Our inaugural family skiing trip last year was an unqualified success and there had been a lot of discussion about the follow up. The new season ski brochures started landing on our doorstep in the autumn. ‘But we’re not going this year. I’m pregnant so I can’t ski and I’m sorry but you’re not all going without me.’ Case closed. Still the thick polythene wrapped promises of snow and sun thudded through the letterbox. I held firm. Then I had lunch with a girlfriend who hated skiing but chose to go on holiday to Zermatt every Easter. ‘You just need to choose the right resort,’ she advised.

She had quite possibly been paid by my husband but once the seed was sown, the prospect of bidding my family good bye after breakfast, joining them for lunch and then reading my book until tea seemed increasingly attractive. We booked with Powder Byrne, who I had been assured by devotees would convert us to the world of ‘kids’ club’ family holidays (to date we had adopted a smug disdain of those requiringwall-to-wall childcare in order to co-exist with their offspring). On the advice of Powder Byrne, we chose Grindelwald, a picturesque Swiss resort under the shadow of the Eiger.

We arrived in the resort following a stress-free transfer. Our hotel was a typical old-style four star hotel: family run, good central position, the slightly dated 1970’s makeover more than compensated for by charming and helpful staff. The village is not picture-postcard pretty but feels like a proper community rather than a purpose-built resort, complete with train station and primary school. Towering over it is the famous north face of the Eiger – its bare rockface having never seen the sun.

The following morning, the skiers set off shortly after breakfast. I deposited my youngestwith the well equipped and friendly crèche and spent the morning as a lady of leisure: pool, sauna, jacuzzi before setting out to meet up with my husband for lunch. Here, the advice of my non-skiing friend rang in my ears. If you are not skiing and want to take part in the holiday, you need to be able to get to the skiers. Switzerland is particularly good for this. Long before mass market skiing, telecabines and chair lifts, the energetic Swiss were donning their flat wooden skis and crampons. In support, a vertiginous but extensive mountain train network exists that no planner would think of building today. You can catch the train up from Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch which, at just under 4,000 metres, is the highest train station in Europe. Stop for lunch at one of the numerous mountain restaurants there or catch a train down the other side to the charming, car free resorts of Wengen and Murren.

As a result of the railway and the spell the Eiger casts over mountaineering nutcases, Grindelwald is not just the preserve of skiers. It is a buzzing summertime tourist hub and, even in the winter season, has more non-skiers than many resorts. If you are ski-less however, there is a must-have accessory that you cannot be without: a toboggan. There are miles and miles of prepared hiking and tobogganing trails. Some are for serious pros but there are plenty of gentler slopes too. My youngest (aged 2) and I established a routine where I would take her out of the crèche at about 3 o’clock and we would take the train up to ‘the Eiger Run’. If we got our timing right, we arrived at the bottom just as the next train up drew into the station. A couple of runs, and I felt we had earned our hot chocolate when we joined the skiers.

As for the benefits of wall to wall childcare? I am converted. I walked up and had a snoop one morning at the special bit of the nursery slopes that is used by Powder Byrne – complete with a chalet for colouring in and games when the snow gets too much for the little ones. My memories of ESF instructors yelling at me in French came back as I watched my daughter beaming as she slowly turned round a pole behind a giant penguin. We had one day without kids club. They skied with Rob in the morning and then we had a mass tobogganing session in the afternoon. On the last day, they had a competition and their Yeti club medals are in pride of place in their bedrooms.

My husband skied with a small group of fellow guests and a guide during the day but in the evenings we felt like we were on holiday on our own. This is something Powder Byrne excels at. You have all the benefits of skiing as part of a large party, without having to compromise your independent traveller status. After a week away with three children I had read a handful of books, had a bit of sun on my cheeks and felt completely rested – a first. As for the others, they are leafing through the 2006/7 brochures that have just arrived.

Emily Turner and family stayed at the Hotel Belvedere in Grindelwald. Rates start at £1,124 per person. Yeti Club costs from £340 per child. Contact Powder Byrne on:
Tel 8246 5300 www.powderbyrne.co.uk.