Ride Tignes - The Latest Snow Conditions in the Greatest Resort on Earth

One Apartment Left For Rent in Tignes for 2011-12 Snow Season

2011-08-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Visit www.ridetignes.com for more information

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RideTignes Apartment Rental

2010-08-31T02:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so Ride Tignes is BACK.

We have a bunch of apartments for rent for the winter 2010- 2011.

If you need somewhere swanky to live, then get onto www.RideTignes.com - hurry - they're going fast!

2008-01-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

www.RideTignes.com

Winter Season 2007 - 2008

2007-09-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hello again...

So as we draw into October, the realisation has dawned that we're only 2 months away from the start of the main winter season.... which in turn has cuased a serious problem in my life.

Namely, I'm in Australia, (racing yachts and doing some real work for once in my life) and looks like I'm here for some time to come.

So I'm sorry to announce that this winter Ride Tignes will not be running. Instead, we've turned over all our business to Richard who's vehicles many of you will already know because we were using them last year!

Richard's is a great company and he's a good friend of mine. So use them for all your transport requirements this year by emailing us at Ride Tignes and we'll forward you on.

I'll be back next winter to pick up where we left off!

Have a great winter. Here's to fresh tracks in waist-deep powder and blue skies. Think of me, sweating in Australia when you're lining up for an epic powder run. I'll be out in Tignes over New Year and probably again in April, so if anyone's around I'll be mostly found in my usual haunts of Jam, Lavachet Lounge and the Loop... see you for a beer?

Ian

26th March: Foot of Snow last night!

2007-03-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's a foot of snow last night. It was kinda whiteout today, but we still managed to lay some sweet lines. The base is now standing at 260cms = which is HUGE, so should see us through to the close of season at the middle of May. It's been windy, so it's a little thin on the ridges, but otherwise we're on full winter super-cold snow conditions. Brilliant.....

22nd March: Snowing!

2007-03-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's snowing! It's been doing so all week (on and off), but not very heavily. What it has done is soften up the pistes just nicely, and lay down a layer just in time to cause havoc on the roads for transfer day - I can't wait for tomorrow! The temps have been SERIOUSLY cold (-15), so the snow is brilliant and the spring slush of a couple of weeks ago has disappeared. This is more like it! Big dump due next week....

15th March: Sunny!

2007-03-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Firstly, apologies for my lack of blogging. I was sick all last week, and working ridiculously hard on the expansion for Ride Tignes for next year (we're about to get VERY big), whilst at the smae time setting up the Dive Company for the summer in Egypt. It's been mayhem, and I've been neglecting you!

So anyway, it's been really sunny and warm up here, and the snow is slowly melting - but don't worry, we've still gots loads left! It's been proper spring / slush skiing, which I love. It's brilliant for jumping and trying new tricks as your more likely to drown than hurt yourself. Next week though it's al change - back to minus 10 and 60 - 70 cm of snow forecast...

Bring it on!

Ian

2nd March: Still Snowing...

2007-03-02T07:59:00.001-08:00

Nuff said....

1st March: Still DUMPING!!!

2007-03-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

This is getting silly...

After a day of bluebird on Tuesday 27th, and probably the best day I've ever had in the Espace Killy, it's been snowing ever since. It must have dropped another 30cm or so in the last 24 hours. It's just put another 5cm down on my car in the last 3 hours. This is a LOT of snow.

Here's a few pictures of Chardonnet Bowl to inspire - honestly, what a day.

26th Feb: It's dumping!

2007-02-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

We've had over half a metre in the last 36 hours, and it's showing no sign of stopping. Really nice snow, really powdery. I was playing down towards the trees today, and was getting constant face-shots for the first time since I've been in Tignes! Awesome. Apparently it's due to do this all week as well...

I'd love to post a picture, but it's just pointless at the moment. Rumour has it that we've got a few hours sunshine tomorrow, so I'll try and get a few snaps then. This is definitely the arrival of the March storm - the same thing happened last year. Bring it on....

18th Feb: Cloud cover, good piste conditions

2007-02-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

So another busy week dawns with a nice snow pack, and cloudy conditions. My hangover and the lack of decent light prevented my getting on the snow today, but we've had a couple of epic powder days recently. The pistes are in great nick, but the snow offpiste is now quite crusty and nasty.

This combined with some major temperature and wind variations forecast has put me off the off-piste for the time being. However, it's nice and soft around the edges for playing and trying tricks. I came so close to my first 540 the other day. Ah well, it'll come. More snow may hit us late this week, so fingers crossed it keeps coming and it sets us up for yet another super-long season like last year.

www.ridetignes.com
Transfers from Chambery, Geneva, Grenoble and Lyon to Tignes and Val d'Isere
New accommodation service coming soon too!

