sauze d'oulx

peterjamesfell wrote:Hi, just read the last report and it looks quite depressing, were due there on the 7th Jan has anyone got the latest update please.

cheers

Dont panic. I've been to Sauze when the pistes were strips of white through green meadows and brown trees, and the skiing was excellent.
Its notoriously bad for snow at times, but they do a great job with the pistes.
Dont worry about links not being open to Sestriere. I've never been able to ski across there so we took the gondola and skied in some great snow over there.
SanSicario was closed when I was there first time, and only 1 run open last time, so nothing new there, and I dont know anyone who has been able to ski to the left of the Clotes lifts as those runs seem to be shut all the time.
Bottom line: the skiing in Sauze is good. Its not uncommon not to be able to ski back to resort and to have to ride the chair down, so dont be depressed.
Youll be surprised how good the slopes are once you get up there.
If its any consolation, the first week I went and we had some great skiing, it was 20c in resort and we sat out with shorts on sunbathing.......

The runs to the left of the Clotes lift (Moncrons area) do open occasionally (when there is enough snow). I was lucky enough to ski them when last in Sauze in 2009 and there are some fantastic runs in this area which are much more of a challenge than the rest of the resort and were deserted. The only downside is that the lifts are mostly drags and as they open so infrequently it probably doesn't seem worth upgrading to anything better.

Sauze and Sestreiere are both great ski areas that I'd love to go back to. We were incredibly lucky with the snow for both trips. The second time (2009) we went for a fortnight and it snowed constantly for the first week and so had perfect pistes and bluebird skies for the second. We even got to ski back to Jouvenceaux at 1300m on Red 12. From the webcams the conditions don't look too bad and there are people skiing back to the bottom of the Clotes lift (resort level) this morning.

If the runs back to resort are open try the Gran Pista to the side of Red 11 which goes back to the bottom of the Sportinia lift. It's a fabulous red through the trees that used to be a downhill run (apparently..) and well worth a look.

Have a great trip

Got back on Monday after severely limited skiing, however the skiing that could be done was great!! But still desperately needing temperatures to drop and some significant snowfall.

Thanks for that, fingers crossed then.

Just so you can kep a check on things.

http://www.sauzeonline.com/webcam/

I must have been luck last January as the whole area was fantastic.

The one thing that always puts me off Sauze is the unreliable snow conditions

We obviously have insurance, but is it possible to get a day ticket just to get us off the mountain in the event of an accident, we do this when we ski in France and I think last year it was just a couple of Euros per person per day!!

I went there in April 3 or 4 years ago and there was pleanty of snow.
Apparently the lifts to the left of Clotes rarely open even if there is snow!
You could ski back to Sauze itself - slushy as you got down towards village but the snow went to within 20 yards of the road. I guess in a less snowy year you might need to walk further or come down in the lift.

It's not uncommon to need to take the bubble across to Sestriere as the linking pistes are not snow sure.
Part of the way to Sestriere requires the use of a lift (used to be rickety 1 man chair) as it crosses a flat valley which is really too flat for skiing.