Via Lattea snow forecast

Skiing in Via Lattea

The Via Lattea, or Milky Way, is a large cross-border ski area in the upper Susa valley west of Turin, linking Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, Sansicario, Claviere, Pragelato and Montgenèvre in France. It has around 400 km of pistes, most of them intermediate, plus nearby Bardonecchia, which is a separate resort in the same valley.

Sestriere, at about 2,000 m on its col, is the high, purpose-built hub, built for skiing and used for the 2006 Winter Olympics. It has plenty of steep and long runs and often the best snow in the area. Sauze d'Oulx, lower at about 1,500 m, has wooded runs and a busy village, and is a good choice in poor visibility. Montgenèvre, just over the border in France at about 1,860 m, has broad, family-friendly slopes and sits on the pass itself, on the watershed between Italy and France.

Weather here can differ markedly from Savoie and Switzerland: storms arriving from the south can bring heavy snow to these valleys while the northern Alps stay dry, and the reverse is also common. When the wind is strong, the high links between sectors can close.

Bardonecchia has about 100 km of slopes in two areas, Colomion-Melezet and the higher Jafferau, which reaches about 2,700 m. It is a quieter choice and handy for the Fréjus tunnel from France.

The main season runs from early December to early April. Oulx station, on the line from Turin to Modane, is the rail access point, and Turin is the nearest airport.