Tignes (and Tignes-Val D'Isere) 2024/5. Useful Links Page 1.

A snowHead

Heading out on the 12th April for a week. Is it still too early to know whether there will still be snow? Forecasts currently still seem pretty good but seeing social media posts that some of the lower resorts are struggling ?

A snowHead

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I'm also headed out on the 12th. My philosophy has always been it will be what it's going to be and I'll enjoy the time in the mountains regardless.

Staying in Les Brévières so expecting to download in the Gondola at the end of the day and perhaps skiing a bit more strategically, thinking a bit more about the orientation of slopes etc.

Enjoy.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

A lot quieter out there today and some nice fresh snow around.
A measure of how quiet it might be is the fact that the indicator was saying there were 158 free spaces in the Golf car park at 16:00. There have not been any more than 35 over the last 2 weeks.

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@JGSKI, There will still be snow, even if it doesn't snow much more. We are a couple of weeks ahead of the curve on recent years, but in the last 25 I have seen it much worse.
@barthez1980 It really depends on your budget - a couple of the kid friendly restos in Lac that were good value have shut this year, so the others are cashing in, so do check the menus outside before committing. Escale Blanche on the snow front does just about everything. Eterlou on Rue de la Poste is normally good for pizza (but I've not been in this year). Down in Lavachet - 2 minutes on the bus you have Asian Fusion at Kodo if the kids are adventurous, Queue De Cochon do a kids menu as well as a French style menu for the adults, La Bodega - the Mexican but might be a bit spicy for the little ones. Brasero for Pizza. La Cantine for bacon/sausage butties until sundown. For a real treat go down to La Ferme (book early), its not cheap but very good and the resto has a plate glass window through which you can see the animals in the stables - kids normally love it.

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday in that it was sunny this morning but the clouds spread over by one of clock and we are expecting light snow showers soon. We did get a few cm of fresh last night which soon bumped up on the pistes which softened quite quickly in the sun. We went over to Solaise where all was fine, getting down Joseray was a trial as it had not been pisted last night, so frozen moguls with a dusting of new snow was a wake up for the legs. Arcelle was a bit form still at 11, but Rhone Alpes at 1230 was great.

The snow will start soon this evening and there is still a chance of a thunderstorm, which might bring rain to the villages, so hopefully they will miss us. Tomorrow is a conundrum, most likely it will be sunny spells with light snow showers now and again, or it could be overcast with light snow showers. Tuesday should see mostly sunny skies and a warm day, a few fluffy clouds may punctuate the blue. Wednesday is likely to see sunny spells during lift opening hours followed by snow showers in the evening. The end of the week looks a bit more promising on the snow front, it's going to cool down and depending on how a pulsating Azores High behaves we may have a very unsettled weekend. One to keep an eye out for. The Azores High can build at this time of year and deflect weather patterns towards the UK and North, but it looks like its influence may wane at the end of the week, fingers crossed.

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Tignes - The Future Part 2 - The Grande Motte

The Grande Motte is the emblematic symbol of Tignes. During the massive expansion of the 1960's, led by the entrepreneur Pierre Schnebelen, its exploitation created the Ski 365 days a year. Those days are now over thanks to climate change and the glacial areas receding. Over the years the glacier has had periods of stabilising and then receding. But since 2003 the rate of loss has been approximately 3 times that of 1980-2000. The Institute of Geoscience and Environment at Grenoble University have been studying the glacier for a number of years and their current conclusions are:

By 2030 the Leisse sector of the Glacier will have disappeared.
By 2040 the Rossolin sector of the Glacier will have disappeared (the melting of this element has led to further studies to assist management of the proglacial lake which has formed under the ice).
By 2070 the Grande Motte Glacier will be no more.

This has led to much head scratching as to how to exploit the Glacier within the confines of National Park regulations and other environmental considerations. The receding glacier is not the only issue - the changes in the water cycle - ie when it snows are also important. Tignes wishes to retain it's position of a key resort for training in the Autumn, backed by the French Ski Federation. As the glacier shrinks training at the highest reaches of the Glacier is not guaranteed as there may not be enough snow to cover the crevasses which develop in the summer, snowfarming may not be enough. The next issue for winter recreational skiing is what the terrain looks like under the ice - this is an unknown at the moment. The melting may reveal terrain that is not suitable for skiing due to rock bands left by the grinding actions of the glacier. The terrain revealed will also have an impact upon the resort's ability to manage the snow - ie can a piste basher manage the slopes effectively. Additionally, where should lifts be put where to provide access.

