 Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from a week in Sauze, here's a quick TR.
4 on the trip, one advanced intermediate, two with one previous week skiing and one total beginner. Booked through snowfinders - inghams holiday, stayed at hotel hermitage. Flights, transfers and half board accommodation (no booze) were £500.
Getting there:
Living, for our sins, near-ish Gatwick this was great location-wise, a two hour flight to Turin, an hour coach transfer and we were in our hotel. It was so quick & easy that we're keen to return for long weekends in the future. The drive from the airport is very easy or otherwise there are regular trains from Turin to Oulx (just below sauze, a bus or taxi up would take ten minutes) so a DIY trip would be very do-able.
Hotel:
The hermitage has a great location on the end of the main (blue) run back into town and the main (clotes) lift up the mountain. While it's the standard cheap hotel, the staff were great, rooms were actually pretty good and food was ok.
Skiing:
Writing from the p.o.v. of someone who had only skied for one week previously, the skiing was superb (it helped that two foot of snow fell the weekend we arrived). Fairly easy reds and blues can be found across a huge area and range from wide open runs up above the tree-line to really stunning pistes through the woods (at this point I would put a picture in but unfortunately I have driven myself insane trying to stop it from rotating when uploaded - using photobucket, have unchecked the box that says automatically rotate image if anyone has any ideas).
All the pistes were surprisingly quiet - even at the weekends when the Turin crowd were supposed to have arrived. The pisteurs did a fantastic job across the resort while leaving a few runs unpisted so that people could "have some fun" (it didn't look much fun to me). On the slopes there were virtually no children though instead there were plenty of boarders 
Our intermediate - who was fairly patient and skied with us most of the time - found enough interesting runs to have a bit of a blast down and having him there probably meant that we took in more skiing than we would otherwise, across the resorts. He'd heard that the lift systems weren't very good but apart from managing to find one very long, steep drag lift they were fine.
The two one-weekers had private lessons with the Scuola sci Sauze d’Oulx school (known as the Blue school) from a Scottish instructor called Roger Goodfellow. Nominative determinism at work (well, in his surname) as he was superb and we both learnt a huge amount over the course of the week with just an hour of fairly intense work each lesson in the mornings which we then had to practise during the day. Having previously been disappointed with group lessons / ski school in France I think I'm pretty much committed to private lessons now.
My OH was in group lessons with the same ski school for the week as part of a package (18 hours of lessons, equipment and lift pass for £300). Because inghams have a different transfer day to everyone else she actually got a private lesson on our first day and that really helped provide a base for the week. Though initially she was a bit impatient and asked to be moved up through the groups, she loved every minute of school and her Italian instructors seemed superb and spoke good English (I think their regular insistence on 'reassuring' hugs was also a bonus for her).
On a couple of days there were slalom races set up for the instructors, the pupils (of all levels) and anyone else who fancied a go - apparently they're starting to recreate some of the fun that used to be a large part of skiing in Sauze.
Sauze:
The atmosphere throughout the resort was superb, very relaxed, real mix of people though certainly more English than I expected. On the second day we were there the lifties on the Italian side went on strike* and because of blizzard conditions / a jack-knifed lorry though we were supposed to be bussed over to Montgenevre we couldn't get there. Instead we had a proper look around Sauze which is quite small but has two distinct areas surrounded by stunning views down the valley.
On the main drag are the standard lively pubs and bars - Paddy McGintys with its live music for example - for decent boozy apres while in the narrow streets of the old town there are some very nice restaurants and superb wine bars (we'd recommend Del Falco for a proper three-courser, Sugos for seriously good hearty pasta and Caffe della Seggiovia for great tasting, great value wine).
Overall we had a fantastic time - helped by the best snow in March many people could remember. Great skiing (for our level at least), good selection of bars and restaurants, great people - we'll be back and I would definitely recommend a visit!
