Tignes - World Snowboard Guide

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Introduction

Tignes is very snowboard friendly; long before the other French resorts welcomed snowboarders, Tignes opened it’s arms wide and said, 'come here and slide down that, jump over that, and listen to this while you're at it'. If Carlsberg made snowboard resorts they would have made Tignes.

Set at 2100 meters and part of the 290km of pistes that is the Espace Killy, it has a very good snow record, a glacier, a lake and a lot of varying terrain; Tignes can almost guarantee everyone leaves satisfied. You drive up to the resort on the same road towards Val D’Isere from Bourg Saint Maurice, accessible by Eurostar and the snow train. A painting of Hercules holding back the water greets you as you cross over the high dam, and as you pass a church on your right you can see Jesus, who has freed his arms from the crucifix and now points towards the old submerged village. Eerie, man, eerie.

Tignes is one of the major resorts in France, and has long been hosting national and international events, their web site even has a Japanese translation. BASI runs some of its snowboard instructors courses here. Snowboard teams and manufacturers also use Tignes to host training camps and events.

The main lifts open early September and close late May and with summer boarding on the Grande Motte Glacier from mid June to September. You can almost board every day of the year. This year they even had a summer funpark.

And if you're up for it, you can dive under the ice of Tignes-Le-Lac and look up at the ice-distorted mountains.

Zoes view

British Olympic Boarder-X

The best week I ever had in Tignes was about 7 years ago when it snowed the whole time, the lifts didn’t open once but we just hiked around building powder kickers

New for season

2008/9:Replace Marsh & Tuffs chairlift with removable chairs. Snowmaking on Rhododendron and Cornflowers pistes.

2006/7: The 2 chair lifts at Palafour replaced with a 6-seater. Replacement of Bored Needle chairlift, new beginner lift at Boisses, snowmaking on Palafour.

05/06: new Tichot chair replaces the Balmes tow and the old chair. Increase in snowmaking area

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Top Holiday Offers

Date	Dept	Basis	Days	Price
13/Dec	Stansted	Catered	7	£ 519
13/Dec	Gatwick	Catered	7	£ 538
13/Dec	Birmingham	Catered	7	£ 550
13/Dec	Southampton	Catered	7	£ 554
13/Dec	Manchester	Catered	7	£ 558
13/Dec	Manchester	Catered	7	£ 568
01/Oct/10	Gatwick	Catered	7	£ 638
01/Oct/10	Gatwick	Catered	7	£ 638
01/Oct/10	Southampton	Catered	7	£ 654
01/Oct/10	Bristol	Catered	7	£ 654

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Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Nov to May
Summer: June to Oct

Lifts

Total Lifts: 47
Cable cars: 1
Gondolas: 2
Chair lifts: 24
Drag lifts: 19
Other lifts: 1 funicular
Max people per hour: 13,500
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 67
Total ride area: 93miles (150km)
Longest run: 4miles (6km)

Top lift: 3450m
Vertical drop: 1900m
First lift: 1550m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 62%
Red runs: 29%
Black runs: 9%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes: Early Autumn glacier only, day pass 25.50 euros
Autumn day pass 33 euros
Espace Killy:
1 day pass 40
6 day pass 192.5
Tignes only:
Half-day 26
1 day pass 34
6 day pass 165
Lift times:8.30am to 4.30pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 5m
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 40%

Facilities

Night Riding: : No
Snowboard Schools: Huge (too many) number of ski & board schools in the resort
Snowboard Hire: loads of hire shops, all over priced. Board and boots start around 150 euros for 6 days.

Heliboarding: : from nearby Italian resort; 2 drops Miravidi-Ruitor (3300 vertical drop) 225. Contact Snocool.com, tel: 06 1534 5463
Snowmobiles: Yes

Further information

www.tignes.net/
Email:information@tignes.net

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Summary

Snow sure, true boarders' moonscape Great all-round resort with something for everyone, no matter what your ability. However, watch out some for long lift queues and crowds during school holidays and weekends.

ON THE SLOPES Fantastic

OFF THE SLOPES Very good

MONEY WISE This is an expensive resort in all aspects but not as bad as some of the unfriendly French resorts. Well worth the cash.