 Poster: A snowHead
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Our annual group seems to be coming together for next season, and Tignes is emerging as a front runner destination.
I've only been to Val D a couple of times many years ago, so can't really recall the place at all. The guide books tell you a bit, and a trawl on the snowHeads archives tell me it's a toss up between Le Lac and Val Claret for nightlife and ski convenience.
So, of those two areas; where would the snowHeads Tignophiles plumb for a mixed ability group with age ranges from 6 to 66?
Which is better ski in 'n out?
Which can you get around without the need for crampons on an evening?
Anybody else likely to be there half term next year?
Ta.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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For ski in/out I'd say that Val Claret is better for families. If you're in Le Lac and you've been skiing in Val d'Isere the direct route home is via the black Trolles piste, which is often scraped down to ice - not good for youngsters or timid skiers. Val Claret offers easier routes back to the resort. However, I prefer Le Lac for apres ski. Both villages are on fairly flat terrain, so easy to walk around. There will be lots of other people there at half-term 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
If you're in Le Lac and you've been skiing in Val d'Isere the direct route home is via the black Trolles piste, which is often scraped down to ice - not good for youngsters or timid skiers.
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Seconded. You also get big fat blokes trying to go above the piste to miss the crowds. Problem is they usually join the piste eventually........head first. 
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I've only stayed in Le Lac. In terms of apres for the young (at heart) there is ice skating and a bowling alley there.
You could go down in the aeroski gondola if you didn't want to do the black (Trolles) and there is a less direct route back which is all blues (but admittedly much longer).
I stayed at hotel ... (sorry, having a senile moment so don't remember the name ), but it was ski in/out (at the bottom of Trolles and my 9 yr old had no trouble with that run).
The doctors surgery is a right pain to get too if you have the misfortune of injuring yourselves. I ended up forcing Zit 2 to crawl up a huge snow embankment to get there, which served her right as had she not broken her leg we wouldn't have had to go in the first place.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Ray Zorro, harsh, but probably character-building.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Ray Zorro, she'll thank you one day.
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| Ray Zorro wrote: |
| ... there is a less direct route back which is all blues (but admittedly much longer). |
Not sure I know this one. Is it all the way around the Tignes bowl (down to Val Claret, up the other side, then back down to Le Lac?
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rob@rar, yes, that's the one. Quite a round-a-bout route, but all easy runs.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Mosha Marc, I'll echo rob@rar and the others. Val Claret is the most compact and convenient and though it has a social side it's not as 'robust' as Le Lac. It just edges Le Lac for ski-in, ski-out but there's not enough in it to say one's better than the other overall.
Personal preference is Val Claret for no other reason than it's where I first stayed in Tignes.
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Mosha Marc,
Personal opinion is that there is very little difference but if the ski school I was planning on using only used one base I would go for that to avoid a bus ride in the morning.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Anybody else likely to be there half term next year? |
You gotta be kidding!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Only stayed in Val Claret so can't really comment on the suitability of either village, but don't get hung up on skiing home, there's a regular free bus service between the villages
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Mrs W, isn't Stewart an instructor?
And a sports massage sounds good to!!
We tend to DIY, so we're on with sorting the accomodation at the moment. After the comments above we've narrowed it down to the CGH residences and at the moment the Le Nevada residence is favorite. Good sized rooms, pool, near the slopes, etc. Prices are due to be released at the end of this week and we're looking to take about 6 or 7 of their apartments.
Looking forward to it. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Mosha Marc wrote: |
Our annual group seems to be coming together for next season, and Tignes is emerging as a front runner destination.
I've only been to Val D a couple of times many years ago, so can't really recall the place at all. The guide books tell you a bit, and a trawl on the snowHeads archives tell me it's a toss up between Le Lac and Val Claret for nightlife and ski convenience.
So, of those two areas; where would the snowHeads Tignophiles plumb for a mixed ability group with age ranges from 6 to 66?
Which is better ski in 'n out?
Which can you get around without the need for crampons on an evening?
Anybody else likely to be there half term next year?
Ta. |
Personally I'd go for le Lac.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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hi Marc,
What kind of costs do apartments come in at? Now our kids are both needing lift passes and ski school I'm looking into ways of reducing costs!
Some other friends rent out one huge chalet in/near Chamonix, they reckon it's under £300 for a family of four doing it that way!
Cheers,
Greg
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hi Greg,
Like everything else, it depends what you go for. We plumb for good sized apartment that can sleep 6 if you use the living room. This means the kids get their own bedroom to share.
We also get one with a pool; so when the kids get bored/tired skiing one adult can supervise a whole hord of them while we carry on sliding.
Cost comes in at about £1500 to £1600 for the week, but all your food 'n drinks to pay for on top. There is a kitchen though, so you save a bit using that.
I think chalets are cheaper, but most that can take us all seem to be in Morzine and not too near the snow.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Greg,
To give an example of Tignes, self-catering accommodation would be cheaper in Brevieres or Boisses, as opposed to Lavachet, le lac or Val Claret. Most resorts will have such cheaper areas 'down the mountain'.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Le Lac has a nice pool with slides. I've stayed in both don't have a favourite, as others say, if you don't fany a fast black as your last run come back down in the Aeroski. (Anyone else see the photos of this years rescue when it broke down?).
For hotel if you have kids the Diva in Val C is good and they do good cheap ski chool thru ESF (although I can't bring myself to recommend ESF for young children).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I'll second the Diva, we stayed there and it was a *VERY* nice hotel
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If you're putting the kids in ski school, one plus for Val Claret is that it's the home base of Evolution2.
An Excellent ski school with a decent cafe attached, playing cool music.
Makes it very easy picking the kids up at lunch time.
They do have an office in Le Lac but it's nothing compared to the Val-C setup.
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Admin,
Evo2's main office is actually based in the Palafour building in le Lac, on the Rue de la Poste, next door to the Jam Bar.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| kitenski wrote: |
| What kind of costs do apartments come in at? |
I book through Agence Roc Blanc when I go to Tignes. Prices are on the website.
I have used a couple of other agencies, but they seem to be cheapest and best organized.
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Kenzie, I know Evo2's Le Lac office is there but it felt more like an outpost than the one in Val Claret. Whether La Lac or Val Claret is really the head office (and I had the impression it was VC), with their cafe attached VC feels much more like a base: there always seemed to be a member of staff on hand to answer a query - and the kids loved to point out and wave to their instructors as they ate their lunch 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Kenzie, I know Evo2's Le Lac office is there but it felt more like an outpost than the one in Val Claret.
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admin, how right you are... 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Unless they've changed their set-up over the last season to allow for more groups to cover skiers of different levels instead of lumping multiple distinct levels all together, I'd avoid Evo2 in VC. In my experience over 2 weeks with both adults and kids in my group, a poor organisation (though good and nice instructors - I wouldn't have a problem using them for a private - esp a delightful insightful enthusiastic lady called Cindy who a couple in my group sang the praises of, and the description of whose teaching certainly impressed me). BTW one of the weeks was Easter when one could reasonably expect them to have been able/willing to lay on enough groups, even if not bothered by the effect of lumping different levels together on progress.
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FAQ
My advice is to let your choice of accomadation choose your location. Alot of people like the Marc Warner hotel in Le Lac. Its centrally situated, close to alot of bars and restaurants, the ski school meeting points and ski lifts.