Sauze d'Oulx, Italy

Jimbo from ITALY writes:

Just got from back from Sazue d'Olux, where we had good spring skiing and some powder skiing as well thanks to some snow overnight.
The resort itself...from a skiers perspective:
Many of the lifts are out of date and could do with a serious upgrade or replacement (still..better than the lift in Sestriere which injured 12 people this week....) The single man chair over to Sestriere is.,..character forming ! (it's one of those things you'll laugh about later in life, perhaps). Other lifts are two man, plastic chair affairs and quite slow.
The pistes are not well signed at all and the piste map doesn't include basic information on it, such as where the restaurants are. Most of the runs we did were reds (managed to find one decent black) and were not taxing at all. I think the reds are really blues: nice for blasting down the slopes but not challenging. Beginners will be able to handle most reds with ease after a couple of lessons.
It's an ok ski area I suppose, just badly sign-posted. The link with the Milky Way isn't great - one step up from a tight-rope really.
The restaurants on the mountain are ok. Food is basic but reasonably priced (when compared to France anyway!) but where is the spag bol ?!!!!! It's all paninis and rolls. I expected really good pasta dishes but was disappointed. The Bombardino hot drinks are nice though !
We stayed at Hotel Sauze which was (almost) ski-in / ski-out. The food in the hotel was very good. The rooms good although the one weakness was the bathrooms - they seriously need updating. Very friendly, helpful staff though.
The old town in Sauze makes a pleasant change from the custom made concrete jungles of Val Thorens or Val d'Isere and there are some nice places to eat there as well. There are some typical Brit bars which we avoided.
One place which is is SUPERB to eat at is Chalet Caprincorno, just up the slopes from the main lift out of town. Superb food, reasonably priced (~E15 for a main course) and great atmosphere. In the evenings you have to get there by skido - it costs E10 per person for the trip from near the bottom of the slopes and is well worth it - it's a great way to arrive at a restaurant !
Transfer time of 1 hour from Turin airport was good.
Would I go again ? Maybe..if the snow conditions were really good and I managed to find a good deal. I wouldn't pay more than £400 for a half-board holiday though (including flights) - there are better places to go for that sort of money (or for £50 more).

2008-03-24