 Poster: A snowHead
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I'd always gone along with the idea (often repeated on this site) that the French pretty much gave up on skiing after their February half-term holiday. This was certainly the case in the southern French alps where I spent ten winters - our resort was dead outside the school holidays. We were there this year at the start of the Easter holiday (26 Mar - 1 Apr) and, after the Easter weekend, it was deserted. One day I was waiting for ten minutes at a point where I could see the lifts to the three main sections of the resort and not one person went up the lifts and no-one skied down.
For the second part of the holiday (2-9 April), we went to Tignes and the slopes were the busiest I have ever seen. OK, the only resorts I've skied during Christmas/New Year/half-term or Easter are what were my local resorts (Le Seignus, La Foux, Pra Loup) but they get very busy in the holidays but nothing compared to Tignes this Easter. The blue and red slopes were unskiable due to the huge numbers of people on them - it just wasn't safe to ski in anything other than a defensive manner constantly having to avoid other people, tactical snowploughs, stopping because of crowds of fallen/stopped skiers blocking the piste etc. This was OK for us as we were able to ski the black runs but it did mean that about 90% of the pistes were unusable.
The lifts coped extremely well - the only queues of more than a minute or so were coming back from the Val d'Isere side (more than 10 minutes), the cable car to the glacier (half an hour each time but this was because there was only one cable car in use so waiting times were doubled) and the funiculaire (always got on the first or second train) - but the slopes did not.
There were a lot of English-speaking skiers about and a few Dutch and Belgians but at least half the skiers were French. Even if there had only been the French skiers there it would still have been very overcrowded.
Are there any Tignes regulars on here who can comment on whether it is typically that busy at Easter? Can it really get busier than that at New Year/half-term? What enjoyment can the blue/red run skier get from it? It was like a Mediterranean beach in August - each skier having a few sqm of piste!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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benwright, not sure where you got the idea that French give up on skiing after Feb half term, but certainly not my experience. March gets quieter, but i always expect Easter to be busy. Lots of French pile up the mountain for the Easter weekend - some stay longer.
The guys in Boudu (Plagne 1800) said they were more busy Easter weekend than any other weekend of the season - half term and New Year included.
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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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I suspect @benwright, was in a smaller and more Southerly resort only perhaps known to the French? @PamW also has the opinion that the French don't ski at Easter, in her more Northerly very French resort, that may indeed be the case, but it certainly isn't low season even in Serre Chevalier.
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@benwright, It did seem busier in Tignes this year which may have something to do with the arrangement of school holidays in France, they appear to be date dependant rather than Easter dependant. And yes it can get busier at half term, especially if the whole resort is not open due to bad weather. A few more pistes would be nice.
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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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it was pretty busy in La Plagne
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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They have also brought the start of the French Spring break forward by one week, which may also have something to do with it.
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I was in La Plagne 26th March to 2nd April and it was not particularly busy.
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| One day I was waiting for ten minutes at a point where I could see the lifts to the three main sections of the resort and not one person went up the lifts and no-one skied down. |
I'd question how such a place could afford to stay open
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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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It's absolutely low season in my area, in that rents for apartments etc are the same as they are in mid January. From the end of the French four week winter holiday to the end of the season (next Friday). Of course some French people ski at Easter but not many - because you can be sure that if apartment owners and hoteliers could get high season rates, they would! Lots of Belgians visit at Easter though - maybe some of the Francophones in Tignes were Belgian?
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When I've visited the Espace Killy - and the 3V in supposed "low season", when my son was working there, I always found them very busy compared to what I'm used to. As I did the Sella Ronda, in Italy. There is no comparison, in low season between the crowds (or lack of) in the kind of "French" French resorts which the OP describes, and which I'm used to, and the busy "international" resorts which I prefer to avoid.
