Claviere (Via Lattea) Sneeuwverwachting

I Stayed at the Grand Claviere (Crystal Ski) at the end of March 2011. It is a good hotel with good food and very friendly, helpful staff. I took my 6 year old daughter on her first ski holiday and could not have been happier with the resort or the staff. Any worries I had with just the two of us travelling were gone within minutes of arriving. Being a family hotel she made friends straight away and loved ever minute. I dropped her of at Whizz Kids after breakfast, caught up with her at ski lessons and picked her up at 2 o'clock after lunch so we could have a few hours skiing together. The runs at the resort were uncrowded and at several times throughout the day you could be the only person on the piste. There are some cracking reds to keep the inters happy for a few days and some easier reds that run into blues for the beginners or 1 to 2 weekers. Montgenevre is immediately next to the resort and has some amazing sweeping runs that can be easy or very challenging depending on your needs with south facing slopes for the colder mornings and north facing slopes for the warmer afternoons. The black run that comes back into Claviere is immense and well worth hitting a few times. (I would, however, say it is noticeably more expensive to eat and drink on this side of the border). Sestriere on the other side of the mountain is readily accessible and has some fantastic skiing too with massively long reds and some real short racing ones. Boarders are better getting the chair lift across or face a 10 minute walk on a really flat section that joins the resort. I am seriously considering taking my now 7 year old and my 5 year old daughters back to Claviere this year.