Posted on 24 September 2014
Tignes-le-Lac has grabbed the headlines by being named France’s most improved resort in the new edition of guidebook Where to Ski and Snowboard (WTSS), which has marked its 20th birthday by commending resorts for improving over the last two decades.
WTSS noted that Tignes-le-Lac was “seriously inhospitable” 20 years ago – today it is an Alpine hot spot and a very desirable place to own a ski home.
Elsewhere, the missing link in the Portes du Soleil ski area, which connects Avoriaz and Châtel in France with Champéry and Morgins in Switzerland, has been completed. So this season sees the opening of two new fast chairlifts connecting the Linga ski area near Avoriaz and the Super-Châtel area between Châtel and the Swiss border. A piste down the Super-Châtel side is due to open for the 2015-16 season, making the link even better.
In Val Thorens, the highest resort in the Alps, two quads lifts are being replaced by six-seat chairlifts for the 2014-15 season, both specially designed to cope with high winds. This follows three new fast lifts last season.
Finally, a report by a leading ski operator and based on the 2013-14 season showed that French resorts remain the top destination for UK skiers and riders, with 33.5 per cent of the market, down from 34.8 per cent the previous year. Austrian resorts held steady at 28 per cent, down by 0.2 per cent, while Italy was up 0.5 per cent to 15.7 per cent. Switzerland gained a percentage point, rising to 6.5 per cent, partly thanks to the introduction of a new Eurostar service to the country, and North America lost 0.2 per cent, down to 3.8 per cent.