Dad & I had our now traditional ski holiday in Italy again this year, after a nice experience last year.
We had a late bargain deal to the Grand Claviere Hotel through Crystal Holidays. The hotel was very convenient for the slopes with easy access to and from the piste...almost doorstep skiing!
The big news was that after all the years of waiting and the age limits being pushed up, Dad got his free ski pass! This is actually a nice benefit as the full pass is 186 Euros. If they think that 75 year olds won't use the lifts as much, of course they are mistaken in Dad's case, as we stayed out skiing pretty much all day every day, with a break or two, depending on the cold.
The weather was glorious sun and blue skies all week, with a few snow clouds rolling in one afternoon for a very light snowfall during the evening. It was quite mild the first 2 days but then dropped colder and 2 days especially were cold with temperatures dropping to minus 10-15 Celsius. Nothing like as severe as last year though, where it went to minus 25! The pistes were well-covered with firm, compact snow, but very few icy patches and virtually no worn patches. With good piste skis the conditions were generally easy and the italians certainly groom the runs daily. Our pass enabled us to ski at the French resort of Montgenevre, literally a 4 minute ski away from Claviere. This is a large resort and quite different in character to cosy Claviere. The French don't groom their pistes as often for sure, but conditions were still very good and it made a change to get some skiing in the open environment above the trees.
My only photo kit was my trusty Nikon D80 and the 18-135 kit lens with a UV filter. It survived a few knocks riding in my backpack all day and worked fine even at below minus 10.
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| Evening view from our balcony toward Montgenevre |
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| Looking toward Sansicario where we stayed last year |
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| View toward Claviere & Montgenevre in the valley, taken from the top of the women's downhill run at Sansicario |
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| The nice Soleil Boeuf restaurant at Sansicario |
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| Always a colourful sight |
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| It took a while for me to stop looking out for Dad's purple ski suit as he changed it for a Columbia jacket this year |
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| The colours were simply staggering...the sky especially. I only used a UV filter, not a polariser |
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| Not quite a bristlecone, but I love the effect of dry cold air on the trees, giving them an old, gnarled appearance |
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| I love the texture and colour contrasts between trees, snow and sky |
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| Claviere is Italy's oldest ski resort and this is the remains of the original lift...should be a heritage site! |
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| The national divide...right leg in Italy, left in France! Chilly and high, but spectacular views at Eagle Rock. |
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| Looking into Montgenevre from Eagle Rock. It looks cold and indeed it was! |
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| Late afternoon light falling on Claviere |
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| Late run down the black piste leading into Claviere |
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| Another morning, wrapped up and some serious skiing to be done! |
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| My distinctive Burton Ski jacket...I haven't yet seen another! |
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| I had my eye on his lovely old hut all week |
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| High up at Montgenevre |
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| Chairlift to Eagle Rock |
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| The colourful lichens on the rocks add some drama to the views high up |
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| The lift for this run only opened at the weekend so we had a chance to do it saturday. Nice views toward Claviere and the mountain that dominates it |
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| The traditional skis shot before handing them back to the shop...great piste skis |
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| I decided to get a ski helmet for the first time and found it fab. Neither of us actually fell over during the week so I didn't get to test it! |
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| Fair to say dad had rather good value from his free lift pass! |
Another fantastic ski holiday and I look forward to doing it again next year. It would be nice if a whole bunch of us could go with the kids as well.