On the other hand, my area gets very busy at, for example, New Year and the lift system doesn't cope as well as the mega lifts of, say, the Espace Killy.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@pam w, pretty similar in Les Contamines. My theory is that the French who do ski at Easter gravitate to the obvious high areas (3V, EK) and don't bother with the lower resorts. Understandable but means that snowsure resorts with a bit less height become peaceful bargains.
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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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My theory is that the French who do ski at Easter gravitate to the obvious high areas (3V, EK) and don't bother with the lower resorts.
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Many probably do, but even the French owners of apartments in my complex (who are a big majority of the owners) weren't there or renting at Easter, though the majority of the Espace Diamant was open. There were skiers around, more than in, say, that first dead week in January but far fewer than in holiday times and the pistes were still quieter than places like the 3V ever are. Loads of empty parking spaces on the main drag, even right by the lifts. And they'd suspended the (modest) parking charges.
I spent a day at Les Contamines on the final day of their season, some months ago. It was glorious. Lots of snow (though I never go below the gondola, don't know what it was like down there), sunshine and deserted.
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My account is "down a crevasse" and I can't seem to revive it so am limited to one post per day.
Le Seignus would definitely struggle financially on its own. The operators would prefer to ditch it and just run La Foux but, whoever it is that decides these things, has specified they have to run both stations. There's been about EUR8m spent on new lifts at Le Seignus in the last 6/7 years so they're unlikely to close it soon. It does get very busy (10min wait for the main lift wouldn't be unusual) in the local New year/half-term but that's only three weeks and the pistes are still bearable.
The downside to the excess of serenity was that on the afternoon of our last skiing day they closed the chair to one of the mountains - no doubt to save money as there were so few people there. Annoying as that was where we'd planned to be.
Back to Tignes - so is that what real ski resorts are like? In the week we were there, there was one run (which we did a couple of times - the 30min wait for the lift wasn't ideal) where we could let rip and really get the skis on their edges - the black down from the glacier, "descente". Of the cable car full of people, each time only two or three other people went on the black. We just waited for them to clear off then had it to ourselves. After the first 150m it's as flat as any green run so you can kid yourself that you "tore up that black" when, really, it was like being in the jardin d'enfants (without the crying kids)!
Where's the fun in skiing shoulder to shoulder with crowds of people? I was hugely impressed with the lift system/navettes/lifties that actually helped people rather than shrug and watch them fall off the chair/general infrastructure but the actual skiing experience was a let-down.
I did notice that, apart from people stopping in the middle of the piste grrr, the piste etiquette in Tignes was pretty good. Not much queue barging, hardly anyone skiing out of control. Not like the skiers from Marseille that I'm used to!
The other black runs were quiet but, other than Campanules and Silene which were genuinely tricky, seemed more red than black. All good fun but I guess the real challenge there is the off-piste which, with absolutely no local knowledge and 7 and 9 year old kids with us, wasn't an option. Oh, Sache was very quiet - saw two other people - maybe because it had been closed most of the week (due to an avalanche?) and people were scared away from it? Was a lot easier than I'd been led to expect but a very nice run.
The advice for skiing at Easter always seems to be "go high" but if everyone else is doing the same I'd prefer a lower, smaller resort with hardly anyone in it and sacrifice fancy lifts and slightly better snow conditions (which get chewed up by the crowds) for actually being able to ski. Back to the half-arsed Val d'Allos next year!
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You know it makes sense.
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I'd prefer a lower, smaller resort with hardly anyone in it and sacrifice fancy lifts and slightly better snow conditions (which get chewed up by the crowds) for actually being able to ski.
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Yep. Me too. 
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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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@pam w, +1 for me. To be honest I haven't been to any of the mega resorts but I keep reading of 30+ minute queues & busy slopes & it does not appeal to me.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@benwright, I've rescued you but you will need to put a valid email address into your profile.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The advice for skiing at Easter always seems to be "go high"
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This year's Easter is so very early I don't see why anyone would even give any thought to that advice.
