WHISTLER v TIGNES

A snowHead

Could someone whom have been to both of the above make positive / negative comments on the two resorts, mainly skiing but also the all round experiences of a week / two week ski holiday.

Would you repeat one of these or go for an alternative at Christmas / New Year or February Half Term

A snowHead

I promised I wouldn't mention the rain in Whistler but it's a long way to go if it's not a good season and mine wasn't

Tignes a moonscape of ski stations with very good skiing particularly off-piste, some to walk to that is as good as anything Whistler offers. I would never go to Whistler again instead of Tignes. Tignes le Lac has the best IMO bars, cafe and fine dining as they put it in Whistler but a true skiers resort with little for the non skier apart from pools and skating. You'll love it, although I'd go across the mountain to its twin and stay in Val d'Isere more of a resort and you can ski to Tignes in 20 minutes. Killy Espace very difficult to beat it's a short flight away, and I've never known it to pour with rain (particularly for 5 days) ever !

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

I've not been to Whistler (I here mixed reviews about it), but Tignes is a great place! Val probably is better if you want loads of bars etc. But Tignes Le Lac has a few good spots for apres (marmot bar and loop bar are particularly good), and the skiing on the Tignes side is much better IMO. A lot of the accommodation in Le Lac is ski in/out, or at least very close to the door.

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View of Tignes Val Claret in Feb this year.

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1969jma,I have skied both and in all honesty they are both pretty good and I would not say you should definately choose one over the other.

As far as Cynics point goes
Either can suffer from bad snow as can most resorts the worst conditions I have ever had on a ski holiday was in Tignes though that was in the years before snow making was installed. You could not ski back to the resort on the main rum from the glacier. THis would be rarer than rain in Whistler but storm conditions can make Tignes a resort with no trees a little bleak and unpleasant.

Along with its maritime climate which sometimes brings rain it frequently brings snow at altitude and you are more likely to get fresh snow in Whistler than Tignes.

Tignes does have excellent off piste though it suffers from its popularity and gets more heavily skied than just about any resort I know.Whistler is probably a more attractive town than Tignes which is a little bleak though it is not cheap. The food on the mountain in Whistler is generally poor cafeteria style eating and the lift hours are shorter than in Europe meaning that if you want to eat a relaxed lunch you sacrifice a higher proprtion of the skiing day.
In my expereince quality of accommodation is generally a fair bit higher in Whistler than in Tignes.
One thing I wold not underestimate if you are a sufferer is jet lag. As far as the skiing is concerned it makes little difference as you tend not to be tires at this time but the first couple of days you won't enjoy the apres if that is important. On your return you will suffer for a while, it is the latter that and the expense that stops me skiing in NNorth America more often for a one week holiday I just find it is not worth it. For two weeks maybe.

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Both good, bad or indifferent depending on snow conditions, weather especially high winds & storms, crowds and personal preferences re dining and nightlife. I've skied Whistler at Xmas a couple of times and it's been fun, not done Tignes at the same time. AIUI both get pretty busy peak Feb weeks. AFAIK you can't get a Saltspring Island lambburger in Tignes and they are yummy (particularly with Alfalfa) but then Tartiflette ain't great shakes in Canada.

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1969jma, what's your ability level?

After all it is free

town: whistler > tignes (by a country mile)

terrain: tignes > whistler (just but whistler much better for trees)

snow: whistler > tignes

Arno, but perhaps town Val d'Isere > Whistler?

If you want off piste which is avalanche controlled then Whistler has it, but it skies out extremely quickly (half a day). But if you want a huge off piste area which allows you to find un-skied snow long after (but perhaps with a guide) then you want Tignes/Val d'Isere.
By the way, if "steep and deep" interests you and you decide on Whistler I can recommend Extremely Canadian, which will put you in with a group of your own standard. For Val d'Isere off-piste it would be Alpine Experience or TopSki (The former if you are an off-piste beginner).

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1969jma, Never been to Whistler but have been to Tignes/ Val many times, skied EK 20+ weeks and have no desire to go to Whistler, heard too many bad things about it and if I'm going to US/ Canada I'd be going to Colorado, Utah, Catskills or Alaska, however not Whistler. If I was going that far I'd be looking for better surety of Pow than Whistler/ Blackcomb appears to offer.