*the lifties issue was the only downer - one day without any lifts, the rest of the weekdays (surprisingly the lift opened again at the weekend when the Turin/locals risked getting p*ssed off) with the main lift from Sauze out of action. A ten minute walk (or shorter snowbus) to the Sportinia lift meant it wasn't a huge problem (that's where the lessons start anyway) and all the lifts above were open. Everyone in the resort said that this was unheard of so hopefully it won't happen again.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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something i'd forgotten was the Sauze D'oulx Project's Sciable project sponsored by BMW which enables people with various physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities to get out on the mountain. Seeing so many people out on the mountain who would otherwise be unable to enjoy that privilege was truly heart-warming (and the skill of the guides was amazing). Really was impressed - http://www.sauzedoulxproject.it/en/sciabile.html
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Top report. Sounds good for my bunch. It's on the list.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Curzonian, Nice report thanks. (.....shame about the photos though )
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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ah, sorry about that - i wasn't trying to embed it...
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Curzonian, Top video, looks nice and fairly empty. Somehow I never considered this area but will now if the deal comes up!
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We went in the March week that had no Euro hols in it and it was incredibly quiet on the pistes, with loads of runs through the trees that at times didn't seem to have anyone on them at all. On one occasion I was half-way down a really stunning fairly long run through the trees to a mid-station lift and stopped to tighten my goggles - it was completely silent, I didn't see or hear anyone and I stood there for a good 5 minutes taking it in before continuing.
I felt truly privileged to have that experience - particularly in fresh powder - given that I'm still very much a beginner so am usually pootling around in the busy areas.
The only problem is that we quickly got used to the empty runs and resented anyone else invading!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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There is a very nice restaurant where red 29 meets red 2000 just above the lower Clotes lift, Ciao Pais (sp?). Very authentic Italian place - very little English spoken. You can get a skidoo up there in the evening as well, but that might get a bit expensive. The mushette got stuck in a ditch there, took 2 of us to get her out.
The Old Inn near the bottom of Clotes lift in town is also very nice, with terrific views.
P.S.
Billy No Mates from the SKGB was a smashing bloke. If you holidayto Sauze, go and ski with him for the day. He said he was getting very lonely.
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To update the first post the OH and I decided to grab a quick break back in the area on our own last week and stayed slightly down from Sauze in Jouvenceaux (a very pretty and quiet village 10 minute walk up a steep hill from Sauze centre). We stayed here - http://www.chaletcheznous.it/homeuk.htm - and i would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. A fantastic family-run b&b in a great location with incredible service. It's 5 mins from the Jouvenceaux lift up to Sportinia and if the snow comes down like it did last week you can ski all the way home along the roads!
Because we didn't do a package we took the train from Turin to Oulx just below the resorts. This was a nice and easy 1hr 15mins journey and it turns out that there are trains direct from Paris to Oulx. Several people who stay at the B&B apparently get on the Eurostar from London ...having looked it up it would obviously be a longer journey but definitely worth considering...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And in a quick update to my previous TRs we are just back from our most recent trip to Sauze / Jouvencaux with a couple of added recommendations:
Get the skiddoo up to Ciao Pais for dinner one night, it's a fun trip up and the food was very good
On Thursday evenings there are now torch-lit descents after supper in the Triplex in Sportinia - great fun
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Just realised that I've repeated what @musher has said above re Ciao Pais! Anyway, would reconfirm his recommendation!
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We are just back, literally just landed a few hours ago.
Landed Amsterdam at 8.30 am, I waited for the luggage, and sent the kids through to the train station, where it is a short 8 minute journey to school. They were still late, but wrote an e-mail that we were having logistical issues this morning.... I'm a firm believer in not telling folks anymore than they need to know. 
Because we had three healthy dumps of snow, each of at least 60 cm this week, I put me and my girls into private or semi private lessons with the "Blue" ski school.
Kids had Matteo, set them up with with beepers, and avi equipment. He had a go-pro on his helmet, and every morning they had 2 hours of intense powder skiing through the trees. This tired them out, such that they didn't actually complain about my speed of skiing!!!'
I took 3 private lessons from Andree, and now, I can proudly say, I can ski in knee deep powder with the slightest bit of confidence. Make some controlled turns, and feel the burn... quite a success for me.
Just love all the tree skiing in Sauze, every run, a new little fun jump or this or that around each corner. Feels like there is so much yet to discover. The piste map is 15% of the story.
Good, reasonably priced mountain food. Love it.
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