Category Archives: AtoZ

La Tania: The complete resort guide.

You will find La Tania ski resort nestled in the trees on the lower slopes of the 3 Valleys ski area, just below the legendary alpine resort of Courchevel.

The village is much smaller than its neighbours of Val Thorens, Courchevel, and Meribel, but it is its size that gives it that familiarity and charm that keeps skiers returning to it every winter.

La Tania was developed into a ski resort in the 1990s. Its original purpose was to host the press and athletes during the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. Which is why the centre is focused on large apartment buildings. Once the games had passed the village grew into a more traditional alpine village full of small chalets.

Today La Tania ski village is a busy place in the winter with a car-free centre with pistes that run into the village allowing you to ski close to your door. It has also built a reputation as a less expensive place for ski holidays while still having access to the 3 Valleys.

Season Opening dates – You can ski La Tania from the middle of December to the third week in April.

La Tania Ski Village

The resort centre is a snowy pedestrianised zone that catches the afternoon sun. The three main ski runs converge here. It is where you will find the bars, restaurants, and shops. There is also a free drag lift for beginners.

Other popular amenities and services you will find in La Tania are a Tourist office, bakery, deli, Tabac, min market, ATM/cash machine, and ski hire. For other services and a wider range of shops head up to Courchevel.

La Tania Ski Area

One of the big attractions of La Tania is the access to the Three Valleys. From the village, you can catch the gondola to the bottom of the Bouc Blanc red piste, it is from here you have plenty of options to access the rest of the ski area.

Catch the Dou des Lanches to drop down into Méribel or ski down a bit and get on the Bouc Blanc chair for direct access to Courchevel 1850. For the more adventurous you can tackle the amazing Jockeys run down to the new bubble in Courchevel Le Praz.

READ OUR FULL GUIDE TO SKIING LA TANIA AND THE 3 VALLEYS

Skiing or snowboarding back into La Tania is great fun and you have the choice of 3 pistes to choose from. There is the blue run called Folyeres that snakes through the forest. The Moretta Blanche is a red that is great fun, you can combine it with the higher up Lanches or Bouc blanc for one of the area’s epic descents. For the newer skier and children, there is the Plan Fontaine green slope that weaves into the resort from the top of the gondola.

Download a La Tania piste map

The other great thing about staying in La Tania is the proximity of the pistes to most of the accommodation. There are plenty of ski in ski out properties lining the runs and down in the centre. But if you aren’t staying in one of these you are unlikely to be any more than a 6-minute walk to the lifts or runs.

Snowmaking and Snow Condition in La Tania

Due to its unique location on the mountain snow is pretty much guaranteed on the slopes as the trees help to shade the snow keeping it fresh throughout the season. The lower slopes in La Tania have a season average coverage of around 85cm.

For added reassurance, all the ski runs in the La Tania area are covered by snow cannons which allows ski holidays to be booked throughout the season without the worry of not being able to ski into the resort.

GET AN UP TO DATE LA TANIA SNOW REPORT

Aprés Ski in La Tania

Aprés ski in La Tania is dominated by the Pub Le Ski Lodge. You will find this popular bar at the foot of the slopes into the resort. At lunchtime, it is the perfect spot for sunbathing and eating. Then off to the slopes, it is a great aprés spot, with happy hour (4 pm to 6 pm), drinks promos, and live music every weekday. There is also live music in the evenings. Opening times 10 am- 2 am.

The Chrome bar is a no-frills bar close to the slopes that is popular with locals. It has a range of beers and cocktails. There is live music occasionally throughout the week.

Eating Out in La Tania

The Three Valleys has a good reputation for eating out and despite its size, there are some nice spots to eat.

Up on the slopes try the Bouc Blanc. During the day the restaurant and terrace can be found drenched in sun at the top of the La Tania gondola. Look on any review site and this place gets five stars every time. It serves traditional alpine food at a better price than many of the other slope-side restaurants in Courchevel.

Down in the resort of La Tania, you can head back to Pub Le Ski Lodge where you can get a Full English in the morning or pick from one of its infamous burgers during the lunch break.

In the evening you should book a table at La Taiga. An intimate restaurant that you can find opposite the La Trokia lift. The food on offer is a mix of traditional Savoyard, local produce, and modern dishes. You could eat here many times and feel you have had a different style of food every time. Take a look at their menu.

Don’t forget you can access all the bars and restaurants in Courchevel and La Praz via the free bus service that runs until late at night.

Accommodation in La Tania

There is a wide range of accommodation in La Tania. You will find small self-catered apartments, hotels, and chalets.

We have four amazing cater chalets located in the trees of the resort.

Cote Coeur – A 14-bed chalet with a hot tub that is just a two-minute walk to the piste.

Chalet Attila – Sleeps 12, has a hot tub and is located next to the piste

Chalets Toubkal One & Two – A pair of individual chalets with a piste-side location.

La Tania Chalet

How to get to La Tania

All out La Tania catered ski and snowboard holidays include flights from Stansted, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, and Newcastle. More information can be found here.