We have already seen the Leisse chairlift disappear and Termignon's days are very much numbered, 1-3 years maybe. As for the diddy Panoramique chair that really depends on how they can access the bottom station. Luckily The Cable Car and the Funicular are not affected at all. But the main thrust of the lift plan is to move the bottom station of Vanoise back to where it was when it was originally built - ie about 200m down the piste from the top of the Lanches chair. To ensure Autumn training it is proposed to build another chair (potentially called Comble) from just below the 90 degree turn in Double M to the bottom of Vanoise. The top half of Double M would then become a training area with snow farming and snow making. Some earthworks may be done to heighten the sides of the banking. There is much work going on to find the best material to cover the snow during the summer to reduce the environmental impact to a minimum. Some work may also happen on the lower half of the Double M as getting skiers down to Val Claret would herald the earliest opening for the resort to holidaymakers. As time progresses some pistes may have too move (eg Rabotch) and the snowfarming priorities will change as the exploitable terrain area alters.

The development of the "Altitude Experiences" should ensure the operation of the lifts in the Summer. This will be done in collaboration with the National Park and have a focus on teaching about the high mountain environment in addition to the pure tourist element of a trip up to 3456m in relative comfort.

There is clearly still many unknowns but at least there is now a plan to open the resort to professionals as soon as possible in the Autumn, as for the runs on the High Glacier we shall have to wait and see what Mother Nature gifts us.

After all it is free

Depressing reading, but also glad there is pragmatism and adapt the resort and pistes to our sadly warming climate.

As an aside, about ten years ago I remember there being a plan to have a massive indoor snowdome in Tignes, whatever happened to that idea?

@NoMapNoCompass, The Mayor changed and we got the Club Med instead!

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@rjs, Thanks, you are absolutely right. Edited!

snow reports

How well does the snowfarmed training area work? I guess they could use all of the width of the piste at that point if there was a short chair for it instead of needing a track on the snow for snowmobiles or a drag lift.

@rjs, They have not said where they are going to farm the snow from to then store it and wrap it over the summer. But as that part of Double M is northish facing and quite shaded by the topography it will keep quite well in Autumn. Having walked it in the summer it is gravelly rather then rocky so not that much depth required. As you say, a short chair will be key to this.

A skin up Palafour this morning and then round to see a mate who is a bit 'hors de combat' for a cuppa as the weather had turned grizzly. We have just had 20 minutes of moderate snowfall, but the sun is now out so pretty much 3 seasons in a day!

The skies will clear tonight (another heavy shower can't be ruled out yet) and the sun will be shining brightly in the morning, Fluffy clouds will build up through the late morning, but nothing to worry about. it will feel warm in the direct sun. Wednesday looks like sunny periods with a chance of snow showers in the afternoon. Thursday and Friday - scorchio - with maybe a 'duty' cloud in the afternoons. Saturday is looking much more unsettled and cooler - still a way to go though on that - but it could be a dramatic change.

You know it makes sense.

@chocksaway,
Farm the snow taken from the roads?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@chocksaway, They have been farming snow to use on Double M for several years now. There have been photos on the Ski Chrono website of the French team using the training area.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Blue skies this morning and clouds this afternoon, maybe a few more than expected but everybody still has a shadow so it can't be too bad. The main aim of this morning was to meet up with an old friend at Rosee Blanche who was on holiday with her extended family. So we skied round to there, stopped for an hour and skied back. Overall the pistes held up well, going was good to firm this morning and it slowly softened. The is some racing in Val this week with the U16 champs - The Golden Squirrel evidently! - so the top of OK Orange was shut. Get used to it as it's la Scara next week (more on that later). Not much else to say really other than a trip to the Post Office, skis in for service and a trim of the wig later.

Tomorrow will be much like today - maybe a bit more cloud in the morning. In the afternoon the clouds may get large enough for a few flakes. Thursday will be a couple of degrees warmer and just a few clouds hopefully. Bit of a change for Friday, it will be sunny periods whilst the lifts are open but the cloud will then thicken and it will start to snow late evening and carry on through most of Saturday. With it starting in the evening it may well be snow to Brev and a bit lower by morning, so there's a good chance it will settle on the roads. How many people came up without chains last weekend??!!?? It's still an uncertain picture though so this may change. There will be some weather on Sunday - we just don't know what kind!

