La Tania

La Tania: reviews

• skiclub.co.uk visitor (09 October 2009)

  LA TANIA UPDATE FOR 2010 SEASON - resort staying open a week longer - snow canon link from 1850 to resort complete - further alterations to piste down to Le Praz and canons from ski jump down - locals knowledge on www.latania.co.uk - live music somewhere most nights in season - pubs eg Pub le Ski Lodge, Taiga, Chrome bar - food eg Marmottons, Le Ferme, Le Farcon, Le Pub, Taiga, Bouc Blanc (top of gondola) - NB gondola AND POMA out of resort, queues only if you hit ski school start time - top tip get to gondola early and be on the first or second bubble for a gloroius run down the tree lined Folyeres (especially on a powder day) - more gasex above resort - access to the most treelined runs in the Three Valleys whch are excellent on snowy days From ex SCGB rep Nick

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Steve Marsden (15 February 2008)

  We stayed in La Tania over New Year (29 Dec - 6 Jan 2008) as a group of four families, our first time in the 3 Valleys after skiing in Switzerland. With mixed ages from 7 to nearly 50 and mixed abilities, we found La Tania to be a really good base and had an excellent week.

  Beforehand we'd been slightly worried that the single gondola out might be too much of a bottleneck, this was absolutely not the case and it lifted the crowds to the slopes with great efficiency.

  Enjoyed skiing throughout Courchevel valley and found very little need to venture into Meribel. It is especially worth making it over to 1650 at times for the good mix of red slopes there.

  La Tania did not seem to have a raging night life, which suited us, but plenty of places to eat and drink, very well suited to children and parents. Perhaps in a few years when we have more teenagers it will be too quiet for them, but until then ...

  We'd certainly go back.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (30 January 2008)

  Our trip to La Tania in January 2008 was our first to the Three Valleys and it may have been the superb skiing conditions, but it does make you wonder why anyone would want to go anywhere else. We stayed in a brilliant chalet (Phillipine) just up the hill from the village, courtesy of alpine-charms. La Tania itself is much smaller than nearby Courchevel and Meribel, (but much the better for that) and at the same time has all the facilities you would want including bars and good restaurants.
  

  The runs back to the village range from a challenging black, to a gentle tree lined green, so all tastes and skills are catered for. The Three Valleys is such a vast area that I would advise the less adventurous not to go for a full 3 valleys ski pass for the entire week, but perhaps to try a Courchevel pass to begin with. Unless you are really committed getting to Val Thorens and back in a day can be a challenge, and if stranded, getting a taxi back expensive. I'll be back!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (12 November 2007)

  Have skied at La Tania on two occasions. The last was New Year 2006/2007 when the snow was supposed to be awful according to all the reports. I have to say the snow making facillaties made up for the lack of snow and the sheer variety of runs in the Trois Vallees meant that we had a superb week with generally good skiing. On the downside, if you want to explore the whole area, La Tania is a little bit out on a limb. Coming back from Val Thorens/Les Menuires can be a bit of a rush (although there is a bus service from Meribel at New Year) as you have to go into Meribel and then along the valley to get up to the Col de la Loze. Also the blue run back to resort can get icy and crowded at the end of the day (it was actually like an ice rink on the final day of the holiday, a nightmare for beginers). On the whole, if you want a relatively cheap holiday with great skiing, in a beautiful village then La Tania is most definitely for you.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (02 November 2007)

  First time in the 3 Valleys. La Tania is a great little village, hidden away from the much larger villages elsewhere (i.e. Courchevel 1650, Meribel, etc). The 3 Valleys provides top notch skiing and La Tania even has some nice tree runs that you would miss if you were not staying there. We went with SkiBeat who were excellent. Nice chalets and decent food.

  Overall, a quiet 3 valleys retreat....a sort of back-door to 600km of heaven. Would go back tomorrow (if there was snow and I had a job!).

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (31 August 2007)

  Last season was great in La Tania and all our guests had great skiing every week despite what some of the UK press were printing. The resort is a great gateway to stacks of skiing so I'd recommend it to keen skiers.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Philip M Sivell (28 March 2007)

  I stayed in Hotel Le Montana and disagree with the assessment given for it.

  The staff very all very helpful and friendly.

  The food was perfectly reasonable quality for a 3* hotel, even if the choice was a little limited.

  Rooms fairly basic, but light and airy

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (18 February 2007)

  Just back from a family holiday La Tania. We loved the resort--it's great for children, especially the apres-ski tobogganing in the middle of the village every night.

  The main blue run back to the village can get icy and crowded and the new green is narrow in places, but there's always the bubble to take back down the mountain in the evenings if this is a problem for novice skiers. Sometimes the chair lift above the bubble was closed owing to the sheer amount of snow that had fallen last week.

  Our children (8 and 10) used the ESF and on the whole we were pleased. They must have liked the instructor because we had to wave to him if we saw him out on the slopes after lessons!

