While at Passo dello Stelvio the summer ski season is drawing to a close and Alpine valleys are preparing for the arrival of winter, our French neighbors have kicked off the winter season with the opening of the ski lifts on the Tignes glacier.
Tignes is one of the most famous ski resorts in all of France; together with Val d’Isère it forms a ski area with 300 km of ski slopes, and it is especially well known for its glacier, which allows skiing right up to the first days of summer and starts up again in early October. And it was right in the first days of October, specifically on Saturday the 3rd, that the Tignes ski season began.
The French resort has opted for a progressive weekend-by-weekend opening: last weekend the lifts leading to the slopes in the upper section of the glacier opened, while starting today, Saturday, October 10, the “Champagny” chairlift and the “Descente” black run (where the French Alpine Ski National Team is scheduled to train) are also open.
Next weekend will also see further lift openings: on October 17, the Rosolin chairlift and its corresponding slope will open, bringing the skiable vertical drop to 600 meters, from 3450 m down to 2850 m.
From October 10 to November 27 (the scheduled opening date for the entire ski area), the adult ski pass price will be €36.
Snow Conditions
Snow conditions are truly excellent in Tignes; skiing on the glacier is fantastic thanks above all to recent snowfalls, which have brought 80 cm of fresh snow since September 25.
Not just Tignes
Tignes is not the only French ski resort already open—you can also ski at Les 2 Alpes. Also on the northwestern side of the Alps, skiing is underway on the Swiss slopes of Saas-Fee and on Plateau Rosà, reachable from Zermatt, although the ski pass there costs significantly more than at the French resorts.
ph. credits: Jerome Bon
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