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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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But next year Easter is very late, @abc, and that's what's under discussion here. I shall be at my place, and will have fingers crossed, but I'd never recommend it for Easter - Easter Day is April 16th I think.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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My area in the northern Franch alps, max altitude 2000m, was very quiet at Easter - not a sniff of a lift queue. The following week (week beginning 2 April) was quite a bit busier because it was Belgian holidays. But the pistes were still quieter than the Tarentaise is at any time and there were very few queues, though our lifts are not up to Tarentaise standards.
Next year the later Easter will reduce choice but it still has to be better than the half term scrum. And maybe give the possibility of cheaper non-Saturday flights. My niece rented a flat in my complex, very nice 2 bedroom place, right next to the piste, from Weds - Weds for 450 euros. They drove. No traffic.
I went into Geneva airport on 26 March and 2 April - both Saturdays. The airport was very quiet, easy to park, no problems with traffic on the A40.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@pam w, It was Belgian holidays both weeks. It is interesting that Les Saisies had more people the second week as I would have expected the reverse.
Whilst Easter itself is later next year, UK school holidays are only starting one week later than this year - my childrens schools broke up on 24th March this year and will break up around 1st April next year.
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We drove back to the UK over Easter weekend, traffic from the Maurienne autoroute towards Chambery was horrific, god knows what it must be like at half-term.
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I was in Tignes Les Brevieres for the week; it was very quiet on that side, but when we ventured into Tignes le Lac it seemed busy to me; but then I'm used to skiing in small / mid-sized resorts with little uplift capacity where the pistes never get busy.
On the plus side, conditions were good, and if you kept away from a few busy pistes it was quite and there were no queues.
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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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We drove back to the UK over Easter weekend, traffic from the Maurienne autoroute towards Chambery was horrific, god knows what it must be like at half-term.
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Same the following weekend - queued for over 2 hours up to Chambery
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Yes, our drive back from Tignes to Calais took 12 hours (diving time, ignoring stops for petrol)! That's as long as it takes to get to our place four hours south of Grenoble. Traffic crawled practically all the way to Bourgoin Jailleu.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yes, I will be glad when the road's sorted at the Tunnel du Chambon and we no longer have to go via Frejus.
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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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well…time for a post season evaluation of where we are with skiing density, viability and skiing pleasure.
Actually, in my mind, the key ratio is income/investment/skier density
If income is too low, then investment suffers. Investment in skiing infrastructure either requires irrational investors or numbers of skiers.
If skier density is too high (good income, good investment) then pleasure deteriorates.
In CH - Crans Montana to be precise - the following:
Christmas - mostly green hills. A few artificial snow paths. Few skiers since it was so bad. Inadequate income. Decent skiing for those there.
Jan - no one there. Big dump. No queues. Great skiing. No queues, ski in and off at all lifts. Inadequate income.
Feb - even more snow. Even better skiing. Half term plenty of space. Mild surge in income. No queues, ski in and off at all lifts.
Easter - big pre-Easter dump. Excellent snow and conditions. Huge queues on Easter weekend; nothing at all other times. Peak in income but overall, very sparse population on the pistes, absolutely no queues - ski in and off at all lifts.
Hmm, so far this year - bad income-pleasure ratio. Pleasure v high. Income not. Room for more skiers, but frankly enjoy the empty pistes. But ski schools and lift company could do with more density….
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@valais2, it has always surprised me that there isn't more elasticity in ski pass prices. Put them up in peak holiday times, offer enticing reductions in mid January and late March. It happens with accommodation, flights and package holiday prices. An apartment like mine is 1150 - 1200 euros at New Year and the February holidays. 450 in January and after the end of the winter holidays (ie from early March onward, when skiing is often at its best).
It's a normal business model these days, after all.
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You know it makes sense.
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Our area used to do different pricing depending on low/mid/peak season but stopped a few years ago. Maybe it didn't bring in anyone else so you might as well charge those that do come full whack.
Tignes were doing low season discounts the week after we were there and I think pre-Christmas was cheaper as well but January and March (when it should be quieter) were normal price.
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