Skiing the high life (Tignes)

Member Name: vladimpala

Product:	Tignes
Date:	01/04/02 (445 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 300Kms of Piste, Something for everyone, Off Piste Heaven

Disadvantages: Quite spread out, Queues for the glacier, Not the prettiest place on the planet

Tignes - 2100m - that's a long way up, higher tham most other places in the Alps including neighbouring Val d'Isere. This far up trees are non-existent and things can look a bit bleak - but who cares! you don't go all the the way to Tignes to look at trees - you go to ski (well some people go to drink too, but not me) and this high up you can be pretty sure if there is snow in the alps you will find it here.

Tignes itself as a collection of villages in a high valley just across the mountain from Val d'Isere with which it shares it's ski area. A couple of villages (Les Boisses and les Brevieres) can be found lower down but the main action happens in Tignes Le Lac and Val Claret which lie either side of a lake. The area offers skiing from 3500m all the way down to 1550m on a wide variety of pistes where skiers of all standards, from beginner to off piste addict, will find something to keep them happy. Note that not all pistes are groomed every night, so some of the blues can start to look like reds or blacks after a couple of days. Depending on the weather the runs down to the lower villages can get quite slushy but up on the glacier the snow is usually top notch. Most of the runs and lifts link together well but there are a couple of places where careful planning is required to make sure you end up where you want to be (e.g. Replat/Grand Huit lifts).

Many people are critcal of the architecture of Tignes, and it's true that Val Claret is a bit of a tower block blot on the landscape. Le Lac is not nearly as bad having many more chalets, in fact from some angles it's quite pretty. Quite a lot of works seems to have been done to put some of the roads and parking underground and this helps keep cars and skiers apart.

I was lucky enough to be able to ski-in/out of my chalet this year and quite a lot of the accomodation offers this sort of capability if you don't mind a bit of gentle off piste. Otherwise now
here is that far away from a lift and if you can't face the walk a free bus runs regularly around the villages.

The lift system has a good number of fast 4/6 man express lifts, but there are also quite a few of the older (slower) lifts about and even a few drag lifts (note: children aren't allowed on some of the drags). A similar mix of facilities is found over the hill at Val d'Isere, but it doesn't stop you getting around quickly and it is easy to ski from Tignes all the way over to the Fornet glacier and back again in a day (including a long lunch). Obviously at this height the lifts can be prone to closure due to high winds - especially the Cable car up to the top of the glacier. Even when it is running the queues can be long, and to be honest it is debateable if the run down is worth repeating. For me the main weakness in the lift system is the link over to Val d'Isere, but I saw that this is to be improved for the 2002/3 season.

Pricewise it may be cheaper than Val d'Isere, but it still isn't cheap so don't expect to find bargains in the ski shops. When it comes to nightlife I am told there are plenty of watering holes of various styles, but I can't vouch for them personally as that's not my thing.

Finally I have to mention the excellent standard of the mountain cafes I tried - not too expensive (about 10 euros for main meal and a soft drink) and top quality food (fantastic Quiche and Creme Brulee at Le Palet - just above Val Claret).

Overall - if you love skiing you will love Tignes.

P.S. ooops! almost forgot - one big downside is the horrendous 4 hour transfer from Geneva, try to fly to Chambrey which is a bit closer.

Summary: