La Tania - Resort Guide
New aerial photo interactive map of La Tania here
La Tania Resort Guide Videos
History
La Tania ski resort officially opened on 22nd December 1990 financed on the back of the 1992 Winter Olympics centred in Albertville. It was used as an accommodation base for ice hockey players and journalists but now La Tania has grown into a resort in its own right, still retaining a village like atmosphere but linking in to the massive Three Valleys ski area and is situated between the large resorts of Méribel and Courchevel in the biggest ski area in the World - The 3 Valleys. In 2018 the resort was merged in to the Courchevel Commune but nothing really changed and La Tania has kept it's identity so far...
La Tagna (pronounced as La Tania and meaning bears' dwelling) was the original name for this area but it was renamed La Tania so visitors would pronounce it correctly! The use of natural materials and lots of wood in the building of apartments and chalets was laid down by the architect Jacques Labro and the resort is situated in a beautiful Christmas tree forest.
There's a real community feeling in La Tania and it's still small enough for everyone to know everyone. It's often called a small family resort which could put some people off - however there's a lot more to it and the night-life can really kick off with live music most nights and plenty of parties to keep most night owls happy, while night clubs until 6am can be found in Méribel and Courchevel for the truly dedicated.
About the resort
It is traffic free and has great facilities for children & beginners. We have 4 ski hire shops, a tourist office with post office, bakery, gift shop, newsagent, supermarket, 5 bars and 8 restaurants (with 4 mountain restaurants above the resort) ranging from snack bars to a Michelin Star, plus a delicatessen and pizza takeaways.
There is live music most nights somewhere in the resort along with drinks promotions, Après-Ski happy hours, TV sport and theme night parties taking place throughout the ski season.
Several ski schools are based in the resort plus there's a new crèche facility, kids lifts & fun area plus independent child care too. The lift company ticket office is situated at the La Tania gondola (they take credit cards and all speak English - note that photos are now only needed for season passes and the lift office take them webcam style. Passes can now be bought on-line in advance too). There is a left luggage room with showers plus ski lockers and now a fully equipped Medical Centre with resident Doctor in the Grandzeta building near the ticket office towards the gondola station.
For left luggage / ski lockers - pre-booking and further information call +33 (0)630 845442
(Tourist Office run - they all speak English!).
The Tourist Office can also be contacted to rent underground car parking spaces, for stamps and posting parcels, photocopying & faxing, mobile Wifi rental, booking buses to Moûtiers and to reserve organised Snow Shoe outings. Call +33 (0) 479 084040.
La Tania Official Brochure for Winter 2018
The last one before being incorporated in to Courchevel
On-Line View of 2018 Brochure
Accommodation
This consists of 8 self catering apartment blocks of various sizes, one hotel, a chalet style hotel and a large amount of traditional chalets (many used by smaller, independent UK operators) set in the woods above the resort. Nearly all of the chalets are modern with en-suite facilities, log fires and many have outdoor hot tubs. Guests can usually have ski & boot fittings, lift passes and lessons all sorted out from the comfort of their chalets.
Cash
There is a cash machine situated on the corner next to the Tourist Office and it is regularly maintained during the Winter season.
Note that it will try and persuade you a couple of times to take the "guaranteed exchange rate" which is nearly always a rip off - select the amount in Euros which will convert at International Bank Rates not the rate of the cash machine manufacturers / installers / agents / renters.
There are also bank run machines in Courchevel 1850 (in the main gondola station building that you ski down to - La Croisette), a similar one to the La Tania model in Le Praz and bank ones in the centre of Méribel and Mottaret plus all the other resort villages. Note that all the restaurants, bars, hire shops, ski schools, lift pass office and supermarket take plastic. Limit for contactless payments in the Sherpa Supermarket is only €20 but appears to be the equivalent of £30 in other places. Possibly increased for 2023.
