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  4 of 5, "New Year in Tignes" 04/02/2010 @ 12:04:29 |
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| Price Paid |
| £1100ish |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Ski Total |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
Chalet:
We stayed in Chalet Arktic with Ski Total, it made a nice change to be in a modern place rather than the usual floor to ceiling brown tiles of most chalets! The location was good to average, close to the Chardonnet drag lift (although this lift isn't beginner friendly) and less than 5 mins to walk to the main bowl where Parlafour/Aeroski are. The pool was bigger than I expected for a small chalet and the sauna was great. The hot tub was a nice addition but had a habit of emptying itself when a large group went in, leaving the water level too low for just a couple to keep shoulders under. Showers were all super powerful with an endless supply of hot water. Food was also good - being the standard Ski Total menu.
Conditions:
For New Year week the snow was excellent. The base was one of the best I've had that time of year, and there was a constant supply of snow almost daily to keep everything topped up, even a couple of dumps big enough to cover all the previous days tracks. The one downside to this was poor visibility. Most days had completely flat light, the lack of trees didn't help at all and the fresh snow made the runs choppy by early morning and difficult to ride at speed as you couldn't see the bumps! It also made off piste a bit difficult/dangerous as most days you couldn't see small gullies and gradients etc. The few times it cleared it was great!
Runs:
I found most of the runs to be very good for snowboarding. The ratings seemed pretty easy compared to most French resorts, reds compared to the usual blues and the black under the aeroski seemed more of a red, although the fresh snow helped as there was very little ice around. We didn't find many flat sections, getting to the bottom of the Merles chair from Lys required a short scoot, and the only time we had to unbind was following Genepy down from the Grand Motte. Favourite warm up run was getting first chair (twice!) on powder days at Parlafour and following combe down for another lap. Double M red was also a great run.
The trip to Val D is easily do-able, we easily made it over to Le Fornet and back in a day with heavy snow and poor visibility slowing us down a fair bit, lunch at the top of the Fornet gondola is a good tip!
Off piste:
As mentioned we were limited by poor visibility almost all week, so we couldn't scout out a lot and a high avalanche risk meant staying close to the pistes. The ungroomed black under the Parlafour chair was good fun, and we found stacks of fresh steep lines next to the pistes on the route back from Val Claret to Le Lac (start at the top of Grattalu, down lac, up Grand Huit and down to the skiers right of Chardonnet. Another decent area we found was up Parlafour, cut through the slalom run and stay between the lift and the combe run.
Food/Drink:
Being France, no where is very cheap but Loop bar was great for Jagerbombs etc. Food there was also decent. Alpaka is worth a trip just to see the worlds biggest dog (although he is quite shy!) Had beers in a few other places but can't remember the names, all were ok though. Croc Burger near to Loop had decent prices for lunch meal deals.
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| Strengths |
Snow conditions
Good runs for snowboarders - wide slops with few flats
Lift queues were very short for New Year week. |
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| Hot Spots |
| Loop bar I guess? Although it can be a bit like a typical Brit abroad bar with the footy on etc. |
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| Weaknesses |
Aeroski was constantly closing even in light winds/snow meaning a few chairs to get up an alternative route.
Lack of trees, you will remember how nice they are when you head down to Les Brevieres! |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Lack of trees aside, the runs and snow conditions felt similar to Whistler. |
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 1 of 5, "avoid tignes early season" 19/12/2006 @ 19:07:11 |
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| 3 of 5 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| way over the odds for a rip-off resort |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| arrange it ourselves |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
just got back from tignes and i have to say i thought it was an utterly over-priced, over-hyped, rip-off venue. doubt i'll ever go back.
1)no prices are displayed except the high-season prices so you don't find out until you buy your ticket (a whopping 34 euros) it is only one euro less than the high-season equivalent . . . that's for the privilege of riding totally mogulled, rock-infested, unbashed pistes.
granted the conditions were thin there last week but didn't look as if the resort staff gave a stuff about getting anything in condition. tignes just takes the money and doesn't give a hoot about whether their slopes are any good or not.
(the nursery slope was strewn with rocks and one day was covered for the bottom, admittedly pretty flat, 70metre-odd section with a sheet of ice which no one could be arsed breaking all day.
i shudder to think how many students were lost to snowboarding after busting their bodies on that ice and giving up.)
total disgrace.
2) one euro less than high season for the privilege of . . . the on-hill restaurants telling you their toilets are locked and there is no food but they will sell you a coke. "we are not open yet" really? when you took my 34 euros you did not tell me that.