Tignes is absolutely brilliant skiing, I much prefer it there to its swanky neighbour, less crowded, less Henrys and above all some great OP opportunities. Want to go back to Tignes, maybe late 2013 for a pre Xmas long weekend (best time to go IMO), major downfall for me is accommodation quality/ generally poor vfm small sizes and overpriced, lack of service culture (restaurants/ WC's/ bars), lift investment needed, and long transfer time from GVA. Until the service issue is sorted I vowed when last there 3 years ago I'd not return however was looking at my OP notes/ guide book last night ironically and am starting to think about Aeroski options, Aguille du Percie, Sache and Col Du Vez again, however would go self catering or B&B small hotel down the valley (Les Boisses/ Le Brev), do picnic lunches and drive down there, odd pizza at Tignes Le Brev however French tolls are again a major put-off. We tend to head east to Austria these days, for me the mega French resorts dont have the same pull they used to back in the 90's and early 00's, and as long as they are rammed with Brits the service wont improve, guess the Architecture wont change, neither will the 2€ toilet culture but the snow can't be ignored! wink

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Markymark29, There is a service culture in many Tignes establishments you just have to ask the expats where to go. Never paid for a p££ p££ yet! Also not sure about your lift investment point - on average Tignes has had a new 4/6/8 high speed chailift a year for the last 10. I rarely see a queue over 5 minutes even in high season (again knowing how the resort flows helps I admit). Looking forward to a new Aeroski next year as well.

You know it makes sense.

fatbob, x2. The whistler rain thing is way overstated IMV. if it is raining in the village it is almost always dumping in the alpine. it does snow a lot so you have to get used to skiing in bad vis and having your apres ski indoors rather than on deckchairs, but it's a pretty cool place if you ask me

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

I like Tignes, but I love Whistler! Would go more often if not for the journey time...

Not as much sun, for sure, but rain at resort level usually means lovely powder high up Happy

Also better mountain food and service with a smile wherever you go (unlike the sometimes grumpy French...)

A snowHead

A snowHead

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

Markymark29, You'll enjoy the new Boisse gondola then - which was to be fair put in ahead of all the new accommodation being built as we type. There was/is/wil be a new a plan for the A-P sector as well but there is a lot of village and National Park politics to negotiate. Basically its a one out one in policy - it was all worked out until ESF stuck their oar in and quite a lot was delayed.

PS Where are you in God's own county I've just moved back - PM me if you want Laughing

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40 days skied at Whistler this year almost all on 128 Redeemers - either:
a. they are really good water skis for all the rain cynic says we have.
b. I just like skiing scoured ice on fat rockered skis
c. It snows quite a lot, BC inbounds off-piste/ slack-country skiing is almost unbeatable, and I want the right tools for the job

(PS. I don't like stopping for lunch anyway! wink

)

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snowball,

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T Bar, guide needs to get the sand out of his front bottom..... or work a bit harder. Popular resort = lots of people go there = more people wanting to access pow. He could go to back of beyond resort and then be complaining about not having punters at all.

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fatbob, He was there because that is where the work is and recognises that, it was not a major whinge just a statement that inspite of knowing the resort very well its popularity is such that safe untracked is difficult to find.

After all it is free

If you have plenty of time to live .... go to both!

T Bar, Yup that and more clued up punters using guides to suss out the routes then being confident enough to tackle them themselves. Always strikes me guiding in a busy resort is a bit of a nightmare - loose cannons who might not have any snowcraft possibly above you, randoms just trying to tag along from a distance and punters to keep happy who don't want to be taken somewhere that's been skied by dozens before.

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From what I can see we are talking about getting to either resort from the UK? There may be a cost/time/environmental impact element worth considering too here - just a dumb thought wink

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clarky999, probably more so in the sense that you can literally go 100s of kms before the next resort unlike anywhere in the Alps. That said, that aspect makes it a little less user friendly than many European places, and much of it requires a bit more effort to find than, say, stepping off the La Grave gondola

You know it makes sense.

clarky999, No it's fine - just you can get a long way into drainages away from easy routes out to civilisation quite quickly and obviously WB don't like to big it up too much. Most of the more obvious stuff with easy traverses back is skied extensively.

The whole N American experience is heavily influenced by a lot of very good skiers and boarders who know every inch of inbounds terrain and their "go to" places on a powder day, so almost inevitably as a tourist you're never going to get the absolute cream of the crop in inbounds goods. At least in Whistler because of geography you have the option to stand in line for a chair to open after the storm closure of the Alpine to get that adrenaline charged first run, pursued of course by all the others standing in the line.

Similarly like Chamonix etc for those that are prepared to work for it, and have the balls/skill they can get to places that the 99% can't or won't.

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

A snowHead

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WHISTLER v TIGNES

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