Montgenèvre has announced plans to extend its ski area up to 3000m above sea level (the current highest lift is at 2700m). This would make it the only resort in the Southern Alps to have lifts and ski runs that high.
The resort, on the Italian border, has been a ski destination for more than a century and at 1860m is one of the highest 'traditional villages' in the Alps on a site visited 2000 years ago by Julius Ceasar and two centuries later by Hannibal with his elephants. It has undergone massive improvements in recent years with the busy border road that formerly ran through its heart now buried beneath the pistes and the centre pedestrianised and benefitting from major investments.
The new 3000m high ski area is being created as part of a 26 million Euro investment for the 2012/13 season around 3150m high Mount-Chaberton on the French/Italian border. It will give skiers the option to ski down in to Italy or back to the resort and from the top provide 360° panoramic views from Mont-Blanc to the Rhône or the river Pô.
It is not yet clear how many piste kilometres will be added to the Milky Way area pass the resort shares with its Italian 2006 Torino Olympic neighbours including Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx and Sansicario. The area with more than 400km of piste is already one of the world's 10 biggest.