3) you can buy a three-day pass which saves you seven euros on three one-dayers.
however . . . whereas a one-day pass entitles you to free car-parking, the three-day does not and you get stung for 8 euros to get out the car park.
so buy a three-day pass to save seven euros and . . . spend an extra 24.
do they tell you that when you buy? do they heck.
4) you can buy a local area tignes pass and an espace killy area version which lets you ride at val d'isere too.
my mate jay spent all week taking the borsat express lift until the last day when he wasn't allowed on. he was told only people with the espace killy pass which, you've guessed it, is more expensive, were allowed to ride on the borsat which was utter cobblers.
and don't tell me tignes is only as expensive as anywhere else in france - in the same week last year a day pass at argentiere was 21.6 euros and at les houches 19 where they actually care about whether their slopes are chop routes or not and where one can park for free.
5) good old yeti bar in tignes, famous base for your friendly british boarders types . . . "two beers please mate" "there you go sir . . . what you want them filled up to the top? . . . sorry, no, we don't do the beer with bubbles in it no . . . 12 euros please but if you'd waited five minutes it would have been happy hour and miles cheaper. if only i'd remembered to tell you eh? hahahaha
6) stayed at chalet chardon in les brevieres [URL=http://www.chaletchardons.com/hotel-cheapest.html]where it's 160 euros for the week[/URL] except when you actually have to pay they want 180.
btw, if you stay there this season guys, take earplugs otherwise around midnight to 1am every night you'll be woken up my clanging and whining pipes. i'm not joking.
7) vincent bar opposite chalet chardons . . . 10 euros for two flat beers and the owner told to waitress not to switch the heating on, even though folks eating were complaining of the cold.
go instead to the locals' bar next door where the beer is the same price but in grande glasses, bubbly and tastes like beer.
they have the heating on too, it being winter and that.
all in all i would actively discourage anyone to go to tignes if there were an alternative.
we went because we had booked flights to europe and tignes was the only place with snow but it would have been cheaper to have gone to tam where the slope would definitely have been in better nick. |
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| Strengths |
| plus points . . . we met some really cool people and although we never had a chance to visit, we did hear good things about the loop bar. honest, that's not just a sop to doggus . . . the area is vast. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
never been anywhere "similar" to tignes.
but have been riding at argentiere, les houches, bansko, borovets, sierra neveada, cairn gorm |
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 5 of 5, "I live here..." 24/11/2006 @ 21:05:28 |
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| 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Revision #2 (Last edited: 24/11/2006 @ 21:07:59) |
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| Price Paid |
| Not much |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Me |
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| Times Visited |
| 15 Times + |
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| Review Detail |
Ummmm.... well, I live here because it's so fantastic...
After a few years in the 90's where Tignes rested on it's laurels, they've been ploughing money into the place recently. This season there's a stack of new lifts replacing some of the old ones, over the last few years they've done some serious burrowing to hide things, there's a massive new leisure centre opened, and some of the concrete monstrosities are being pulled down or recladded, so the image is improving.
The terrain this resort offers is awesome. I reckon it's going to take another decade up here to ride every off-piste line I want to. It's high, so the snow is often better than elsewhere. However, it can get stupid cold, and occasionally a little breezy as well.
Anyone who complains about the prices hasn't been elsewhere in France - it's cheaper for beer than Val D'Isere, Courcheval, etc, and about the same as Meribel, VT, Les Arcs, La Plagne, etc.
However, if you're careful about your timing the boozing can get very cheap - happy hour 4-6 at the Loop, then (last year) until 19:30 at the Red Lion (which is, alas no longer, so we're going to have to find somewhere else to go). If you're still standing after nearly four hours of drinking Leffe after a solid day on this hill you're doing well...
MOst of the bars have offers on and special nigts, so the trick is to drink tactically, and then it's not too bad.
On the downside of Tignes, the snowpack can be quite interesting because of the weather and temp variations we get. If you're going off piste, carry the kit and know how to use it because we get a lot of slides each year, and it's almost always under-prepared holiday makers who catch the worst of it. I'm buying an ABS this year because I'm so worried about getting caught, and I know the place and have an ok idea of what slides and what doesn't.
On the upside... well, if you were here Feb / March last year, you'll know all about it...
"Is it ever going to stop snowing...????"
Just don't forget your snowchains (or give me a call www.ridetignes.com) |
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| Strengths |
Awesome terrain
Loadsa boarders
Great Apres Ski - Jam Bar, Loop, etc
Great lifts
Not too busy |
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| Hot Spots |
| Not telling :) |
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| Weaknesses |
Avalanche risk - DO NOT RIDE LAVACHET WALL OR THE OFFPISTE DIRECTLY ABOVE THE LAKE - people die on these faces every year.