The best airports to travel to are Grenoble or Geneva due to transfer time, flight availability, and connectivity.

Driving is a great option and you can find ample free parking throughout the ski area.


Three Valleys Snow Report – 22/3/15

Three Valleys Snow Report – 22/3/15IMG_1058

This weeks snow report is supplied by Pete and Karolina

It has been another sunny week here in the 3 Valleys. Up until Saturday 21st March when the weather took a slight change with cloud rolling in and snow arriving at about 1800 meters and above, unfortunately it came down as rain further down in resort.

The snow higher up has stayed well but below about 1700 meters has been a bit slushy and thin in places especially on the south and west facing slopes, there is still plenty of good skiing on pistes higher up the mountain.

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What’s on Guide Meribel and La Tania – April 2013

What’s on Guide Meribel and La Tania – April 2013

3rd April – 5th April – Meribel – DC Shred Days

DC Shred Days is three days of partying and riding. If you want to get up close and personal with some of the world top riders, without seeming like a stalker, then this is the event for you. For only €59 a day you will get to hang out at the DC AREA 43 Snowpark in Méribel-Mottaret with the pro and then attend apres-ski and evening parties. This event used to be a closed door for industry types only, but now it is open to all, so go hang out.

7th April – Three Valleys – Enduro 2013

When you tell you mates that you are off skiing they many either know the truth, which is that you ski from restaurant to bar, sampling various combinations of hot a cold drinks, or they think you are some sort of winter Olympics type competitor. If you are going to be in the Three Valleys on the 7th you have a chance to be the latter. The Enduro is a day full of real competitions for amateurs, just like you and me. So if you fancy your chances in any of the following Big Air Bag, Freeride, Giant slalom, Skicross, Triplette des Belleville, Boardercross, Family Schuss, Adri’Naline, then get your team together and enter. Go to http://www.les3vallees.com/enduro/ for details.

10th April – Meribel Village – La Tania Charity Day

The annual La Tania Charity Day was moved to Meribel Village last year and was a great success. It was also renamed the Three Valleys Charity Day.  With over 13 bands and lots and lots of prizes to be won, it promises to be a great day out. Also when you are there you will get to donate to UK and French charity’s which will make you fell nice and warm inside, although that could be the Toffee vodka.

13th April – Meribel and La Tania – Our last guests leave

Every year it happens and every year we feel sad. When our last guests leave you probably think that we crack out the Champagne and celebrate. Well we do a bit. But mostly we are filed with a melancholy feeling. There is a lot of reminiscing about the last few months and then there is the sudden dawning of a reality that involves no skiing and getting what some term “a real job”. You know that feeling you get at the end of a week long holiday that is our feeling but multiplied by sixteen. I am now obliged to point out that at no point during the winter do we feel like we are on holiday and that we work very hard to make your holiday so brilliant. But you get the idea.

26th of April – Meribel and La Tania – Lifts close

Most of us will be at home thinking about next year’s ski adventure when this happens. For those people still in resort the feelings will be mixed. How the lift closure is greeted depends on what has happened over the last two weeks. Some years we see endless amounts of spring snow and it is a big disappointment that the lifts are shutting. Other years there are just streaks of brown snow and only the desperate are getting in their last few descents until next year.

Our What’s On Guide will return in December.


La Tania A to Z

La Tania A to Z

A is for Alpine Action – La Tania is our spiritual home. We have a great selection of chalets here, all with piste side access.

B is For Bear – Up to the early 1900’s bears roamed the woods surrounding the resort. Sadly they were driven out by us humans.

C is for Courchevel – Courchevel is La Tania’s big sister. This doesn’t mean that she is better. As Courchevel attracts more international Billionaires, prices for everything goes up. But La Tania remains more  affordable for those of us that aren’t billionaires.

D is for Deckchair – When the sun comes out La Tania is perfectly placed to catch it. So get yourself on one of the many deckchairs and work on those goggle marks.

E is for Euro – The standard British test of how expensive a place is the pint test. A pint in La Tania costs €5.50.

F is for Facebook – Keep up to date with the official La Tania Facebook page.

G is for Gatwick – All our holidays include flights from Gatwick. We can also get you to La Tania from Manchester too.

H is for Happy Hour -While we base our economic judgment on the cost of a pint. We also need to consider the Happy Hour price. In La Tania it is a very happy €3.

I is for Itinerary – Itinerary is a piste that isn’t groomed. Courchevel is home to one of the most popular, the Grand Couloir.

J is for Journalist – La Tania grew into the resorts it is today thanks to the Albertville Winter Olympics. The resort was expanded to accommodate reporters.

K is for KM – La Tania is part of the Three Valleys giving you over 600km of piste to choose from.

L is for Listen – When in resort tune into R’ Courchevel 93.2 fm they have weather forecasts and news in English during the morning.

M is for Magic in Motion – A growing independent ski school that comes highly recommended. The children’s lessons are particularly fun.

N is for Navette – Don’t feel that you need to miss out on the evening fun in nearby Courchevel. There is a free bus that runs between the two resorts until midnight.

