First ride on the new €16.5m Le Praz Gondola

Not quite first lift but La Tania locals some of the first to ride the new gondola this morning. Very smooth and very quick – under 6 minutes to the top.

Bouc Blanc and down to La Tania looking magnificent

On the eve of Courchevel opening the preparations on the La Tania side (opening next Saturday) continue with the Bouc Blanc piste and the views down to La Tania looking magnificent.

A word of caution from those in the know: This area is officially closed until next Saturday (14 Dec 2019) and there’s plenty of piste bashers, heavy machinery, cables, safety equipment and other hazards in place.
In addition, even though above Bouc Blanc is now groomed, Folyères is very challenging as it is partially ungroomed with a mix of refrozen and snow cannoned snow. It will be perfect of course once it is prepared next week but at the moment the closed Folyères piste could end your season before it has begun. Don’t do it!

New Praz Gondola and Courchevel Stade looking good this morning

Mobile Phone Offer from Three – 8GB for £8 a month with unlimited texts & calls

Is this a no-brainer?

Three have always led the way in including roaming before anyone else, it now stretches to 71 countries including Australia and the USA. Although there is a “fair use policy” and technically you’re not supposed to use it permanently abroad but we don’t know of people being blocked in using it for a ski season.

Finally, at the end of last Winter, Three allowed 4G roaming (after their 3G was becoming almost unusable) and it’s a pretty decent service across France now.

There are always some catches, but we can’t see any – it roams free in Switzerland too for those Geneva transfers unlike iD Mobile, the Dixons/Carphone virtual operator who actually use the Three network!

There won’t be tethering abroad and calls / texts to foreign numbers will be charged along with picture messaging ( but not iPhone Messages or Facebook Messenger / Whatsapp photos etc). It is 5G ready too.

The offer closes at midnight Friday and it is a 12 month sign up – if you Quidco it you may get another £47.50 cashback making it only £4 a month eventually. There’s also a link here for a £25 Amazon Voucher – no idea if you can do both – but that makes it possibly less than £2 a month in effect. Surely this can’t be right???

Try the registration for the Amazon voucher first then get the link off Uswitch or Quidco to buy.

You can enter your PAC when ordering to keep your mobile number – get your PAC by texting PACddmmyy (date of birth) to 65075 – eg PAC230591

Team La Tania hit the Suisses Powder

Another beautiful sunny day so a skin up Marmottes and then time to drop in to Suisses… Only 2 more days until the lifts open in Courchevel!

La Tania Medical Centre Update for Winter 2020

The fully equipped La Tania Courchevel Médical Center is situated next to the lift pass office by the La Tania Gondola station.
Further information on the facilities are available here

Update for Winter 2020

Joining the team this Winter season is Dr Johan Walch, a young doctor specialising in sport pathology. An active sportsman, he has a passion for sport and travel.

Back again for this Winter assisting the doctors are Jacqueline and Martine.

Doctor Aude Joncquiert Latarjet will also be working at the Medical Centre as usual but will be sharing the role with working with the emergency service in Chambéry.

• All staff are (at minimum) bilingual.
• Service available include X-Ray, stitching, plaster cast, perfusion, nebulization, etc.
• The Courchevel Medical Center will be open 7 days a week from Saturday 14th December until the end of the season.
• In case of accident, you can ask for a transfer to the CMC of La Tania if you are in the local area.

The Medical Centre wishes every visitor, season worker and all local residents from all countries a very good season.

Skiing Above La Tania Today – But who did Gazex?

Fabulous pics from a hike up the La Tania drag lift track and beyond this morning. A good 60cm of snow and time for a first few turns of the season from the usual suspects… Magnificent!

But who put first tracks down Gazex?

135cm base on Saulire – 7 December Lift Openings Confirmed

With 135cm on Saulire and a 65cm base in Courchevel 1850 the lift openings have been confirmed for opening day this Saturday, 7th December 2019 until 13 December (subject to the usual provisos regarding weather, safety, maintenance etc.).

Also announced is on Saturday all kids under 13 ride free for the day.

The lifts planned from 14 to 20 December (La Tania opens on Sat 14th December) are as follows:

First Piste Basher in La Tania Spotted!

Sunday’s La Tania Snow Report below…

Sunset Sons UK Tour hits the Toon… Win a signed Album!

It might have been a Sunday night but no worries in Newcastle as Sunset Sons (aka The Cheerleaders from their time in La Tania) rocked the Riverside tonight with a great set.

All the oldies plus tracks from the new album Blood Rush Déjà Vu too which was perfect for the late afternoon Sunday drinking Geordie crowd…. A new Jäger was discovered too and had to be tested out – it’s sort of chocolate flavoured! The Ski Lodge has been informed.

Great to see Jed’s Dad, Ray Laidlaw of Lindisfarne fame at the gig too.

Win a signed album (vinyl): What’s the Sunset Sons live EP called with a skiing reference? Email your answer to competition@latania.co.uk with the subject line Sunset Sons.

One of the support bands was Hector Gannet and some may remember Martin below from Cheerleaders time…

Beaujolais Night at The Drop Inn, Le Praz

The annual Thursday night session before Val Thorens opening weekend on the Beaujolais Nouveau down in Le Praz. The usual suspects in attendance…