Tignes Apres Ski Report: 29th November 2012

I was the last to arrive out of the seven Kiwis whom I will be spending the winter with. This has meant two things: one, last choice of bed, and two, a few glasses of Merlot to celebrate the full house as well as a much needed catch up. Over the night I was told about amazing hiking, great bars, future events and house parties with new friends. At that point I knew I was in the right place, and that Tignes will play host to a winter filled with excitement, laughter and many a good time for me to report on back to you.

The following morning we decided to go for a stroll down the road from Le Lavachet to Lac Du Chevril to clear the head from the night before. I had forgotten how good the mountain air can be as a hangover cure! It was a short 40 minute walk to a breathtaking view overlooking the lake.  There are coal barbeques and picnic spots scattered along the lake and if you look hard enough you will discover a few little gems like we happened upon - see photo!

After a day of sightseeing and getting my bearings around the resort, the crew decided to show me some of the Le Lavachet nightlife. We got another cask of 12 Merlot to have with dinner and then wandered down to Loop Bar. Loop Bar is found right on the Le Lavachet side of Tignes-Le-Lac with a giant deck and picnic tables to welcome you in. The bar staff are super friendly and Jamie the manager knows how to keep the drinkers happy. Loop Bar is one of the only bars stay open late during this early season period and the atmosphere in there makes it easy to call it your local. The big screen TV’s playing highlights of All Black games and Test match cricket is a comforting sign for myself, being a sports enthusiast. The bar is open till around 2am and caters for a wide range of people and is definitely worth a look.

On Tuesday night we headed along to So Bar, again situated in Le Lavachet. They were running an iPod battle, where patrons had to battle off against each other. The music genres were changing and some genuine bangers were getting dropped. A personal favourite was Black Sabbath, Iron Man during the rock themed round! The winning iPod took home a bottle of vodka and the team that has won the most at the end of the season gets to  take home a keg of beer. So Bar overlooks the Sherpa supermarket and is a cosy venue constantly filled with laughs.  The owners JP and Fairy are very friendly and make you feel right at home, often coming over to join in with your group’s conversations. The big screen playing snowboarding videos and the dartboard in the corner is great addition to a fun little bar. They have told me that it will be their one-year anniversary on the 4th December and that it should be quite the night, so definitely pencil it into your calendar. Also in the pipeline is the return of their very popular wine tasting from last season, so I also will keep you posted on that.

After a quiet couple of weeks, the snow is now really starting to fall - a welcome sign for the resort with opening weekend on its way. With a decent covering already and a forecast to keep dumping until Friday, we could be in for a treat. With more and more people arriving in resort the bars, nightlife and events are sure to become more regular so let’s hope the snow keeps falling.

Let the season begin!