Pain in the buttocks to get to - you NEED snowchains |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Val D'Isere, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Chamonix, Val Thoren, Meribel, Les Menuires, La Tania, Courcheval, Les Deux Alpes, St. Foy, Morzine, Avoriaz, Chatel, Morgins, Fernie, Sunshine Village, Lake Louise, Whistler, Mt Norquay.... |
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| 5 of 5, "tignes over new year" 23/11/2006 @ 15:47:17 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| £750 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| crystal |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
| Well i went with a group of 11 to tignes we flew form Edinburgh airport to chamberry. Our transfer took 1 1/2hrs-2hrs. We stayed at the top tignes cant remeber the name just now. That day/night when we arrived dumped 25 inches of snow and had been heavy snow the week before so the conditions were amazingly perfect. The runs were well coveredand loads of piste through out the week the runs were all wide and well groomed apart form the end of the day which was moguls everywhere. there was sunshine everyday which was good. I bought a all area pass which i needed 2 of us boraded every part of tignes and val. most runs were open and the ques were non excistant. the top section was really nice looking it has a decent amount of bars and restaurants. We had a powercut when we stayed everywhere wnt black for a few hours which was really good fun. the revioews on here say its full of dog mess i didnt see any at all nor did anyone else in the group. |
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| Strengths |
amazing resort
loads and loads of runs
easy to get about
loads of bars and restaurants
amazing off piste
really nice looking resort |
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| Hot Spots |
| cant remeber any names but we stayed in the hotel curling which was amazing. top class service and food. |
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| Weaknesses |
| cant find any it was cold minus 20 without windchill i tinhk it got to but we had loads of clothing on and it was still a bit nippy |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| none yet |
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| 5 of 5, "Hurray for Tignes" 10/11/2006 @ 13:59:12 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| £350ish |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Skiworld/other |
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| Times Visited |
| 2-5 Times |
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| Review Detail |
I learned to board here so came back a few years later to re-explore the mountain. When first I came I optimistically bought a ski pass for the entire Espace Killy and then spent the first four days mostly on the free run in the centre of resort...
Last time out we stayed at Tignes Les Brevieres, which is a little spur village further down the mountain from the main resort, but still connected to the main lift system. There is a cable in the centre of the village that's easily accessible from anywhere in the village - no long hauls to get to the piste (which is good, cos I hate that at the end of a day boarding when ur exhausted and just want to collapse but have to hang around for buses and trains).
We were a little spoilt by the weather - we had a huge dump on day three and it was beautiful sunshine for the rest of the week. Fantastic conditions, in short. Memories of being buried waist-deep in powder after trying to negotiate some off-piste and then spending ten minutes (no exaggeration) digging myself out and "swimming" for the piste. I'm not experienced enough to be a serious off-pister but there are plenty of areas just at the piste-side or short cuts from one piste to another where you can find untracked powder, even if it's only for a short while, so nice and safe way of enjoying that angle.
In terms of pistes, it's such a huge area of mountain that you can find pretty much anything you're after. There are very few greens - predominantly blues & reds with a few blacks dotted around. One thing I really love about Tignes is the fact that if you pick the right routes you can be on the board for 10-15 minutes at a time without having to stop once, since often one piste leads directly into another. I don't remember there being much in the way of flats, so all-in-all great for boarding.
Did have a go in the board park but I'm not best placed to comment really since I'm no freestyler. Had a go at some of the blue jumps though and that was quite fun.
The nightlife in Brevieres was fantastic - actually the best of any resort I've been to. There were two main bars, the names of which escape me now, one run by English and the other by Dutch and both liked to party in their own way. We spent the entire evening wandering between them and chatting to random people. In fact, maybe because it's small, people were a lot more friendly and open than in other bigger, busier places I've stayed (including Tignes centre). For my shame I spent every single night, sometimes alone because my friend was really quite ill for most of the holiday, in the bars until closing. Oh, and Brev seemed to be predominantly English people - decide for yourself if that is a plus or not. |
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| Strengths |
Huge skiing area
Nice long runs
Everything is quite compact - no bus trips or long walks
Great nightlife (in Brev at least, but Tignes was pretty decent, from memory)
Friendly people in Brev |
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| Hot Spots |
| Piste-wise, the runs down from the top of the Aeroski are great fun whichever way you come down. The black back into resort (which was my first black) is really steep and wide and great fun to flatline! |
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| Weaknesses |
| Any good review should probably point out something that could be improved; some failing but to be honest I don't really know of one. I love it and I'll be going back, if not to Tignes then to it's sister resort Val D'Isere. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| La Plagne, Val Thorens |
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| Read more reviews for resorts in FRANCE. |
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