Getting around
A free ski bus (a ski pass is no longer required) now runs every 15 to 25 minutes to Le Praz. Where you can take the gondola to 1850 with a ski pass or transfer to a bus going via 1550, Aquamotion and 1650 and finally 1850 (takes about 30 mins to 1850). This runs until around midnight with a little gap in the early evening- Full Timetables here
Note that the service to Méribel during School Holidays has not run since Winter 2015. Taxis and lifts are easy to come by though - the journey time to Méribel Village (where the regular Méribel Valley bus service runs to) is less than 10 minutes with clear roads. There are a few service buses from Moûtiers that travel through La Tania to Méribel which you can pay for.
Skiing
The skiing links in to the massive 3 Valleys system - you're 2 lifts away from either Méribel or Courchevel 1850. The stats are massive - 169 lifts with a capacity to carry over quarter of a million skiers per hour, 1512 hectares of groomed pistes some 600km in length with 321 marked runs and 130km of cross country tracks. There's also over 21000 snow cannons, 70 piste bashers (running 14 hours every night), 320 ski patrollers and over 1500 instructors to keep everyone happy in a skiable area of over 105 square kilometres.
There are now 3 runs down into the resort, a roller coaster blue straight down through the forest in to the resort, a wide red run with a consistent gradient down to the bottom gondola station plus a new green run winding down through the forest from the top gondola station in to the resort, a great skier/boarder cross track on a first run down in the morning!
The blue Folyères run from the top gondola station is now helped by 38 snow cannons and it's own snow making reservoir which were installed for the 2001/02 season along the entire length of the run - this has kept it open from the start to the end of the season ever since except for 2 years - one a late start by 2 weeks and 1 an early finish by 2 weeks - of course up and downloading via the gondola was still available.
New for 2008/9 were snow cannons on the Bouc Blanc (red) and Boulevard des Arolles (blue) pistes above the gondola thus guaranteeing this link from 1850 and more investment in cannons on the green run has continued since.
In addition to snow cannons, La Tania is North facing, has sheltered tree runs and the blue piste is groomed every single night. This is what keeps the run open all season down to 1450m, as we always say ASPECT > ALTITUDE in keeping the snow...
There are now 2 free magic carpet / travelator type lifts in the centre of resort for absolute beginners or to get you ski legs back before your first proper run. For intermediate skiers, a day's skiing / riding to Val Thorens and experiencing the whole Three Valleys is a must at least once - only 6 lifts away. Check out the lift passes and ski/ride guide pages.
Non - Skiing
Check out the Tourist Office in La Tania, Méribel and Courchevel for details of snow-shoe walks, skidoo rides, horse riding, paragliding, indoor climbing, ice skating, 10-pin bowling, ice driving, dog-sledding etc etc.
New for Winter 2016 was the €63m Aquamotion Centre between Courchevel 1550 and 1650. A very impressive place with indoor & outdoor pools, 25m training pool, aqua-bike fitness, sauna, hammam, spa, diving boards, wild river rapids, climbing wall and indoor surfing wave! Several packages with spa, beauty treatments, hairdressing & massages are available with basic adult charge for pool access starting from around €25. More info at www.aquamotion-courchevel.com
In Summer there are masses of activities and some of the ski lifts are open for walkers and mountain bikers during July and August. More at Summer Life in La Tania.
Further Information and Details on EVERYTHING La Tania here:
Travel - Flights, Driving, Trains, Coaches, Transfers, Car Hire, Free Ski Bus Shuttle
Accommodation - Accommodation Page and Special Offers
Skiing & Snowboarding - Hire, Lessons, Lift Passes, Piste Maps, Snow Reports, Weather
Après Ski - Eating, Drinking, Live Music, What's On?
Other Stuff - Shops and Services, La Tania Directory, Webcams
To see what the resort looks like and where everything is check out the aerial photo interactive map.
La Tania Brochures - 2018 On-Line Here (Since 2018 now incorporated in to Courchevel)
2015 in PDF format here | 2016 in PDF format here | 2017 in PDF format here