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Tignes Snow Report: 21st February 2012

Off piste in Tignes. Fantastic conditions away from the crowds

featured in Snow report Author Debbie Priestley, Tignes Reporter Updated

Today is Shrove Tuesday, so I hope at least you had a crepe today. I will be making pancakes tonight which seem almost perfect after the awesome days skiing I’ve had today.

Today was a beautiful day to be at the top of the mountain, the sun was shining, the skies were cloudless, and the snow was pretty good too!

A friend called me this morning, and I jumped at the change to go skiing with him. Stephen ‘Chipie’ Windross is one of the owners of Tignes Cuisine, my favourite place to stop for lunch, and also a truly amazing skier. I met him in Tignes Le Lac this morning after a very fast ride over from Val d’Isere (The pistes are fantastic early in the morning!). I was slightly concerned when I got handed a set of crampons for the trip, I’d never used them before in my life! We headed over the back of Tignes (If you’re looking at a piste map then it’s the far right) towards the Col de la Sachette. It was only an hour hike to the top but I was not fit enough for it. Chipie was an excellent guide though, and didn’t make me feel at all bad about my almost collapse at the top, I reckon he would normally get to the top in half that time. Anyway, the ride down was more than worth it. The snow was exceptional and we dropped about fifteen hundred metres in our descent coming out on the way down to Tignes Les Brevieres. It was magic.

After that we skied a very steep couloir, which was a lot harder to get to on a snowboard than on skis! Still, it was testing but I really enjoyed it. And I've never really done anything like it before either. The snow was grippy but sluffing a little and the narrowest part of the couloirs was a little scary. I had a fantastic day though, and couldn’t think of a better person to be skiing with. The off-piste in Tignes is pretty awesome. I will be visiting there on powder days more often from now on!

Tignes Cuisine is located in Tignes Le Lac, next to the Loop bar on the snow front. You can ski pretty much to the door if you ski down the nursery slope, Rosset, at the side of the black piste, Trolles. They serve the best noodles in town, and also do burritos and nems. It’s my favourite lunch stop by far, and as long as you love that kind of food, you’ll love it too!

I had a blast back on the pistes at the end of the day, they were a little mogully but the snow's still grippy and there’s a surprising lack of icy patches right now. The run down from the top of the Tommeuses chair lift to La Daille was fast and only crowded at the bottom. Unless you are partying at La Folie Douce, it’s probably wise to head down La Daille before five o’clock, maybe even at around four, to avoid the massive queues that await the buses. Otherwise it can take a long time to get home. One way round it is just to avoid La Daille at the end of the day. When La Folie Douce closes you can have over half an hour wait to get a bus it gets so busy.

The weather forecast is for more beautiful sunny days like today for the foreseeable future. There might be some light cloud drifting in over the weekend, but clear until then and then Monday looks to be clear too. The temperatures are due to remain fairly high, but still remember that you are on top of a mountain. Remember not only layers, but sun cream is going to be especially important over the next few days as well. If you are hiking, black is a really bad choice as I found out today, it was very hot walking up hill.

It is still half term, and there are a lot of ski schools about. One place you can usually avoid the majority of them is the snow parks. Both Val d’Isere and Tignes have fantastic parks, The Oakley Val d’Isere Park has recently hosted rally driver and pro skier Guerlain Chicherit and his car. It is also pretty good for us mere mortals though, with a great range of toys to play on. The rope tow and drag lift that take you back to the top make it easy to ride quick laps of the park too. Over in Tignes and the park is a little more long winded. This is great for continuous riding, but the chair lift access means that it takes a little longer to get back up to the top. There is a drag lift that you can use for access too but it’s not directly linked to the park. Snow Parks are great places to spend sunny afternoons, the snow's a little softer then, and they can be great fun. I would recommend helmets though, rails are hard, and even hitting snow from a height can be quite painful. In Tignes you have the option of airbags for practicing new tricks which is a great way to learn, and offers a softer landing. One is actually in the snow park, and the second is under the Palafour chair lift in Tignes Le Lac. There is also a Super Pipe in Tignes Val Claret, and it’s the X-Games one, so go check it out!

There is an amazing mountain out there to explore, and with the current weather conditions, you have no excuses, get out there and enjoy it, or at least soak up some sun on a terrace somewhere!

Bon ski!!

Stats

Avalanche Risk
  • Level 3

Snow Report
  • 1

  • Total Pistes: 164

  • Alt. Resort: 1850

  • Alt. Summit: 3000

  • High Temp.: -3

  • Alt. High Temp.: 1850

  • Latest Conditions: SUNNY WEATHER CONDITIONS, SOME HIGHERS CLOUDS