The La Tania Ski Blog
Latest news, snow, pics, gossip and information from the locals in La Tania – latania.co.uk
All the latest news from around the Three Valleys from the La Tania locals. A real blog since 2006, not just endless re-posts for search engine optimisaton! Photos, gossip, snow reports, what's on and all the latest on the Apres Ski scene... Now fully optimised for iPhone, Touch and Android Mobiles - just go to latania.co.uk/blog and view on your phone. Our other past blogs & favourites here
Creux Noirs chair closed for the season
The Creux Noirs chairlift will be closed until the end of the season – it was due to remain open until 15 April.
Safety is of course paramount across The 3 Valleys and the regular infrastructure inspections have detected a crack in the concrete of pylon number 6.
Excellent work by S3V again.
The Return of Summer Skiing for July 2018 (April Fool)
It’s been nearly 20 years since Val Thorens gave up on it’s Summer Ski Area – shown above on a piste map from the mid 90s with the original Peclet lift, Glacier and 3300 chairs plus 3 drags on the Glacier de Péclet. Only the Glacier chair survives and the highest point in The 3 Valleys is now the summit of the Bouchet chair in the 4th Valley at 3230m.
While we wait on news from Val Thorens, we do have news from the Local Council, Mairee Office and the S3V Lift company following yesterday afternoon’s Town Hall meeting regarding Courchevel Summer Skiing in July 2018.
The Courchevel Outdoors Sport Club have already announced they will be again running a hike up / ride down competition this Summer on the Saulire bowl but we now have confirmation of the Summer Ski Area to be open for a limited period of 3 weeks from the 7th to 28th July 2018.
Full size image here
Verdons Gondola will be open for access to the Saulire Cable Car plus the Creux Noirs and Biollay chairlifts are expected to run. Pistes (depending of course on snow cover) accessed as above.
The opening decisions has taken close cooperation from the Ski area management company S3V, local council, the St Bon Mairee, local residents and environmentalists – it is seen as a complete one-off due to over double the normal season snowfall this Winter.
Special licences and leases from land owners and the Forestry Commission to the ski area operators and local councils plus additional exceptional access permits have been granted on a one-off basis – these restrictions were unable to be lifted to have an extension to the ski season beyond 22 April 2018 as was originally proposed.
Additional impact assessments and risk management studies have been required to understand drainage, land erosion, vegetation changes and any other issues that may have an adverse effect on the environment.
Further skiing beyond the 3 weeks has not been allowed due to the impact on the habitat of the Black Grouse – the area already altered to accommodate these birds (in Winter there are fenced off areas around Dou des Lanches, Foret and Aiguile du Fruit chairlifts) and these concessions have been made to the environmentalists lobby to facilitate this one-off event.
The Black Grouse is a beautiful large bird with males being around 53cm long and weighing 1000–1450g and females approximately 40cm and weighing 750–1110g. The cock is very distinctive, with black plumage, a white wing bar and a lyre-shaped tail, which appears forked in flight. The bird’s song is loud, bubbling and somewhat dove-like.
Black Grouse occur throughout the Alps and in Wales, Scotland and the Lake District but typically exist at half their normal population density around ski resorts and the effect of human disturbance appears to be increasing as more skiers go off piste.
Free lifts for hikers and bikers for Summer 2018 have been confirmed. Courchevel 1850 opens Saturday 7 July 2018 until Friday 31 August 2018. La Tania may differ and open a week earlier than this though.
With the announcement of the free lifts across the Courchevel and La Tania Valleys already made there had been concern if this would be reversed.
We understand however that lifts will open and be chargeable from 07:00 until 09:00 with Summer skiing finishing at 11:30 – similar to other Summer Ski Areas as Summer temperatures from noon in July & August can make Summer Skiing untenable.
From 09:00 all lifts will be free but carrying skis from the Verdons station will be chargeable.
Winter 2017/2018 Season Passes will be valid and we expect Summer Tariffs to be announced by 1st May.
No decision on Val Thorens Summer Skiing is due until the end of their season on 8 May 2018.
Escapade in a Day Success! Well done The Pearson Family
Congratulations to the Pearson Family – Adam, Sam, Charlie (19), Henry (17) & Alexander (14) on a successful Escapade in a Day this week starting in Les Menuires (we forgive you!).
From Adam..
“On 26 March, we took up the challenge of Escapade in a Day for a second time, this time starting in Les Menuires. We have been long time La Tania loyalists, coming every year for about ten years in a row, but for various reasons have chosen Les Menuires this time. We hope you will accept our submission!
We used the 2017 route you provide on the website, but obviously started in Les Menuires. We noticed that the route took an off piste connection between La Masse 2 and Plan de l’Eau, and we didn’t want to do that, so we reworked the route so that you work your way through the Val Thorens lifts in the opposite order. This allowed us to stay on pistes throughout, with Blvd Cumin connecting between Plan de l’Eau and La Masse.
