Rating overall
9/10
Summary
Freeride - 80%
No tree runs but huge off-piste
Freestyle - 70%
All year parks & halfpipe
Pistes - 76%
Open motorway cruisers
Beginners - 74%
Lots of nice safe areas and independent tuition
Nightlife - 73%
Some good bars in all the villages
Value - 80%
Great option for the budget concious
Mountain stats
Top lift:3450m
Vertical drop:1900m
Bottom lift:1550m
Lift count :
1 x Cable-cars
2 x Gondolas
24 x Chairlifts
19 x Drag-lifts
Other lifts 1 funicular
93miles (150km) OF PISTES (67 PISTES)
Easy
Intermediate
Advanced
Pass (Low/High Season) :
26.00-26.00 Half-day
, 33.00-34.00 Day
, 165.00-165.00 6-day
, 165.00-165.00 6-day linked area
Tignes Rider / andyparent.com
Introduction
Tignes is very snowboard friendly; long before the other French resorts welcomed snowboarders, Tignes opened it’s arms wide and said, 'come here, slide down that, jump over that, and listen to this while you're at it'. With a glacier that enables snowboarding for up to 11 months of a year, big freeriding areas, world class parks and lift access to Val D’Isere it’s easy to see why this is a destination riders want to check out and check off their wish list.
Bluebird
Michael Whittaker
Set at 2100 meters and part of the 290km of pistes that is the Espace Killy, Tignes is truly world class with a very good snow record and lots of varying terrain it prove to be a popular choice for both winter and summer activities. To get here you drive up to the resort on the same road towards Val D’Isere from Bourg Saint Maurice, the resort is also accessible by the 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.
The main lifts open from early September and close late May and with summer boarding taking place on the Grande Motte Glacier from mid June to September. As well as being able to board almost every day of the year you can also dive under the ice of Tignes-Le-Lac and look up at the ice-distorted mountains.
If you are wanting to get noticed or get qualified Tignes has an abundance of national and international events and BASI run some of its snowboard instructors courses from here. Snowboard teams and manufacturers regularly head to Tignes to host training camps and events.
Snowboarder and Skier Tignes
Michael Whittaker
Crystal Ski Holidays (crystalski.co.uk; 020 8610 3123) offers a week’s half board at the Hotel Tignes 2100 from £540 per person including flights from Gatwick and transfers (this price is for departure during January 2019). The ski season starts from 15th December 2018 and departures from all major UK airports available (at a supplement starting from £25).