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Tignes in early May

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Thinking of trying to get a week's skiing in, but can't go until end of April/1st week of May. Tignes seems to be open until 8th May, but it doesn't seem possible to buy a lift pass online for that week.
Is it worth going this late ? I guess only the glacier area may be open, but that's better than waiting until next season !
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to sH Very Happy . If you check here:
http://www.skiplan.com/bulletin/bulletin.php?station=tignes&region=alpes&pays=france&lang=fr
It says in the 3rd bullet, the Tignes Area and the grande Motte will be open until 8 May.

As to how much of the area, really depends on how long this warm period lasts and how much snow we get next weekend. The snowpack is still deep so I would be surprised if you cannot ski all the way down to Val Claret and much more in that week. As to lift passes I think the cost will depend on how much can remain open, at the start of the season the price changes as more opens up.

Just watch the cost, there are no buses from the airports so it will be a renter if you fly, some of the hotels will be open or it will be an apartment rent.

PS There is often some great snow at this time of year and very few people to track it out. It doesn't last long before it consolidates though.
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Quote:

Just watch the cost, there are no buses from the airports so it will be a renter if you fly,

or get the train to Bourg st Maurice and a Taxi/bus from there. The resort will be full of ski instructors on courses
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Thank you ! Flights to GVA booked, and 8 nights at the Hotel le Refuge, which looks really nice. Seems like I will be renting a car...train was appealing, but flying worked out cheaper and more convenient.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Le Refuge is a fine hotel, well situated in Le Lac and has a fantastic sun terrace for Apres in May! Just watch out for those mad telemarkers in their tweeds, carrying a broom handle, during the Black Shoes festival!!
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@billytbar, The train from Geneva to Bourg cost less than 30 euros each way. But if you do hire a car then parking in Tignes is free in May.

Have a good time and remember the factor 50
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The Tignes glacier has shrunk to about the size of an icecube, but there should still be plenty of trails open down to at least the midstations.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@johnE : I hadn't thought of train from Geneva to BSM...will check it out, thanks !
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@Whitegold, Utter rubbish, there are still the same number of lifts pistes and runs as there was 20 years ago when I first came on the Grande Motte. Yes the glacier has shrunk but it has not affected the amount of skiing in May. Remember, 20,000 years ago the Glacier was in Moutiers!
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billytbar Be prepared to be a late season Espace Killy convert Very Happy!

We've been in last week of April or over May Day weekend about seven times in recent years and always loved it:
- About 50% of Espace Killy open until May Day;
- A lot of Tignes open for a week or so after that.
- Have always skied back to Val D at 1800m (though sometimes on strips of snow/slush at the bottom).
- Have often got down to Les Brevieres at 1500m (fun slushfest).
- Every type of snow imaginable - slush at bottom, powder not unknown at altitude.
- Slopes very quiet.

Enjoy! (We're unable to go this year.... rolling eyes )
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Sounds a wonderful time to go!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Will be there 3 weeks today ! Staying until 8th May.

After a lot of deliberation, think I'm going with rental car from GVA; it works out about £150 more expensive than train/bus, but can be in resort at least 3 hours earlier all being well...hopefully squeeze in a couple of hours skiing.

So be warned, I've now jinxed the afternoon of Thursday 28th ! Expect high winds and sleet, i.e. Cairngorm Toofy Grin
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billytbar Re rental car: It'll cost you about €75 a week to park the car in a pay car park in Tignes.

DON'T pay it - spend the €€€ on food and drink instead! Not sure where Refuge Hotel is (??) but you can generally park in the car parks for free for a couple of hours - ideal for dropping off and picking up luggage - before moving the car to one of the free car parks at:
- Tignes 1800.
- Les Brevieres.
Both are right next to the respective gondolas - so easy access to and from the pistes for parking the car, or when you want to collect it.

Or if arrival/departure time(s) mean you have to pay for an overnight car park stay, it's only about €15 for one night - so you can still be quids in by doing so then moving to a free spot.

And if you are planning on skiing on arrival day and it gets too late to spend €30-odd on a lift pass, there are free lifts at Le Lac and Val Claret. Short, easy runs - but still nice for a few turns on arrival day. Val Claret one is a fast chair - with a cafe at the top too. And free 2hrs parking in the big car park at the bottom of it. It's the Bollin Chair, right at the top of the resort, next to the funicular up to Grande Motte Glacier.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@mountainaddict, Thanks for that...hotel is in Le Lac, so drop off and then moving to free car park sounds like a plan. Good to know about the free lifts as well.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
billytbar wrote:
@mountainaddict, Thanks for that...hotel is in Le Lac, so drop off and then moving to free car park sounds like a plan. Good to know about the free lifts as well.


By the end of April the underground carparks in le Lac may be free - worth checking on nearer the date.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
chocksaway wrote:
@Whitegold, Utter rubbish, there are still the same number of lifts pistes and runs as there was 20 years ago when I first came on the Grande Motte. Yes the glacier has shrunk but it has not affected the amount of skiing in May. Remember, 20,000 years ago the Glacier was in Moutiers!



Tignes glacier was open 365 days a year in 1996.

Today, in 2016, it opens about 275 days a year.

By 2036, it will almost certainly be reduced to around 175 days a year. And could struggle to last even until May.

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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Whitegold, I have watched all your posts through the winter. Almost without fail you have been forecasting the downfall of Alpine skiing as if you have some deep seated grudge against it. There is also a distinct smell of schadenfreude about your posts - I know not why.

