Sauze D'Oulx

Sauze D'Oulx has always been a young and lively resort, but recently it has managed to shake off it's bad boy image. The accommodation, bars and lifts have all improved in recent years as the region prepared for, and hosted, the Torino Winter Olympic Games in 2006.

There are two parts to the village - the old town with cobbled street and a wide selection of decent restaurants, and the new town where you will find the bars.

The resort is friendly and relatively good value, when compared to France and Austria. When snow conditions are good the ski area is extensive, stretching 400km and encompassing 5 resorts. The links to Sestriere and Sansicario allow skiers and boarders to sample the Olympic ski runs that hosted the men's and women's downhill and slalom competitions. Also worth finding is the Genevris/ Moncrons ski area as this is often overlooked, so there are no queues and great conditions.

Negatives about the resort - are the patchy snow record, as links to other resorts can be badly effected in poor conditions. However, for this season there has been a lot of early snow which means it should be a good winter. Piste markings are poor at best but at least all runs tend to send you in the same direction. Finally, despite the Olympics coming to the area, there are still some ancient lifts that must be on their final legs by now!

Overall, this is a fun apres ski resort with an extensive intermediate ski area with a few challenging runs and some great off piste when conditions allow.