Sci in Piemonte

Piedmont carries the glorious weight of an Olympic legacy that permanently transformed the ski landscape of north-west Italy. In February 2006, Turin and its mountains hosted the XX Winter Olympic Games: Sestriere became the stage for giant slalom and slalom, Bardonecchia wrote history hosting Italy’s first Olympic snowboard events, and Pragelato welcomed ski jumping and cross-country. That event left an infrastructural and media legacy that continues to fuel Piedmontese ski tourism to this day.

At the heart of this legacy shines the Via Lattea, one of Europe’s largest and best-connected ski domains. With more than 400 kilometres of runs linking Sestriere, Cesana Torinese, Sauze d’Oulx, Claviere and the French resort of Montgenevre, the Via Lattea abolishes national borders: a single ski pass allows skiing freely in both Italy and France across the Cottian Alps. Sestriere, perched at 2,035 metres with its iconic cylindrical towers commissioned by Giovanni Agnelli in the 1930s, remains the flagship symbol of premium Piedmontese skiing.

But Piedmont’s ski offer extends well beyond one resort network. In the heart of the Pennine Alps, the Monte Rosa massif shelters Alagna Valsesia, a wild and authentic corner where the Walser civilisation has left deep marks in village architecture and local place names. Alagna is an off-piste paradise: extreme freeride on vast glaciers, couloirs and gullies that only the most skilled dare tackle, and an atmosphere worlds apart from the glitz of mainstream resorts.

To the south, Limone Piemonte surprises with an unusually long season. Its southerly exposure combined with altitude and proximity to the Ligurian coast — the Riviera is less than an hour away — creates particular microclimatic conditions ensuring abundant snow well into the later months. One of the region’s most exclusive pleasures is the unique day it allows: morning on the pistes of Sestriere, then an afternoon descent to the Langhe and Monferrato hills, where cellars of Barolo, Barbaresco and Dolcetto open their doors. Skiing and then tasting a great Nebbiolo by a fireplace in the Langhe is an experience that belongs to Piedmont alone.