Ski in Clavière

Skiing in Clavière

Clavière - Ski Resort in The Milky Way, Italian Alps - 33km of Piste (1760m to 2300m)

Italy's oldest resort has a border post at one end of the village and is a ten minute walk from Montgènevre, France. The resort is very relaxed, with friendly and hospitable residents and some lovely hotel bars. It is on the long and interesting Milky Way circuit.

Clavière

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Clavière Ski Facts

Clavière Ski Facts

		Expert Skiers
		Intermediate Skiers
		Beginners
		Snowboarding
		Snow
		Apres-Ski
	42	Black Pistes (42km)
	118	Red Pistes (118km)
	54	Blue Pistes (54km)
	7	Green Pistes (7km)
33km		Downhill Pistes
10km		Cross Country Pistes
12		Ski Lifts
550m		Max Vertical
2300m		Highest Lift
1760m		Lowest Piste
1750m		Resort Altitude

Clavière

The Italian ski resort of Clavière is part of the Milky Way ski area with access to 598 individual pistes. In addition to the skiing in Clavière itself (33km of pisted ski runs), the appropriate ski Lift Pass will allow you to ski or snowboard in the other Milky Way ski resorts of Sansicario, Sauze d'Oulx, Sestrière and Montgenèvre.

The ski resort itself is above 1500m, so skiing or boarding back to the resort is usually possible. With skiing above 2000 metres, snow cover is generally reliable.

Snowmaking :- Clavière is able to augment natural snow, on 40km of ski runs, with 250 Snow Cannons.

Ski Lift Capacity :- The 12 Ski Lifts of Clavière are able to uplift 90,000 skiers / snowboarders per hour.

There are four Airports within two hours drive, so ski weekends, snowboard breaks and short ski holidays to Clavière are perfectly feasible.

Skiing in Clavière

Sestrière is the central point of a vast trail network which extends over to Sauze d'Oulx and in the other direction to Sansicario, Cesana and Claviere over to Montgenèvre. The network is also connected by gondola to the village of Pragelatio, a centre for Nordic events at the 2006 Olympics. In this immense area with more than 400km of runs there is something for everyone, from beginners to experts.

Sestrière's skiing has been well designed from the start. The vast snowy bowl, largely above the tree line, gave the planners a blank sheet to play with.

Beginners runs fan out above the ski school meeting point in the resort' centre. and a special lift tickets given relevant limited lift access for beginners only is also available. Experts have fewer trails just for them but heli-skiing is popular in the area. Runs in the Amphitaeatro bowl and the blacks at the top of Sises and Motta are also highly regarded.

Intermediates will enjoy Sestrières skiing the most, using the two main local areas of Banchetta and Sises. There are runs of all kinds from short steep moguls to long wide motorway cruisers. It's easy to get over to the pleasant wooded trails above neighbouring Sauze d'Oulx. The trails over to Montgenèvre can be tackled by intermediate skiers via blues and reds. It is an exciting trip as you have the feeling of travelling from village to village. A full day should be allowed and some sectors, notably around the village of Cesana may not have adequate snow cover except at the height of the season but lift and snowmaking improvements means these tricky areas are easier to avoid than they once were.

A run good skiers should not miss in Sestriere is Mount Sises (which also gives access to excellent off piste from the slopes of Valle Ripa and Vallone del Chisonetto). You reach the top (2600m) with the Cit Roc chairlift and then a ski-lift. The run is steep but wide in the highest part then flatter around the Mount Alpette and becoming once again quite vertical under the chair lift where the old ski lift once passed.

Sauze d'Oulx's ski area can be accessed from four different points around the village, all served by chair lifts and linked at resort level by a ski bus. As the resort is built on quite a steep hillside and all the lifts leave from the upper outskirts of the village, this bus is invaluable for many guests.

Beginners have a village level nursery slope at the base of the Clotes chair, but most teaching takes place at Sportina, a plateau area half way up the mountain from which many lifts radiate out and there are a number of short beginner drags. Sportina can be reached quickly by a quad chairlift.

Intermediates will get the most out of this great varied terrain and enjoy the feeling of travel over to the neighbouring areas. Reasonable intermediates can make the Milky Way link in reasonable snow conditions by skiing over to Sansicario, taking the (unskiable) chairlift link across the top of Cesana and then skiing on above Clavière, over the border to Montgenèvre in France. Remember to check ahead for piste conditions all the way over and leave early to be on the safe side.

Expert skiers in Sauze will find some fun off-piste amongst the larch woods of the lower slopes or up in the higher powder bowls. There are a variety of off piste routes which a guide can show you that descend 1300m from the top of Fratieve to the valley.

Montgenèvre's skiing marks the Western end of the Milky Way circuit; it's the only French resort on it. Skiing takes place on both sides of the main road that runs through the resort and over the pass into Italy. The area is most fun for intermediates who will enjoy the endless variety of trails above the treeline and then plunging down through the forest. Popular routes include the wide runs down from Les Angles at the top of the resort and the long red from Le Chavlet across the Valley.

Beginners have wide sunny slopes by the village and, because of the altitude, backed up with snowmaking, the convenience of village level nursery slopes is ensured throughout the season - unlike at many other famous but lower altitude resorts. The altitude also means that Montgenèvre can genuinely maintain a sunshine record that is the envy of many, but doesn't melt too much of the snow.

Intermediates have the whole Milky Way ahead of them. Experts may have to travel about to find a huge amount of challenging terrain, or venture off piste with a guide. Nonetheless there are seven marked black pistes at Montgenèvre alone. These are dotted all around the mountain, but the 'off the beaten track' Col de l'Alpet area on the 'back route' to Clavière 2430 metres is a favourite area for bumps. Heliskiing from Montgenèvre: 2 drop off points on the Italian peaks over 3000 metres.

In Sestriere its possibile to ski at night on the floodlit run where many ski champions have battled it out in World Cup competitions

Snowboarding in Clavière

Snowboarding is a popular on the Via Lattea where fast new chairlifts have made moving around much easier. Sestriere has hosted Snowboard World Cups and Sauze d'Oulx has the party atmosphere.

There are four snowparks - one at each end of the circuit in Montgenevre, in Sestriere, in Sauze D'Oulx and Cesana San Sicario. Montgenèvre's dedicated snowboard park above the resort, fenced off from the main terrain and designed for maximum air and to enable the best acrobatics. The local terrain offers good and varied free riding.

Clavière Aprés Ski

Claviere has a fairly limited apres ski scene with a handful of mostly hotel bars stretched along the main street.

It has stepped up tempo in recent years however with the Disco Pub Murphy's Igloo one of four dedicated bar-nightspots. You can also visit Ski Legends or brave the Gallo Cedrone's karaoke bar and check out The Gran Bouc's usually popular bar.

Other evening activities include the amusement arcade and, if it's cold enough, a natural ice rink.

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Clavière in brief

Clavière Ski Resort is:
Good for Expert Skiers.
Very good for Intermediate Skiers.
Very good for Beginners.
Ok for Snowboarding.
Opened : December 1, 2012
Closed : April 27, 2013
Opening Subject To Snow Conditions.

Clavière Snow Forecast

Snow Forecast for Clavière

Clavière Piste Map

Full Page Piste Map of Clavière

Map of Clavière

Full Page Map of Clavière