  We stayed in the Christiana apartments and found them very convenient and pretty good of their kind,as long as you're not expecting spacious luxury. They compared well with others we've used in the French Alps and their location is fantastic. Literally ski in and out, with the lockers right next to the slope.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (05 February 2007)

  Just returned from la tania 27/1/07to2/2/07great snow conditions thanks to 2ft of fresh powder 3days before we went. Stayed self catered for the first time and we stopped at the cristina apartments. They were clean and tidy and you can ski to the door. I would go back as the resort was well linked with the 3 valleys.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Nick Newell (25 July 2006)

  In the last year there has been a steep change in the quality of the ski runs close to La Tania with the construction of the new green run last summer and it's subsequent improvments this summer. The run, Plan Fontaine, winds through the forest back to the village and passes the chalet area, where we are based. This has resulted in much easier ski-in/ski-out access for us and a very easy way back to resort for less confident skiers. Of course the beauty of La Tania is really it's fast links to both the Courchevel and Meribel Valleys. We regularly ski the Val Thorens and even the 4th Valley and back in a days skiing.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Luan Wall (04 April 2006)

  Resort Report – La Tania

  Skiing: Background Expert Skier/ intermediate snowboarder, over 25 weeks vacational skiing plus some seasonairre work

  Resort: La Tania – 3 valleys – France

  Date of Visit: Working in resort from 02.12.05 to 14.01.06

  Operation of lifts: The whole area has now gone over to hands free lift passes which is a godsend. These passes have the added bonus of offering a replacement if yours is lost or stolen subject to a small forfeit. From La Tania, the only ways up into the main 3 valleys skiing is via the Tania gondola, or the Praz Juget drag lift, the latter of which runs only very rarely. It is a rarity to have to queue long for the gondola however – even over Christmas and New Year there were no queues outside of the main 9-10am and 1.30-2.30pm ski school rushes. Problems only occur when the lifts just above the gondola (a chair and a drag) are unable to operate for some reason. This then necessitates a ski bus ride to nearby Courchevel (bizarrely, although closer by road, there is no similar ski bus to Meribel which would be useful for those with 3 valley passes). Operation of Runs It is hard to fault the piste care in the three valleys – they do produce exceptionally good corduroy when the conditions allow. Generally, in contrast to some other resorts, runs only ever appear to be closed when there is a genuine reason (avalanche risk, poor snow cover, etc). However, visitors to La Tania should be aware that the runs into resort do get a LOT of traffic and therefore become extremely skied off and/or icy very quickly. In poor snow conditions, Moretta Blanche loses cover really quickly. It is a rare day indeed when the blue run Folyeres is not icy towards the bottom section – not confidence inspiring for those on their first forays away from the nursery slope! La Tania has an additional green run for this last season – Plan Fontaine – which winds its way down from the top of the Tania gondola. Having skied it about every other day or so for six weeks, I found it to vary between being tolerable and being unbearably icy (this from an expert skier!!!) and/or rocky and skied off. It is a shallow gradient but it is not very wide, being little more than a narrow road, and should therefore be approached with caution by those learners used to wide open runs such as those over at Courchevel 1850/1650. Learner snowboarders should certainly not bother with the green, but the blue Folyeres, in good conditions, is great for starting to link carved turns on a board. It is hard to pick a ‘favourite’ run from such a vast and varied skiing area, but the Dou des Lanches black run above La Tania really got the muscles working first thing in the morning, and for a bit of fun, the ‘play’ area below the Biollay chair in Courchevel takes some beating!

  Mountain Restaurants: Pick with care!!! There is some reasonably priced eating to be had in the area but the budget-conscious need to select where to eat, with the small fast-food outlets at the top of the Verdons lift in 1850, down in La Tania, and over in 1650 providing the cheapest options. If you fancy a blow-out though, Chalet des Pierres offers wines with price-tags of several thousand euros a bottle!!!

  Ski Schools: La Tania is served by the ESF and by Magic in Motion. The ESF has several English-speaking instructors (one of whom, Nick, IS English) and their tuition is generally praised by everyone who used them who stayed with us. Magic in Motion are an English speaking alternative for those a little nervous of the French methods of teaching.

  Snowboarding: I learned to snowboard in the 3 valleys and have been honing my skills this season and can say that it is a great place to learn. There is barely ever a need to take a drag lift (a BIG bonus as a learner boarder!!) and most links have sufficient gradient not to have to take a foot out of the binding (beware, however, of the need to carry a little speed across the top if col de la loze when linking from la Tania to Courchevel)

  Children’s Facilities: N/a Local

  Transport: There is a free ski bus linking to courchevel but not to Meribel – a problem if caught ‘over the hill’ after closure of the last lift!!

  Shopping: Limited to one supermarket, a tabac, and a couple of ski rental/sales outlets. Shopaholics should ski or get the bus to Courchevel where there is plenty of opportunity to flex the plastic on any number of designer goods, electricals, jewellery and clothing!

