Sestriere Ski Resort

Sestriere is the world's original purpose-built high-altitude ski village and remains one of Europe's highest resorts.

Sestriere ski resort was built by the family that owned the Fiat car company and remained in their possession until early in 2007, when it was disposed of as part of a swathe of asset sales. Under their ownership, the resort was a pioneer of snowmaking and built up an arsenal of nearly 1,000 snow guns in the 1970s and 80s – long before most of Europe began thinking about snowmaking. The combination of altitude and snowmaking makes Sestriere one of the world's most snowsure resorts.

The Italian village is the main resort on the giant Via Lattea (Milky Way) pass, which links it to near neighbour Sauze d'Oulx and to Montgenèvre in France, via Sansicario, Cesana and border-village Claviere. Skiers at Sestriere have access to 400km (250 miles) of linked ski runs. Claviere and Sauze d’Oulx are two of Italy’s oldest ski areas, both having offered winter sports holidays for just over a century.

Sestriere was also a host to the World Alpine Ski Championships in 1997 and alpine events in the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.