Sauze d'Oulx review

A snowHead

So we went to Sauze at February half term. It has taken me a long time to write the review (i apologise) but I really felt I ought to write this after all the good advice I received on here from other snowheads. So thank you ladies and gentlemen.

We were 3 families - 6 kids and 5 adults of varying skiing ability. The snow had been bad before we went but magically started behaving the day before we arrived and continued to snow throughout the week. There wasn't a lot of powder but the slopes were generally ok, if a little icey in parts, and 1 lower run closed. A bowl was closed, I think because of poor snow, and if it had been open it would have been brilliant. So I think it is fair to say we didn't see Sauze at it's best.

I was generally impressed by Sauze. It is a big resort and there are plenty of red runs to access and some easy 'side of piste' stuff to access too. Not too crowded (and it was half term) and some pleasant tree runs and nice runs above the tree line too. We didn't do the whole milky way (children to collect) but we went to Sanscario and Sestriere and that was similar - lots of fast reds, a little icy here and there and not really any powder. It was different to what I am normally used to skiing, but it was challenging because of that and I enjoyed it immensley. The blacks were all similar - icey and flat, a few mogul fields. There was 1 nursery slope and a couple of blues but (in my opinion) these weren't particularly easy for beginners, and what was missing was a 'snowdome' type run - blue and straight and even but long enough to learn to do more than 2 turns on. The beginners in our group found the blues not that easy to progress to. We didn't do much 'proper off piste' so I can't comment on that.

I was worried no lifts would be working because of reviews I had read - the top chair only worked at the weekend, and some drags on the far side were intermittent, however the lifts that were open were fine. I am unsure if the snow was the reason not all the drag lifts were open - when they were open I loved the tree runs they opened up.

The restaurants are cheap and of good quality, both on the mountain and in the town. There were not hoards of drunken British youths roaming the streets at night as I had feared - instead lots of families, of varying nationalities.

We drove down - took 14 hours from Calais, including the Frejus tunnel but very straightforward and no horrid windy tracks for miles and miles. We stayed in some appartments which were close to the ski bus but it was only 10 minutes to walk to the lifts (we put our boots in storage at the bottom with sauze on snow and very helpful they were too)

All in, I would love to go back to Sauze - but I wouldn't take any absolute beginners. It is good for fast skiers who like quick reds and blacks. Worth a look especially if you are on a budget.

(as a caveat we have been mostly to small resorts before in France (la norma, puy sy vincent), but also spent a few months in whistler so i am aware of what big resorts can look like)

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Sauze d'Oulx review

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