(Sestriere, Italy)

The stage was set:  after exploring the Milky Way ski region for 4 days and confirming the logistics involved, our 5th day would be spent on an epic round-trip journey on skis to Montgenevre, France.

But it wasn’t.  We awoke to yet another snowstorm and made the difficult decision to stay closer to Sestriere.  It just didn’t make sense to ski all the way to France without being able to see anything.

Instead, we returned to the nearby Borgata area and set about exploring some of the pistes that we hadn’t seen back on Day 1.  Something cool happened:  while the top of the mountain was shrouded in snow and had essentially no visibility, the bottom half (which could only be reached by skiing all the way down from the top) was actually relatively clear even though it also had been blanketed with tons of fresh snow.  Thus, if you were willing to endure some blind skiing up top, you were rewarded with amazing conditions at the bottom.

We stumbled upon the “Kandahar” (Banchetta Nasi) piste early and took the plunge.  This was the 2006 Olympic men’s downhill course and the buckets of snow made it an exhilarating ride.  We returned to it often, thoroughly enjoying conditions that are rarely associated with on-piste skiing.

We decided to ski to the village of Pragelato for lunch.  The lone piste to the village was a winter wonderland; nowhere near the Kandahar in terms of difficulty but nonetheless incredibly scenic as it slowly wound through the snow-blanketed forest to the valley.  Alas, Pragelato turned out to be a Club Med village…with very formally dressed staff and steep lunch prices for non-guests.  We ate instead at a more humble place back on the Borgata slopes.

While the Kandahar piste remained excellent for the rest of the day and we returned to it periodically,  the sun eventually emerged over the entire area and my posse found even more stunning deep powder conditions on pistes that had been marked as closed or had simply been overlooked by everybody else.   When looking at the next two pictures (as well as the photo at the very top of this post), remember that these pistes had been groomed overnight:  these photos were all taken in the afternoon!   As you can see, there was nobody else around.

Access to this kind of skiing is usually only by helicopter…and yet, we were able to have the same experience for the price of a simple lift ticket.  We were incredibly fortunate.

And then, on the last run of the day, shadows began to fall on the slopes.  I was within sight of Sestriere village when I planned a turn through what I thought was yet another stash of powder.  Alas, the low light was playing tricks on me and it was not powder at all.  I didn’t realize this until the last second and took an awkward stumble.  To make a long story short, I decided that I should not risk a more permanent injury by skiing the next day with a stiff shoulder and neck.

I was more than a little frustrated at the time.  However, as I type this, I realize that I did have a remarkable 5 days of skiing…and it was probably equivalent to 10 days of skiing in “normal” circumstances.  Taking it easy the next day also ensured that I could enjoy the last two days of my holiday.

Stay tuned for the final post from my trip to Italy!