  Non-skiing facilities: Limited! Parapenting takes place from the top of the mountains above La Tania, and there is dog-sledding available a short drive away towards Meribel. The local ski school also arranges snow-shoe walks. In La Tania itself, there is very little to do if injured or in poor weather except pace up and down the postage-stamp sized swimming pool in Hotel Montana or go to the pub!!

  Eating out: La Tania boasts a couple of pleasant restaurants – Le Farcon, La Taiga, together with the option of eating at one of the larger hotels or going to the pizzeria or the bars, or during the day, there is a ski-food outlet which adjoins the slope.

  Apres ski: Limited if you don’t enjoy pub environments! Most people use Pub Le Ski Lodge as their base (seasonairres included) – and the toffee vodka goes down a treat!! But there is also the option of a small French bar nearby who sometimes have live bands on. Hotel Telemark also host occasional live bands, and I understand that the Montana has a piano lounge.

  Accommodation: All levels catered for, from small self-catering ‘boites’ to fully catered, all needs met chalets.

  Prices: Small beer around 3 to 4 euros. Sausage and chips at a fast food outlet about 6 – 8 euros. Most supermarket prices comparable with the UK.

  Summary: A lovely little resort for familes and the budget-conscious. One of the cheapest resorts in the three valleys.

  Airports: Served by Chambery, Lyon and Geneva and, at a push, Grenoble. Chambery being the closest… Geneva is a good 3 hour drive away at best.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Charlie (28 March 2006)

  Stayed in La Tania in Jan 2006. Snow was good and the ski back into the village nice through the trees. Great access to 3 Valleys. And free bus back from Courcheval if the blue and green back to La Tania is too much for you. Village is small and quiet with only a few bars but quality over quantity. Ski Lodge pub is loud and noisy with Sky Sports, Taiga better. We stayed in Chalet Clementine with Ski Magic. A bit crowded but good customer service . Choose La Tania if all you want to do is ski and you are not too worried about the night life.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Joanna Macmillan (19 March 2006)

  Not sure why the guide indicates poor snow to resort as there are loads of canons all the way down and the new green run is very easy for beginners. Night life is vastly improved with live bands in resort every night - Pub le Ski Lodge, Telemark, L'Arbatt and Taiga are all great watering holes! Food is everything from Pizza to Michelin Star!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• stephen gordon (01 March 2006)

  Just back from La Tania. Stayed with in Chalet Elliot through Snowline. The resort is in a fantastic spot for access to 3 Valleys with short queues at gondola even at half term.All 3 pistes back are good with some great fun to be had through trees at side. Snowline were excellent being well informed beforehand and brilliant in resort.The food and service in the chalet were first rate and you get the added bonus of 3 days guiding by one of the staff included. Ive not been at half term before so was apprehensive but it couldn't have been better.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Simon Atkinson (26 February 2006)

  Just got back from La Tania, stayed at the Hotel Montana with Thompson. I've done the 3V lots of times and skied into La Tania but never stayed before, the place is fantastic with a lovely small village feeling and atmosphere all of it's own. Great for families. Hotel Montana is in a great location, the rooms are large, bright and clean, it's a pity it's run so badly, the food is poor and service is equally as bad. We ended up eating out for 4 out of 7 nights! Do stay at La Tania. (the new green back into town makes it good for beginners) Don't spend your money with Thompson or the Montana, they know it's not good and they still take your money !!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Ingrid (10 August 2004)

  I had a great holiday in La Tania last April and enjoyed being able to ski to the chalet and start the day skiing without long walks. I stayed in Chalet Juba from where the owner Nick found us great piste and off piste snow when he showed us around the area every day with brilliant slopes back to La Tania. I got the best off piste photos ever. In the evenings the food and wine Nick & Joey prepared were a real treat! I can't wait to spend another week with them. Ingrid.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Sandy Stewart (14 February 2004)

  Great little resort with excellent links to Courchevel & Meribel. We stayed in a Crystal chalet which was great value for money. The Pub du Ski lodge is great for meals, drinks & live music. The free (with lift pass) bus to the rest of the Courchevel resorts provided a chance to sample some of the higher priced entertainment. To be quite honest we skied so many km's through the day a few drinks & some serious chilling were all we could manage at night.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• John Middleditch (19 January 2004)

  Your synopsis of the La Tania is very good. I would add that now the blue run home has been outfitted with snow cannons, the risk of poor snow at resort level has largely been eradicated. I have visited during Easter the last two years and been able to ski home each time (albeit in "the soup").

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• C Blackburn (26 February 2002)

  Spent a week with Skivolution based in La Tania, catered chalet plus two hours of tuition per day, including video feedback, run by Dave Beattie. Chalet & tution very good and value for money £409 plus air fare. would reccomend to any level.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.

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