14th Feb: Whiteout again!

2007-02-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

Everything cleared up for about two hours yesterday afternoon, which resulted in the best run of the season down to busstop. It was also clear for about an hour this morning, which resulted in a rather painful 540-to-faceplant on an apparently soft piste. Ouch! However, it's now 1500, and it's puking again. Due to go clear tomorrow.

The snow that's dropped so far is classic AK-pack - it snowed 2 feet and all stuck together! Avalanche risk on any normal face is far less than would be usually expected, but we have got some MASSIVE windslabs up to a metre thick around the place. Someone triggered one right next to the Tichot piste yesterday. He was on his own, had no equipment on him, and was buried for 4 hours before he was reported missing and his body dug out. Don't mess with these slabs - they're scary as hell.

www.ridetignes.com -accommodation and transfers to Tignes

12th February: Photos

2007-02-12T05:59:00.000-08:00

So here's a couple of pictures, one of what Lavachet looks like right now, and one of Bungee shredding Le Sache valley on Friday. Happy days...
www.ridetignes.com

12th February: It's PUKING!

2007-02-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

So we had about 20cms on Thursday, and then it went bluebird on Friday. We had a great day, although the snow was a little shallow in places. The pack was fairly stable (except on high-northish slopes), so with mininal avalanche risk we went out and ripped. Since then we've been working too hard to go out, but it's now Monday and it is absolutely puking out here. Andy, who runs metcheck.com, reckons that today we could take a direct hit from a triple-point depression which could give us up to a metre of snow today alone!!! Unfortunately my camera is out of batteries so I can't show you what we got up to on Friday, or what it looks like right now. Just think of white, and lots of it....

Come play!

www.RideTignes.com

5th February: Snow Coming!

2007-02-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

You can tell we're getting bored... the picture above is of Tristan from the Loop going huge on last night's floodlit session. If he goes any bigger we're going to have to extend the landing somehow, because he was just about clearing it.
Anyway, the snow conditions are good, if a little hard. The warm temperatures have been resulting in slush / spring conditions on some aspects in the afternoons, but it doesn't seem to be melting too badly. The important news is that we're due quite a lot of snow in the next five days. None of the weather models seem to be able o agree with each other about how much and when, but one thing is for sure - it's on it's way!
www.RideTignes.com

29th January 2007: Good piste conditions

2007-01-29T01:54:00.000-08:00

So here's the view from Le Home Club in Le Lavachet. Apologies to all for the last week of no posts - we're back now with a little more regularity hopefully.
So what's happened? Well, last Tuesday / Wednesday we took about 20 - 30cm's of snow. It then got REALLY REALLY cold, but we're back to normal January temperatures now (about minus 10 at night, 0 during the day). The pistes are mostly in excellent condition. It's quite hard now, but not icy. You don't want to fall hard, but it's ok - you can still get an edge in no problems. The only sector that isn't brilliant are the runs down to Les Brevieres. Fro some reason these are now really icy., Don't know why. Anyway, the sun is shining, and I'm sat inside writing this.... why I ask you, WHY?
No idea. I'm going boarding...

www.RideTignes.com - Luxury private transfers from Geneva, Chambery, Lyon and Grenoble to Tignes, Val d'Isere and surrounding resorts...

18th January: SNOWING!!!

2007-01-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

Yep, we got a couple of cm's last night, and it's been snowing lightly since. Apparently the snow-rain interface is at the Dam at 1800m, so it's not terribly dry snow, but it's good enough to soften everything up. It's actually coming down quite hard right now, but we're in cloud so it's impossible to see ANYTHING. The photo isn't actually what Tignes looks like right now, but it's not far off!!!

16th January: Getting hard out there, but good snow cover

2007-01-16T03:20:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's getting a little hard out there now, but it's not too icy. You can still get an edge in on everything but the steepest blacks. I've not added a photo today because I can't be bothered and there's nothing really to show. Grey overcast sky and lots and lots of white! Weather due to clear up tomorrow though and then snow over the weekend. Fingers crossed...

www.ridetignes.com Transfers to and from Tignes and Val d'Isere to all major airports

14th January: Blue Skies

2007-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. It's beautiful weather out here at the moment. It has been unbelievably warm, but fortunately we've got enough snow and we're high enough to get away with it. The piste conditions are good, albeit a bit hard (as I found out crashing an ambitious move earlier on today). We're all white, no rocks showing through, plenty of base yet to go. It's just hard to believe that it's January at 2100m in the mountains!
Rumour has it that the unettled weather that has been battering the UK is going to start shifting south by the weekend, courtesy of a roaring Atlantic Jetstream. What will happen? Who knows... but it's gonna snow! Keep watching this space...

