Tignes, France
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
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.
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
Hotel search
Top Holiday Offers
Hotel Le Gentiana - Half Board
Hotel Le Gentiana is family owned & run, in one of the best locations in Le Lac, with direct access to the run lea
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
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.
Night Riding: :
No
Other activities
Heliboarding: :
from nearby Italian resort; 2 drops Miravidi-Ruitor (3300 vertical drop) 225. Contact Snocool.com, tel: 06 1534 5463
Snowmobiles:
Yes
Further information
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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.
Terrain & parks
HALFPIPE:
Yes - 2
TERRAIN PARK:
Yes - 1
BACKCOUNTRY/OFF-PISTE:Yes
TREE RUNS:A few
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Related pages
Image Gallery
New webcams
Resort News
iPod Double McTwist 1260s his way to X-Games glory 13Mar10
>> more news on Tignes ...Next Events
Winter X Games Europe 2011
16-18 March 11
After the success of last seasons inaugural competition, the European X-games is back in Tignes for a second helping
Piste Map
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