Sestriere, Italy, to Offer Night Skiing on Famous World Cup Course

This season, Italy’s Sestriere ski area will offer night skiing on the famous Kandahar Giovanni Alberto Agnelli slope. The slope is famous for hosting decades of elite alpine ski racing competitions, with some of the world’s best skiers having ridden down the slope.

The resort was purpose-built for skiing in the 1930s by Giovanni Agnelli Sr. — the Fiat patriarch who reportedly wanted a ski resort visible from Turin. His namesake slope is the resort’s crown jewel: a black run descending in an almost straight line from 2,250 meters (7,382 feet). It is homologated for World Cup Special Slalom and Giant Slalom for both men and women and hosted the alpine events at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

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The rich alpine skiing history of the Kandahar course dates all the way back to its International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) World Cup debut in 1967. That year, the slope hosted one of the first FIS World Cup races in history, where France’s Jean-Claude Killy won the men’s downhill on the Kandahar Banchetta.

Perhaps the most iconic moment on the Kandahar G.A. Agnelli slope came in 1994. It hosted the first-ever night World Cup race, with thousands of spectators filling in the bottom of the slope to take in the action. There, the spectators witnessed the greatness of Italian slalom specialist Alberto Tomba, who won his sixth consecutive World Cup victory at Sestriere between 1987 and 1994.

While Tomba’s success at Sestriere may be the most significant, plenty of other athletes have had big moments on the slope. On February 23, 2025, American slalom skier Mikaela Shiffrin made history on the Kandahar G.A. Agnelli slope by clinching her milestone 100th World Cup victory in the slalom.

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In addition to hosting World Cups, the Kandahar slope has also hosted Olympic competition. The 2006 Turin Olympics held its Alpine skiing events in Sestriere, with the technical disciplines held on the Kandahar. Team USA’s Ted Ligety won a surprising breakthrough gold medal in the combined slalom-downhill category. Adding to Team USA’s success on the slopes was Julia Mancuso, who won her first career Olympic gold in giant slalom. Austria’s Benjamin Raich also had an Olympics of a lifetime, winning gold in slalom and giant slalom on the Angelli slope, completing the technical double while leading an Austrian podium sweep in slalom.

By opening the slope for night skiing, guests at Sestriere can get a first-hand experience at one of the world’s most legendary competition tracks. Skiers will get to truly experience the difficulty of an elite Alpine ski course while taking in all the history and big moments that went down right where they’re standing.

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Sestriere is a part of the Via Lattea ski network, which is set to begin its season on December 5, 2026. According to NeveItalia, Via Lattea is entering this season intending to maximize the “usability of the resort by making the largest possible number of slopes and facilities available.” The resort network is currently completing its multi-year snowmaking network upgrade project in the Sestriere area and will look to open its slopes as weather permits. 

Access to the floodlit Kandahar Giovanni Alberto Agnelli slope is included in the 2026-27 Via Lattea season pass.