Via Lattea

The Via Lattea (Milky Way) is a winter sports area in the Italian and French Alps, straddling the French-Italian border at Claviere/Montgenèvre. Located some 70 km (44 miles) west of Turin, it comprises the five Piedmontese resorts of Claviere (1760m), Sansicario (1700m), Sauze d'Oulx (1509m), Pragelato (1518m) and Sestriere (2035m) and additionally the French resort Montgenèvre (1850m). Altogether there are 400 km (250 miles) of skiable pistes, 120 of them with artificial snow, and 88 lifts. The lowest lift begins at 1350m in the service village of Cesana Torinese; the highest point is Mont Motta in the Sestriere ski area, at 2800m. Claviere and Montgenèvre are connected at the lower limit of their ski area in the frontier pass, and at their highest point below the top of Mont Gimont but are not easily reachable from the other areas, relying on a slow lift system up from Cesana. There are regular zero-fare bus services between the resorts.

A standard 6-day lift pass for one resort on the Italian side gives two free days skiing elsewhere in the Italian Via Lattea; otherwise, a supplement is payable, as it is for Montgenèvre. Coach trips are also organised to the Serre Chevalier ski region near Briançon in France.

The Via Lattea region hosted many events during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, including most alpine, freestyle, and nordic skiing events, bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge.

Pragelato is connected to Via Lattea Ski by a gondola that in five minutes brings riders in the center of the ski slopes of Sestriere.

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Wikipedia