We are sharing our route with you in case you would like to share on the website.
In the end, we just managed to make it, with a few minutes to spare. The weather was not good on Monday so all our skiing above about 2500m was in very low visibility and therefore very slow. We think on a clearer day it could be done with more time to spare. We also got held up at Mt Vallon, one of our first lifts, which had not opened. We got on our first lift (Sunny Express) at about 9.07, and reached the last obligatory lift, La Masse 2, at 16.45, five minutes before it closed. Escapade completed!
It was an epic day, we didn’t stop, and loved getting to know all the corners of the Three Valleys again. It was just a pity we couldn’t fit in a cheeky Folyeres run into the day (so we came back on Tuesday for that!).”
The Pearson’s Route…
What’s This All About?
The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day…
It’s probably the toughest day skiing ever for a recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we featured them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame
It is looking like this is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys for Winter 2018 – even though the Escapade lift points are marked on the 3 Valleys FatMap for 2018 linked from the S3V and Courchevel web sites. We’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it though…
What started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion became a challenge the following week – the history and our original route are here
Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km total distance. It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 sees the use of Roc de Tougne fast new lift instead of the drag – still a big, big day out though with all talking (and lunch) kept to the lifts…
For an easier 3 Valleys Day Challenge try the Selfies in a Day (note that Signal machine is at the top of Biollay and the Plan des Mains unit is at the top of the chair for 2018).
PDF list of lifts here for downloading to a smart phone – note Roc de Tougne chair not the drag now.
The full size 3 Valleys Escapade in a Day image
First Artist’s Impressions of La Croisette Development in Courchevel 1850
Images of the planned new development of the main La Croisette building in Courchevel 1850 have been released. This is the building that hosts the Jardin Alpin, Verdons, Chenus and Grangettes gondolas.
These are just initial views at present, still plenty of planning, architects, public meetings and Town Hall involvement to go through yet but the idea is to improve access for skiers and pedestrians with the main through traffic and the bus station possibly underground.
The new Grangettes gondola (with mid-station planned for an Aquamotion link) plans show the top station in La Croisette below but still with the main road in place.
New Le Praz Gondola Building, Tourist Office & Underground Parking
Meanwhile work is to start on the new €27m Le Praz gondola base station building this Summer for completion by December 2019. Original plans included an extension of the Praz gondola to La Croisette but that looks unlikely now.
The building will include:
– 500 parking spaces on 2 levels
– A new gondola station
– S3V Lift Pass Office
– Tourist Office
– A children’s playground;
– Public toilets and ski storage;
– Multipurpose room of 245 m2 and a terrace
– A medical centre with piste and ambulance access
– There will also be sports facilities on the roof and a reception area
– Landscaping around the building and lake.
La Tania Moretta Village Development
No news on dates for the La Tania Moretta Village development on the car park near the Gondola yet – there was a rumour around some Israeli investment to add to all the others…
Impression of the development as viewed from the main road past La Tania
Plans are getting more detailed every year and even the new chair lift has already been designed with a commitment from S3V the lift company to go ahead with a 6 seater high speed detachable chair to link with the Bouc Blanc chair once the proposed “village” building goes ahead. It may be starting as far as possible away on the far side of the gondola station though – encouraging a split of the village as many fear.
Location of the development on the Parking du Saz
The latest plans we’ve seen have the construction consisting of:
– 990 Tourist Beds
– 60 Seasonnaire Beds
– 175 Private Parking Places
– 100 Public Parking Places
– 2 Restaurants (one with 450 covers)
– Bar / lounge with 250 seats
– Ski Shop
– Crèche
– 650 m² Fitness Centre
Impression of the development from the snow front side
Netherlands v England, Amsterdam Arena 23 Mar 2018
A Friday night kick off in Amsterdam – with £60 return flights and an allocation of over 5,000 tickets at only £20 each what could possibly go wrong?
To be fair all England members had to collect tickets over in Holland – seemed a lot of young lads just on a weekend on the piss to me, was almost bound to be a confrontation with authority at some point.
But as usual we had a great trip, top food & drink and saw no trouble.
The game was a bit pedestrian though and it finished 1 nil to England through a Jesse Lingard strike. Probably a deserved win as we always looked very comfortable throughout this friendly.
Saturday Traffic 24/3/18
Auto Translated (Original Below)
[TRAFFIC INFO]
Hello
here is the state of the traffic on the national roads and departmental of Savoy:
Saturday, March 24 at 10:00
Lyon – Chambéry axis:
↑ ↓ Flowing traffic in both directions between Lyon and Chambéry.