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@mountainaddict, Current plan is for summer skiing between 21 Jun and 20 Jul, but with the usual caveats on conditions allowing.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Just back from a Thur - Mon trip sating in Tignes Val C - lovely weather, good snow, and (esp. Saturday) empty slopes - some of the best skiing I have had...
Back to skiing after a 10 year gap, so delighted to know that I can still ski, (badly!) and enjoyed it very much...

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@chocksaway, ah the lovely La Scara, the annual competition to see who the most arrogant, entitled and frankly dangerous young racer is. The week to avoid La Daille apart from the final run for the obligatory sundowner at Yann’s.

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@Dr John,
Probably a good time to avoid the Face, iir. Shocked

After all it is free

Coming out to Tignes on 12 April. Im hoping there will be enough snow - it doesnt appear to have snowed a lot in the last week or any for next week ? Anyone able to give a snow report. Many thanks

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Coming out to Tignes on 12 April. Im hoping there will be enough snow - it doesnt appear to have snowed a lot in the last week or any for next week ? Anyone able to give a snow report. Many thanks

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

Most models seem to be showing a small top up on Saturday but nothing after that, although this far out I wouldn't worry too much as it could easily change.

I'm in Tignes the week before so I'll try and get some updates on here through the week of how the snow is holding up.

A blue sky morning, as it was not too busy we teamed up and went up the Grand Motte, the snow is superb from the Panoramique down (we didn't go to the very top as the queue for the cable car was long). So we did two full laps - as we came up the second time a very thin layer of cloud developed between the bottom and not far from the top of Vanoise, it had a flat surface so I was hoping to see a Brocken Spectre as the sun was strong behind us - but sadly not today. That cloud then dissolved and we were left with varying amounts of cloud. Its a bit greyer now and a few small showers are showing on the radar - maybe a dusting?

Tomorrow will be warmer than today and there should be less cloud, maybe a few will appear on the peaks late afternoon. Friday will be nice for skiing - sunny spells followed by the sky filling in after the lifts close and light snow will start after dark at some stage and continue through the night, it might be a bit sleety below the Dam. This light snow will continue through Saturday - probably stopping around dark after that it's a puzzle. The models have eased off on the amount of snow but a cumulative top-up of around 10cm would not be wide of the mark.

You know it makes sense.

Did a bit of a ski and ski over the Col du Palet this morning. Great cover although the surface was less than perfect on all aspects. Didn’t see anyone else at all.
Later in the day skiing down the Carline came across an accident. Luckily we had a mate with us who is an A&E consultant. Preliminary diagnosis of a broken tibia and in quite a lot of pain. Pisteurs soon scooped the poor chap up.
Really quite in the afternoon, went down to Brev, which was rather soggy underfoot, but still good cover.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Currently in tignes and looking for the best happy hour bars. Have found marmottes. Any others to consider?

A snowHead

@smagsmith,
I guess you are looking for live music so:
Loop on Rosset front
Cocoricos in Val Claret

A snowHead

@smagsmith,
Chocks should have added 'le Lac' for the Loop.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thank you. Loop next for us

Marmottes is very good atmosphere

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I know the word "cheap" and Tignes don't go together, but where does the cheapest (happy hour or not) pint in the resort? What kind of prices should I be expecting to pay?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@northernrookie, I'm not sure where the cheapest are but if you are paying more than €5.50 for an average Euro Lager you are in an expensive joint. That's based on the Queue de Cochon in Lavachet - a nice bar/restaurant. It might be a bit cheaper in Lo Terrachu in Lac - but that's not my scene. So basically the same price as the centre of York for a pint.

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I’ve got parking booked for a week in one of the underground car parks in Val d’Isere. I want to drive down to Bourg St. Maurice midweek. Does anybody know whether it’s possible to leave and return under the same booking?

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@gbmurs, We have enough trouble working out how the parking works in Tignes! Val parking is a different organisation so probably worth asking on the Val thread.

After all it is free

I believe the answer is "yes" @gbmurs, but please check with SAGS who run the parking in Val d'Isere. Links on page 1 of this thread.

Marmottes!
(Behind the Bec Rouge).

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