J2Ski Holiday 11th January 2015 Sauze d'Oulx

Snapzzz wrote:

Tip, if ur planning on skiing Montgenevre then get a bus there. Skiing there is slow and involves downlifting at points.
Tip, take a book or your kindle for some lifts, esp clotes.

I don't recall you skiing there with us that day? ;)

It is not as bad as Snapzzz makes out, I only recall going down on one lift and that was the Gondala to Cesena. To ski there there is no time to do it slowly, it haas to be done pretty quick, no hanging around. Takes about 1.5 hours to get back. Personally I dont think it is worth it. The skiing there is very limited - spend the day in Italy instead.

Thanks Icy, for the additional info :)

I found an interactive piste map here:
http://sauzeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/Pistemap.pdf

AllyG wrote:

I found an interactive piste map here:
http://sauzeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/Pistemap.pdf

The resort looks nothing like that.

Hint: Put the map in the bin and find your own way round!

Snapzzz wrote:

Tony_H wrote:For those who have not been to Sauze, I can recommend the ski area highly, its really good

For someone that has skied a lot of places i must admit to surprise at hearing you say that, maybe i skied a different Sauze or maybe you're not the skier i imagined you to be.
I found the skiing there to be really timid and all in all a bit 'boring'. I had a good week there but that was down to the company and the lovely weather and not because of the variety of terrain.

Whenever i have been away skiing i always felt i had learned something new or developed my skiing in other ways. The milky way didn't do that for me. There was not one part of that place that had me up at dawn and all excited, i will be skiing somewhere with a bit more bite in the future.
Sauze is firmly for early intermediates.

we seem to be wobbling on the thread, but in response I really only made that statement in order not to pee too many people off. It's been 6 years since I skied sauze and I've skied at least 12 weeks since in that case and yes you're right its a bit of a noddys ski area. There is nothing difficult apart from the. Banchetta over in Sestriere and the long red down the back of montgenevre.
Having said that, there's lots of really "nice" skiing on piste, flowing tree lined cruises which many people would enjoy.
The main reason I liked the area was the distance you could cover and the extent available to you on the one pass.
I definitely endorse taking a bus trip to montgenevre.

I can understand why you found it boring though now that you're an improving early intermediate.

Tony_H wrote:


I can understand why you found it boring though now that you're an improving early intermediate.

touché

Thanks guys :)
It sounds as though the ski area will be fine for us. We haven't got any expert skiers or boarders in the group yet so I'm sure the area will be challenging enough for us. And by the sounds of things, trying to interpret the piste map will be a major challenge!

Has anyone got any tips on how to get about the ski area and avoid the worst mistakes on the piste map?

And if anyone is interested in coming with us and staying in the Sauze hotel, they'd better get a move on! The last room in that hotel with booking.com went a few days ago, although I think Crystal still have availability.

AllyG wrote:

Has anyone got any tips on how to get about the ski area and avoid the worst mistakes on the piste map?

I wouldn't worry about it, its likely to be different again next year so any mistakes that we noticed are likely to be out of date by then.
Pretty much all the runs on the Sauze side all end up in Sportinia so you won't get lost but you will experience Déjà vu on a regular basis.
Careful when you head to Sestriere, if you don't down lift on the gondola then you will have to walk once you hit the village. That is annoying, i pay for a lift pass to go up not down.

Snapzzz wrote:Careful when you head to Sestriere, if you don't down lift on the gondola then you will have to walk once you hit the village. That is annoying, i pay for a lift pass to go up not down.

Thanks Snapzzz :)
Is that a mid-station on the gondola I can see on the piste map (small dot!)?
If so, would it be possible to ski down to the mid-station and then take the gondola the rest of the way down to Sestriere in order to avoid the walk in the village?