↓ In the direction of the return on the Rapid Urban Way (VRU) of Chambéry the traffic begins to load but there is no difficulty of circulation.
Axis Chambéry-Albertville:
↓ In the direction of returns, the traffic begins to be loaded with slowdowns at the convergent A43 / A430 towards Montmélian.
Valley of Tarentaise:
↓ In the direction of the return of stations the traffic begins to be important.
↓ Between Bourg Saint Maurice and the Siaix tunnel traffic is loaded with localized slowdowns.
↓ While descending, on the RN90 slowdowns are in progress between the Siaix tunnel and Moûtiers which requires regulation by traffic lights before the Siaix tunnel. The cork goes up about 2 km.
↓ Beyond Moûtiers, the traffic is fluid.
Albertville area – Ugine:
↑ ↓ Traffic is fluid on Albertville.
↑ Between Albertville and Ugine, the traffic is fluid.
Access Beaufotain – Val d’Arly:
The throats of Arly (RD 1212) are open.
[INFO TRAFIC]
Bonjour
voici l’état de la circulation sur les routes nationales et départementales de Savoie :
Samedi 24 mars à 10h00
Axe Lyon – Chambéry :
↑↓ Trafic fluide dans les deux sens entre Lyon et Chambéry.
↓Dans le sens des retours sur la Voie Rapide Urbaine (VRU) de Chambéry le trafic commence à se charger mais il n’y a pas de difficulté de circulation.
Axe Chambéry- Albertville :
↓ Dans le sens des retours, le trafic commence à être chargé avec des ralentissements au niveau du convergent A43/A430 en direction de Montmélian.
Vallée de la Tarentaise :
↓Dans le sens des retours de stations le trafic commence à être important.
↓Entre Bourg Saint Maurice et le tunnel du Siaix le trafic est chargé avec des ralentissements localisés.
↓En descendant, sur la RN90 des ralentissements sont en cours entre le tunnel du Siaix et Moûtiers ce qui nécessite une régulation par feux tricolores avant le tunnel du Siaix. Le bouchon remonte sur 2 km environ.
↓Au-delà de Moûtiers, le trafic est fluide.
Secteur d’Albertville – Ugine :
↑↓La circulation est fluide sur Albertville.
↑↓Entre Albertville et Ugine, le trafic est fluide.
Accès Beaufotain – Val d’Arly :
Les gorges de l’Arly (RD 1212) sont ouvertes.
Sunset Sons in Mèribel and La Tania
Great to see Rory, Jed & Pete back in the Alps with some new tunes too. The River EP will be out later this year.
Confirmation of End of Season Lifts & Pistes
La Tania lifts scheduled to close as planned on 15th April 2018. Latest S3V news below:
The whole of the Courchevel and La Tania ski area area is open until (and including) Sunday 15th April as originally scheduled (some duplicate lifts may close from Monday 9th April).
From Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd April the following lifts will open:
* Verdons Gondola
* Saulire Cable Car
* Aiguille du Fruit Chairlift
* Les Tapis du Golf (Beginners area between Biollay and Jardin du Alpin)
The opening of pistes will of course be dependent on snow cover – see the map above.
The 3 Vallées links will be operational until (and including) Sunday 22nd April (via the Saulire link only from April 16th to 22nd).
Note that the Jardin du Alpin and Grangettes Gondolas will be open until (and including) Sunday 15th April. They will close in the evening from 17:00 from Monday 9th to Sunday 15th April.
Bus Timetables for the end of season here – there is a La Tania to 1850 bus in the last week this season!
Mottaret Lifts
Col De La Loze WebCam fixed (and upgraded)
The Col de la Loze webcam has finally been fixed with a new “Roundshot” 360 degree cam installed. The previous cam rotated in a downward direction to show the La Tania Valley but this one is one a purely horizontal access. It gives a great view of the top of Dou des Lanches chairlift and Rocher de la Loze above – a classic couloir run where the Courchevel Freeride competition is held (about time for another one isn’t it?).
Give it a wave next time you’re venturing off piste down Gazex 1 …
This webcam is situated on the weather station equipment near to the hut next to the Orientation Table (probably well buried by now) and Gazex tanks. It’s been noticed that the Gazex tanks have actually been refilled this Winter due to so much avalanche blasting being required. Normally they’re filled up in Summer and that’s it for the whole Winter.
This Col de la Loze (or Dou des Lanches) Webcam is actually the camera that was down at La Croisette in Courchevel 1850, this has been replaced by a camera from skaping.com that do the 3 Valleys Selfie machines.
The Chenus Cam across the Courchevel Valley and up to Saulire from feratel.com (which was the same type originally at Col de la Loze) appears to have been removed.
All the webcams at: www.latania.co.uk/webcam
Thanks to Neil B for the update.
