Sestriere (Piedmont)

Sestiere is an alpine village in Italy, a comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, 17 km (11 mi) from the French border. Its name derives from Latin: 'ad petram sistrariam', that is at sixty Roman miles from Turin. Sestriere has 929 inhabitants and is located on the pass that links Val Chisone and Val Susa, at 2,035 metres above mean sea level. The village is completely surrounded by mountains, which have been exploited to build one of the biggest ski resorts in Italy. Sestriere is a popular skiing resort; during the winter holidays, the population goes up to about 20,000 people. Together with the villages of Pragelato, Claviere, Sauze d'Oulx, Cesana Torinese and San Sicario, and Montgenèvre in France, it makes up the Via Lattea (Milky Way) skiing area. Sestriere is connected to 146 skiable pistes, for a total of up to 400 km (249 mi) of trails, of which 120 are provided with artificial snow. Sestriere has also one of the few facilities where it is possible to ski at night on a floodlit run.