O is for Olympic Legacy – The region won’t let you forget that it hosted the Winter Olympics, so why not check out the Olympic landmarks in nearby La Praz and Meribel.

P is for Poor Visibility – Flat light is not a problem for La Tania guest as many of the runs into resort are tree lined. Also if you do ski through the trees  you don’t need to be worried about bears.

Q is for Quaint – This is a word that regularly pops up when you ask someone to describe La Tania.

R is for Real Ale – Skiing is intrinsically a geeky sport and all geeks love Real Ale. So if you head to the hotel Telemark you will be able to bore each other with your ski knowledge over a pint of Real Ale, bliss.

S is for Sisters – ‘Bring Your Sisters’ is a popular apres ski band that you will be able to catch in La Tania. Sing, dance and enjoy.

T is for Traffic – Or lack of it. La Tania is a traffic free haven.

U is for Unbelievable – It is unbelievable how much fun you will have in La Tania.

V is for Vin Chaud – Le Bouc Blanc in La Tania  is a great place to get one.

W is for WiFi – It is free in all our chalets, so you can always read the Alpine Action Blog.

X is for X-ray – We hope you won’t need one.

Y is for Yummy – This is how we feel about the Gourmet Burgers at the Ski Lodge in La Tania.

Z is for Zoo – Back in 1967 La Tania was a zoo for alpine animals, it was bulldozed over when it started losing money as a result of its prized unicorn being murdered by a rouge Marmot.


A to Z of Meribel

A to Z of Meribel

A is for Après Ski – One of France’s finest destinations for after-skiing partying. Check out the Folie Douce and the mighty Ronnie for good times.

B is for British – Possibly the most British resort you can go to. There are numerous British-run bars and travel operators. You can even get a Full English if you get bored of the petit dejeuner. It was even founded by a Brit.

C is for Chalets – There are loads and loads of chalets in Meribel, which is one of the reasons that we have our chalets there.

D is for Dicks Tea Bar – If you like to drink and dance late into the night in a ski resort then you have probably been to Dicks. The name has no reflection on the sort of people who frequent the establishment.

E is for Ecureuil – One of our wonderful chalets that is located in Meribel Centre. The chalet comes complete with an outdoor hot tub as well as a sauna and steam room.

F is for Family – Meribel tries very hard to be a Family friendly resort and it succeeds very well.  It has excellent areas for all ages to learn to ski. It also holds regular free family events and offers free skiing for the under-fives.

G is for Golf – In the summer Meribel has a great high-altitude golf course and remains a buzzing alpine village. It also has two crazy golf courses open at the same time.

H is for Huge – Meribel is part of the Three Valleys which is probably the biggest ski area in the world.

I is for Independent – Meribel has one of the biggest collections of independent chalet companies, just like us.

J is for Jagerbombs – More Jagerbombs are sold in Meribel than in any other ski resort in France. This is a made up fact but is probably true.

K is for Knitted Beanie – If you aren’t wearing one then you aren’t cool.

L is for Long – The cable car from Brides Les Bain takes 25 minutes, this is a long time to spend on a cable car. You are better off staying in one of our chalets right in the centre.

M is for Moon Park – This is Méribel’s infamous freestyle park, there are jumps, rails, and boardercross areas for all abilities. You can have a go or watch the experts practice their stuff.

N is for Nightlife – I know we have mentioned après and nightclubs but one of the big attractions of Meribel is the great nightlife.

O is for Oligarch – Well, lack of them. Unlike neighboring Courchevel, Meribel has been left alone by the Russian billionaires. However, they do ski through from time to time.

P is for Patinoire – This is Meribel’s indoor ice rink that was built to host the 1992 Winter Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament. It is open every day from 5 pm to 7 pm for public skating and costs €7.5 per person

Q is for Queue – Meribel is often said to be full of lift queues, especially in the centre. We can’t deny that it can get quite busy in Meribel, but the rumours are much worse than the reality.

R is for Red Runs – In Meribel there are 93 miles of piste, and 30% of those runs are red. The other 70% is made up of 11% green, 12% black, and 47% blue.

S is for Seasonnaire – It could be said that Meribel is the spiritual home of the British Seasonnaire. It is defiantly in the top three favourite resorts to do a season in.

T is for Train – Meribel is one of the few major resorts easily accessed by train from the UK. You can get the Eurostar direct to Moutier and from there it is only a 20-minute transfer to the resort.

U is for Underground – That’s right Meribel has lots of underground parking. Which is great should you want to drive and then not have to dig your car out of all the snow at the end of the week.

V is for Vallon – Mont Vallon is Meribel’s highest ski area and opened 25 years ago.

W is for Women – This year Meribel is hosting a stage of the Audi FIS Women’s Downhill World Cup.

X is for X-Games – How great would it be if the X-Games came to Meribel?

Y is for Youtube – Not been to Meribel? Then check out its awesomeness by having a look on Youtube. Click here for videos.

Z is for zzz – All our chalets are so comfy and you will ski so hard that you will sleep like a chalet host on their day off.