvre – Sauze d’Oulx/​San Sicario/​Claviere/​Sestriere (Via Lattea)?
Look at the statistics and graph of historical snow depths for the ski resort.
For the last 5 years, week 12 has been the most insecure with 178,6 cm snow depth on average in Montgenèvre – Sauze d’Oulx/​San Sicario/​Claviere/​Sestriere (Via Lattea).
The measurement is made as an average of the snow depth at the highest and lowest point of the mountain.

Montgenevre is right on the Italian border, at one end of the big cross-border Milky Way network, and gets much better snow than its Italian neighbours – it is set on a minor pass, a position that delivers snow whichever way the wind is blowing, but most importantly when it’s blowing from the west. The resort has made big strides in recent years, banishing through-traffic and developing modern upscale lodgings. But it now needs to prioritize investment in fast lifts – getting around the pistes can be a painfully slow-motion affair. If you’re focused on the under-exploited off-piste, the slow lifts matter less. Montgenevre is a small village sitting on a high east-west pass only 2km from the Italian border. The village is set on the sunny slope above the main street (the through-road is now buried in a tunnel) looking over the nursery slopes at the foot of the north-facing slopes of Les Gondrans. Behind the village are the south-facing slopes of Le Chalvet. Both sectors have piste links with Claviere, just over the Italian border and gateway to the other Italian resorts of the Milky Way – Sansicario, Sestriere and Sauze d’Oulx. But it takes time to get to those resorts on skis. There are lift pass sharing arrangements with Serre Chevalier and Puy St Vincent, easily reached by car, and with rather less easily reached Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d’Huez, which involve going over the Col du Lautaret – high, but not usually a problem.

• Varied local slopes, plus access to Italian Milky Way resorts, notably Sauze d’Oulx and Sestriere
• Good local snow record
• Suits all abilities: excellent nursery slopes, plenty of cruising and good off-piste terrain that is underused
• A lot of accommodation close to the slopes, some right on them

• Sauze and Sestriere take time to reach without road transport
• Lots of slow lifts, seriously undermining the resort’s appeal for some (including us)
• Little to challenge experts on-piste
• Limited range of restaurants and après-ski places

Source: Ski Club of Great Britain

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