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
Smartphone Apps – Errors on Les 3 Vallees App & the demise of others
After a number of emails we’ve just been checking through the “official’ Apps for The 3 Valleys. Unfortunately the main Les 3 Vallees App does not report piste opening accurately in the Slopes section – the 3D Fat Map section is correct but a bit slow and cumbersome to use especially on a cold day up the mountain.
In addition it would appear that this is becoming the main App to use as La Tania, Courchevel and Val Thorens Apps appear to have dissapeared from the App Store – we haven’t checked Android yet be we’d guess it’s the same. Méribel and Les Menuires Apps are still available and do correctly list pistes that are closed and open.
This could be be temporary though as the Courchevel App is still being advertised and Les 3 Vallees App was unavailable for the start of the season with a new version launched as soon as we highlighted this.
This above is from today and Folyères is most definitely OPEN. In addition Brigues, Vizzelle to Creux, Creux, Dou du Midi, Jean Blanc, Cretes – Col de la Loze and Rochers are all showing as closed THEY ARE ALL OPEN!
There are further errors like Bosses in Méribel listed under Courchevel and links from pistes to show on the map don’t work (Tétras in Courchevel 1650 goes to the map of Tétras in Val Thorens for example).
Méribel and Les Menuires Apps are still available and correctly show piste opening.
Until Les 3 Vallees App is fixed (and we’ve escalated it) we suggest you go direct to the list of open & closed slopes and lifts in the Courchevel (& La Tania) ski area:
https://www.skiplan.com/bulletin/bulletin.php?station=courchevel®ion=alpes&pays=france&lang=en
The other valleys ski area listing are available from:
https://www.latania.co.uk/skiing/lifts.html
There is also an on-line map with the open & closed lifts and pistes marked:
https://www.latania.co.uk/resort/LiveConditions.html
Courchevel News: Gondolas for sale, Le Praz lake dredging, Luge open, Plantrey lift this Summer, Creux Noirs replacement & Pilates…
Gondolas For Sale!
This Spring the Gondolas from the Praz lift will go on sale and there are still some of the old 1970 gondolas from the Fôret lift (also in Le Praz) on sale at €4800 including tax.
All the Grangettes gondolas have now been sold.
For further information contact Sophie Pautot at s.pautot@s3v.com
Summer in Le Praz
The lake in Le Praz will be dredged this Summer from 23rd April as work continues on the Alpinium site for opening in December 2019.
With the Praz gondola being replaced there will be no lift in Le Praz open this Summer but the Plantrey lift will be open (great news for bikers to get back to La Tania with no uphill required!).
1850 – 1550 Luge
The toboggan track from Courchevel 1850 to Courchevel 1550 is now open (just rent a sled and it’s free to use as many time as you like).
Creux Noirs Lift
Due to cracks in the base of a pylon this lift has been closed for Winter 2019 but confirmation that there will be a lift in place for next season. Interestingly the runs from the top of the lift (Creux Noirs and Roches Grisses) are still being groomed for those hiking / racing up – or is it to maintain the slopes and keep them safe?
Pilates
Pilates Classes every Tuesday from Alpine Pilates are taking place throughout the season.
- La Tania de 9h30 à 10h30 (Imm Grandzeta)
- Moriond de 11h30 à 12h30 (Maison de Moriond)
€15 for 1 session or €60 for 6 sessions. Reservations are mandatory and places are limited – call +33 610 97 78 18 info@alpinetherapies.com
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Alex the dog at Pralong Chair – The cuddly toy dog and his family are now at Châtelet chairlift above Mottaret – having a little holiday!
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The Dominos – Bumped in to Alex the drummer last week – he confirmed gigs at Taiga and Ski Lodge in March!
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And the Folie Douce has a new guitar player – who’s not a massive AC/DC fan and does eat…
Two Vehicle Accident on La Tania to Méribel Road.
No one hurt but take care, roads only going to get worse as darkness falls.
La Tania Green Run, Plan Fontaine now open to resort
Great work by S3V in getting the green Plan Fontaine piste open right down to La Tania again today. Snow Cannons have been creating enough snow and the track has now been completed with the best cover its had all season.
Note that some of the on-line interactive maps, piste listing and Smart Phone Apps are not showing it open yet – should be rectified tomorrow.
Off Piste Avalanche Risk was reduced from 2 to 1 out of 5 (Low Risk) at 16:00 this afternoon as the sun and high pressure system continues to be in control.
Definitely Worth Getting Up Early For First Lifts This Morning…
For those that avoided sore heads this morning it was definitely worth getting out early on New Year’s Day.
Some perfect corduroy and Piste du Jour must be Combe de Pylons…
Program & Parking Details for the Ladies World Cup Fri/Sat 21/22 Dec 2018
Once again the Courchevel Stade Emile Allais hosts the Ladies World Cup Giant Slalom and Slalom events on Friday and Saturday the 21st and 22nd of December 2018.
Program Details
GS on Friday, Slalom on Saturday.
Skiing starts at 10:30 each day with the second runs at 13:30.
Prize giving cermonies at 14:15 each day.
Road Access Restrictions
Access to Courchevel 1850 is unrestricted until 07:30. After 07:30 vehicles using the D91A will be directed towards the car parks on the map below.
Free Shuttle Buses
In addition to the scheduled skibus services there will be extra buses as is normal during major events plus a continuous shuttle service between the P9 car park at the Altiport and the G2 Jardin Alpin station between 08:00 and 17:00.
The Full Program and complete Traffic / Parking Information here
La Tania Green Run being prepared – looks ready!
The green poles are in place and the green Plan Fontaine down to La Tania has been groomed – looks like this will open on Saturday – a great start to the season!
Confirmed Lift & Piste Opening Schedule for Saturday 15 December 2018
Since the snow at the weekend S3Vs teams have been working flat out preparing the slopes and producing mammoth amounts of cannoned snow.
S3V have confirmed the opening of lifts is as planned – from way back in August – with nearly the whole ski area open except for the Chanrossa area and some duplicate lifts not running (Coqs and Chapelets the only significant ones not running).
See you Saturday, first lift at La Tania Gondola…!
Thanks to S3V, Courchevel Tourist Office, Freeride Republic and La Tania locals for the pics
What a Day! Snow Conditions Update…
The first proper day of the season as it was sunny and cloudless.
A lot more open today in Courchevel and snow cannons were blasting all the way along Folyères down to La Tania ready for the weekend opening.
The Three Valleys access today was via Méribel but high winds stopped the Bruyeres second stage opening so there was no access to Val Thorens today (as Côte Brun was also not open).
The whole area is gradually opening up and a rough non-professional estimate is that 90% of pistes could be opened at the weekend. Looking like a “better than average” start to the season.
A rough estimate of snow depth on Moretta Blanche is 70cm.
Official snow depth on Saulire is a base of 125cm with 69cm of fresh snow over the weekend.
Runs down to La Tania officially closed and Folyères was much to hard with all the snow cannoned mounds of snow – we hear the read was good though!