So lets look at a few fact this thread is titled "Tignes in Early May". So I and a few others offered sound advice based on actual experience to help a new member of snowHeads, he then booked a holiday. AT which point you had to jump in with
Quote:

The Tignes glacier has shrunk to about the size of an icecube

and the you offered the fact that runs down to midstation would be open, which was mildly helpful but meaningless as there are no mid stations anywhere near the glacier.

I stand by my assessment of the number of lifts and pistes in May, it is still a fact that they have not changed and the skiing in May will be fantastic up there.

You then come back and post a picture of the glacier taken in 2009, at a guess in late August or early September as this supports your misguided agenda. Nobody is denying the glacier has shrunk and will continue to shrink (probably) or that the Glacier is not open 365 days a year, but that is as much about commercial reasons as most ski teams and lots of holidaymakers now go to the Southern Hemisphere. As to your suppositions about the future nobody knows. And given that (if the lifts were open) you will be able to ski down to Val Claret until June this year your suggestion that you will not be able to ski up in the area of the glacier until May is almost beyond comprehension to those of us that live here, the ice may not be that deep but there will be plenty of snow. Indeed there is a lot of evidence to show the snow season is moving to the right on the calendar, to such an extent that STGM proposed to continue skiing through to early July and then close (thereby completing their mandate of 40 weeks uplift a year), currently the rest of the resort wants to retain summer skiing as long as possible as an advertising pull.

@billytbar, I skied down to Les Brevieres yesterday (lowest part of Tignes at 1550m) and went down to La Daille today (lowest part of Val D'Isere 1785m) and did not se a stone or rock on the piste - unless the Grande Motte suddenly starts spewing lava (!) you are in for a great holiday
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
chocksaway Is there some doubt about the summer glacier opening dates? Or a possibility of change?

Asking as we haven't summer skied in Tignes for a couple of years - but are planning a comeback this summer.

Cheers!

Quote:
By the end of April the underground carparks in le Lac may be free - worth checking on nearer the date.
From experience of late season visits (though not in the last 2 years) I thought that they charge right up to the end of the season?? But I may be wrong.... Puzzled
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@chocksaway, thanks for the update, good to know ! I've been following your thread in the other forum as well; really looking forward to it now.
Will make sure my insurance covers volcanic eruptions as well as ash-related flight delays Very Happy
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Well said Chocksaway

chocksaway wrote:
@Whitegold, I have watched all your posts through the winter. Almost without fail you have been forecasting the downfall of Alpine skiing as if you have some deep seated grudge against it. There is also a distinct smell of schadenfreude about your posts - I know not why.

So lets look at a few fact this thread is titled "Tignes in Early May". So I and a few others offered sound advice based on actual experience to help a new member of snowHeads, he then booked a holiday. AT which point you had to jump in with
Quote:

The Tignes glacier has shrunk to about the size of an icecube

and the you offered the fact that runs down to midstation would be open, which was mildly helpful but meaningless as there are no mid stations anywhere near the glacier.

I stand by my assessment of the number of lifts and pistes in May, it is still a fact that they have not changed and the skiing in May will be fantastic up there.

You then come back and post a picture of the glacier taken in 2009, at a guess in late August or early September as this supports your misguided agenda. Nobody is denying the glacier has shrunk and will continue to shrink (probably) or that the Glacier is not open 365 days a year, but that is as much about commercial reasons as most ski teams and lots of holidaymakers now go to the Southern Hemisphere. As to your suppositions about the future nobody knows. And given that (if the lifts were open) you will be able to ski down to Val Claret until June this year your suggestion that you will not be able to ski up in the area of the glacier until May is almost beyond comprehension to those of us that live here, the ice may not be that deep but there will be plenty of snow. Indeed there is a lot of evidence to show the snow season is moving to the right on the calendar, to such an extent that STGM proposed to continue skiing through to early July and then close (thereby completing their mandate of 40 weeks uplift a year), currently the rest of the resort wants to retain summer skiing as long as possible as an advertising pull.

@billytbar, I skied down to Les Brevieres yesterday (lowest part of Tignes at 1550m) and went down to La Daille today (lowest part of Val D'Isere 1785m) and did not se a stone or rock on the piste - unless the Grande Motte suddenly starts spewing lava (!) you are in for a great holiday


I was thinking the same thing about shi t egold, he must live under a similar bridge to stanton.
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@mountainaddict, don't know if this helps...

it says "Paying car parks between November 28th 2015 and May 1st 2016"...so either they're free after 1st May, or closed ?

http://en.tignes.net/holidays/getting-around/car-parks
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The car parks will be free from 2 May, they just take the poles off the barriers. They are free all summer, but they still police the streets so best to shove it underground. Lac3 is the closest to Le Refuge.

The glacier closed for skiing around the 4th of August last year, this year's summer programme isn't available yet (or I can't find it!) but I expect it will be a similar date. The free lifts for the mountain bikers and walkers will run until the 1st days of September.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Cheers chocksaway - helpful as ever Smile.

I'll keep an eye on the website re the summer arrangements.
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And 1 brave skier made it down to Val Claret this morning, 1 Jun 1040hrs webcam.

I claim my 5 pounds wink
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Great stuff chocksaway - but how did you get up there Puzzled

Meanwhile....billytbar: "Where are you?! Let's be 'aving you!" I'm dying to know how you got on with your May trip! Smile
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