8th January: Whiteout

2007-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's snowing and cloudy, a combination which means that visibility is ZERO! We've spent the afternoon building a kicker out the back of the Home Club in Lavachet and learning to Cab5 and flip into the soft stuff. These conditions are due to continue until at least Saturday. The snowpack is incredibly unstable, so off-piste is right out of the equation. A very well-known and well-respected Pisteur, Bruno, got slid a couple of days ago and is currently in Grenoble Hospital in a coma. I have no intention of joining him, so I'm currently living in kicker-city. The photo today is of a few boards outside Scotty's (where I'm currently sat and enjoying free internet) because any other photo is just going to be white...

4th January: Still Snowing....

2007-01-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. It's still snowing. I honestly have no idea how much snow has fallen, but we've gotta be talking over a metre over the last few days by now, and it's still going. It went bluebird yesterday, but clouded in again this morning and started snowing again this afternoon. Rumour has it we're expecting ANOTHER dump (this one hasn't finished yet!) on Sunday...

Avalanche Risk: STUPID.

Some kid threw a switch 5 into a wind-loaded terrain trap on an avalanche risk of 4 yesterday. Landed it, stopped in the bowl and everything slid on top of him. He was under (without a transceiver) for AN HOUR, and walked away from it... He wins the award simultaneaously for the Luckiest Man and Stupidest Man in France.

The average male victim of an avalanche is 27 years old with a high-level of skiing or snowboarding and no mountain knowledge... The average female victim is following her boyfriend...

For those of you who don't have avalanche gear, head to Snow Park on Rue de la Poste for the full gear for cost (about 300 yoyos). The guy who runs it is ex-ski patrol and wants to keep people alive. Buy it, then learn to use it, and then come play.

2nd January: MASSIVE DUMP!

2007-01-02T01:58:00.000-08:00

The silliness began last night. I think we've had about a foot of fresh over night, and it's still going. It's actually very hard to guess the depth because the strong winds have drifted it into massive piles, completely burying cars in some places. We've no idea what it's actually done to the pistes (no-one with any sense is daft enough to head up in these conditions), but it can only be good.

Off-piste however is going to be a completely different matter. The lack of snow fall over the last few weeks has allowed the base to transform into something called depth-hoar, especially on north-facing slopes because of the lack of sunlight. Whilst unlikely to avalanche by itself, it is a completely unbonded layer, and everything is just going to slide straight off the top of it. Combined with the wind-slabs that will have formed last night, and it is going to be very very dangerous out there. If you're going off-piste, take all the gear and a guide (available from the Guiding Centre just down from the Loop in Tignes Le Lac).

The roads are chaos as well, so if you're heading up here, please ensure you've got chains and know how to use them! Happy New Year!

1st January: Happy New Year - IT'S SNOWING!!!

2007-01-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!

As the clock struck midnight, the DJ's went nuts in the centre of Tignes Le Lac, and one of the greatest fireworks displays I've ever seen kicked off. Two hours of great music and an incredible light show saw the New Year in. But the best bit of it was that at the very moment that the first array of fireworks arced into firey oblivion, it started snowing...

No kidding!

And it's still doing it now! We've had between 10 and 15cm's in town already. So we'll see what happens over the next 48 hours....

31st December: Fresh Snow!

2007-01-01T07:55:00.001-08:00

Not much, but we got a couple of unexpected cms last night. Woke to bluebird conditions and a thin layer of white stuff... all good. Roll on tonight and tomorrow for the big guns...

Boxing Day: noooo snooooowwwwww....

2006-12-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm.... well, I did warn you that I'd update this as soon as fresh snow fell, but that aint happened yet, so I'm telling that we're still alive up here and the snow conditions are still okish. The snow cannons are responsible for keeping us in the game, but the increased traffic we're seeing up here over the holiday period is beginning to take it's toll.
Keep everything crossed, but this euro high that's sat over us and giving us endless bluebird days is not looking like going anywhere for a while.
Merry Christmas, happy Boxing Day, and a fabulous start to 2007 to everyone.

19th December: Bluebird!

