As a resort to offer most things to most winter sports oriented people, you have to go a long way to beat Sauze d’Oulx. Various nicknames in the recent past betray the reputation for all sorts of excesses, and many a holiday maker has returned from a break at Sauze nursing a sore head, an empty wallet and a memory full of activities, both on piste and off!

But Sauze is not just a lively apres ski venue. It is where it is because it also offers some of the best skiing anywhere in the Alps, because it retains a check on prices which have spiralled out of control in other resorts, because it is now re-investing in an effort to offer more attractions to a wider range of holidaymakers – especially families, because it is convenient for both Turin and Milan airports, and because it overlooks some of the most stunning scenery anywhere in the Alps.

The world famous Andy Capp giant slalom takes place every week, and everybody is invited to join in. There is a street market every Friday, a natural ice rink, an amusement arcade , a cinema, a wine tasting cellar, winter trekking with and without guides, a creche, which takes children from six months to six years, a ski and snowboard school which has a worldwide reputation for quality, heliskiing opportunities, and last, but by no means least, an array of pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants, pizzerias and cafes that is just too extensive to list.