2006-12-19T03:08:00.000-08:00

The cloud and fog of the last couple of days has gone to be replaced with blue skies and low temperatures. The photo is of Chardonnay Bowl, taken from Le Brasero in Lavachet (where I'm sat writing this). Conditions are good in some places thanks to a few snow showers over the last few days, and some massive grooming efforts by the snowcats. Legendary work has kept the Palafour in great nick, although the run under Caudannes is hideous. Brev still isn't open (unsurprisingly). Snow is forecast for this week though, but reports of how much and when are varying widely.
OK, in a bit of a rush today, but I'll update as soon as the snow starts falling....

17th December: Fresh snow, but not great

2006-12-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

OK, so we've been having some high temperatures during the day for the last few days, but because of the low sun angle and the orientation of the resort and our stupidly high altitude it hasn't done much damage.

More lifts are now open, including the new high-speed Palafour which has revolusionised that sector. The Palafour run is in good shape, as is Tichot and Grattalu (always the best on the hill), but the run under Chaudannes is icy and rocky. Trolles (the black into the centre of Le Lac under the aeroski) is NASTY - best avoided to be honest. If you're coming back from Val D'Isere, it's defintely best to "download" on the aeroski and miss Trolles altogether.

We had 4cm fresh snow last night, but it really wasn't enough. Boisse and Brev are still unreachable, and all runs into the main of Val D'Isere are either closed or hideous.

COME ON SNOW!

More flurries forecast for the next few days, but nothing substantial. Will keep ya all posted.

14th December: Spring Conditions!

2006-12-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a bizarre day! Very warm conditions, but fortunately because it's so early in the season and our super-high alititude, it hasn't done much damage to the snow pack. Pebbles on piste down to La Dialle, and beginning to get icy down there, but otherwise quite acceptable everywhere. Rumour has it that the new warp-speed Palafour lift opens tomorrow - can't wait, so I'm going to bed now (ish) in prep for a full day of ripping....

13th December: Solid Piste Conditions

2006-12-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

OK, so after the sadness of the last few days we're back in Tignes, albeit sans-photos 'coz my camera has gone flat. So it's been bluebird conditions, and I've been up on the pistes. We actually dared venture down as far as La Daille, and were quite surprised to see that the pistes are hard, but not icy, and have some snow movement on the top of them. There are a few rocks on piste, especially down towards La Daille, but if you're prepared to take it easy (or ollie at warp speed) then you'll be fine.
Trolles (the Black into Le Lac) is closed, but Piste H, Double M and the Grattalu area are really quite good for mid-December.
Temperatures are due to rise on Thursday, but hopefully not for long. The Cannons are working all day and all night at the moment to sort out the lower areas, and they're laying down solid amounts of snow. Looks like a nice base for this early in the season. Another dump and we should be all good.

Apparently we have 30cm of snow at 2100m and 80cm at 3000m, for those of you who care...

11th December: Mark Rogers

2006-12-12T02:07:00.002-08:00

Hi folks, sorry for the lack of detail over the last few days.

I've had to return to the UK for the funeral of an amazing man and a great friend, Mark Rogers. He died aged 27 in a tragic accident. He lived every day as if it was his last. He never sweated the small stuff. He always had your back. Rest In Peace, bro', the world is a poorer place without you.

10th December: BLUEBIRD POWDER!!!!

2006-12-12T02:07:00.001-08:00

'Nuff said. First day on the hill of the season, and this is what we get. A foot of fresh over a base. This is Bungee ripping...
And despite the massive dump, the Cannons were firing all day. People have claimed that Tignes doesn't do enough snow making... well have a look in the background of this picture, and then tell me that. Massive artifical efforts all over the hill...

Bungee dominating another field of pow...

...and doing a great scarecrow impression....

8th December: It's SNOWING!!!!

2006-12-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

OK, so I've been driving all day so all you're getting tonight is a night-time shot. This is taken from the Lavachet Lounge (free internet access - visit www.tcsbar.com). It's been snowing (medium fall - now light, not heavy) all day today, and when I came up the hill the snow-rain interface was about 1900m this afternoon.

It's supposed to keep doing this for the next two days - keep it coming. I should be able to give you some technical stats (depth of snow / lifts open / etc) tomorrow as I'm about to get my pass and actually get onto the hill...

And to finish off, this girl in town has an amazing pair of puppies - they're so soft and perfect... ;o)

www.RideTignes.comTransfers from Geneva, Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery to Tignes, Val D'Isere, Les Arcs, La Plagne and the Three Valleys

7th December SNOW ALERT!

2006-12-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

Those kind kiddies at Snow Forecast have a free day today - and what they're telling us is that we're expecting a foot of fresh at 2500m over the next 48-72 hours!!!!

Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Tignes.0to3mid.shtml

7th December: It's really white

2006-12-07T04:20:00.000-08:00

More snow fell yesterday - about another 10cm with the snow-rain interface down to 1300m-ish, so it's all quite dry by comparison to the previous snow fall. Snow is still shallow, but it's definitely going the right direction. Snow cannons working double time, and temperatures low. Blue bird day today, so life is gooooooooood.....

In addition, the Loop opened last night, and after that kicked out we went to Jacks - which, amazingly is playing great music this season. Brilliant night in there, but seriously jaded today as a result. More inspiring blogs coming.....

www.RideTignes.comTransfers from Geneva, Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery to Tignes, Val D'Isere, Les Arcs, La Plagne and the Three Valleys

5th December: It's WHITE!!!

2006-12-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

A good snow fall yesterday has turned the valley white - not much happening today, but due for some serious stuff tomorrow - just in time for the first transfer of the season. Thank Mitsubishi for 4WD....

Edit: Rumour has it that above 3000m the snow is in good nick, but beneath it's all Cannon Fodder (artifical snow) and there's a few rocks around. Not a day for that new board you've just bought....

4th Dec: It's Snowing!!!

2006-12-04T04:04:00.000-08:00

It's snowing!!!

So we arrived up here late on Saturday night, and Sunday morning (3rd December) was a bit scary - there was grass everywhere, the lake wasn't frozen and it was warm...

However, in true Tignes fashion, the weather has given itself a stern talking-to. It's given itself a few thought-provoking slaps and now it's vomiting copious amounts of fresh, deep, peaceful and beautful snow all over the valley. We've had about 10cm so far (it's now 13:00 Monday 4th December) and it's not going to stop any time soon - bring it on!

Most of the valley is closed at the moment, but everything above Val Claret up to the Grande Motte is open apart from the top cable car (the James Bondola) because it's a bit breezy up there. I've not been up, but apparently the runs are looking really nice!

www.RideTignes.com
Transfers from Geneva, Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery to Tignes, Val D'Isere, Les Arcs, La Plagne and the Three Valleys

Summer 2006

2006-11-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

Summer 2006 was spent working in Dahab, Egypt as a PADI Scuba Instructor. It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it...

If anyone's interested in becoming a Dive Professional and leading a simillarly tough life, then don't hesitate to contact me. I can steer you away from the fast-track cowboys who take a massive sum of money from you in return for some pretty average training....

And yes, it is a brilliant life where you live in the sun, work hard, play hard, meet new people every day and see things that most people will only ever dream about.

www.RideTignes.com

Transfers from Geneva, Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery to Tignes, Val D'Isere, Les Arcs, La Plagne and the Three Valleys

Where is Tignes?

2006-11-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

Tignes is 2100m up in the French Alps, and part of the same ski area as Val D'Isere (although we're higher, have better runs, lifts and offpiste!)
We're 40 minutes drive from Bourg St.Maurice, 20 minutes drive from Val D'Isere, and fairly close (at least in straight line terms) to Les Arcs, La Plagne and the Three Valleys.
We run transfers to all these resorts from Gevena, Grenoble, Chambery and Lyon.

Season 2005/2006

2006-11-26T06:42:00.000-08:00

Ride Tignes was born last season as me, a chunky 4 Wheel Drive truck and a need to do lots and lots of snowboarding. The season started out fairly quiet. My friend Laura injured herself on the second run of the season. A little kid smashed into her and cut her knee open with the edge of his ski, putting her off the snow until the middle of March.

January was fairly quiet, but February brought with it more snow than I have ever dreamed of. It snowed and snowed and snowed and SNOWED for about 3 weeks, dropping more powder than I've ever seen right on our door step. However, it brought with it a huge avalanche risk and up in Tignes for one nightmare weekend, we actually got cut off from the outside world.

Awesome....

From there on it the season was made, and we were taking fresh tracks right up until the beginning of May. There was no way I wasn't coming back for the 2006 / 2007 season, so over the summer the work to expand Ride Tignes went into overdrive.

Welcome to Ride Tignes

2006-11-26T05:54:00.000-08:00

Snow Conditions in Tignes......

Hi and welcome to the Ride Tignes blog!

We're due to be back in Tignes this winter with a new website (http://www.RideTignes.com), some new vans and a whole heap of exciting stories.

This blog is all about the coming winter season in Tignes, France as it progresses, the highs and the lows, the powder and the ice, the parties and the hangovers, forever and ever, Amen.

Keep checking back for the latest in Snow Conditions, as well as what mayhem we've been up to for the last few days.

Cheers,

Ian
www.RideTignes.com