TCC 2016 Summer Chalets coming soon... summer lifts stop rolling this weekend

As this weekend marks the end of Summer lift operations in Tignes we are delighted to announce that as of 2016 we will be providing Summer accommodation options in Tignes!

More info to follow soon, watch this space...

Mountain bikers enjoying trails with Tignes le Lac in the background (photo credit - tignes.net / Start Line Mountain Biking)

There are lots of activities on offer over the Summer in Tignes, and most of them are free!
Arguably the most popular is mountain biking, with free access to the lifts in Tignes & Val d'Isere, with around 150km of trails across the two biking areas. All you need to do is collect a hands free pass, which are available from the Maison de Tignes in Tignes Le Lac for a 5 euro deposit.

For more info on summer activities/sports in Tignes click here.

In the mean time we are busy making preparations for the winter season ahead, we've almost finished carefully selecting some new staff to join the TCC team and making sure our vehicles are in tip top shape. We are looking forward to everyone arriving in resort around the start of November looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

That first dump of the white stuff is not too far around the corner, and we can't wait!

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Brit wins NZ Open comp

One of our very own James 'Woodsy' Woods grabbed first place at the North Face Freeski Open of New Zealand.

He scored 92.75 on his first run and 94 on his second run to take the top spot with local hero Jossi Wells a close second scoring 92.75 respectively.

“I knew that Jossi had a mega run in the bank and we were pushing each other harder and harder,” said Woodsy.

Condition were good for the slopestyle final despite cold temperatures and poor visibility during the previous days.

The final was held at Cardrona Alpine Resort and there was a strong kiwi contingent in attendance including fifteen year old Wanaka local Finn Bilous. Finn claimed fourth place in both halfpipe and slopestyle, signaling that he will be another strong contender for the podium in the future. Cardrona Alpine Resort is the official resort partner of the NZ Park and Pipe team.



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The Trans Savoie Big Alpine MTB Enduro series kicked off in Val D'isere at the weekend.

A groundbreaking point-to-point stage event 100% focused on technical riding ability and epic adventure. The Trans Savoie requires a blend of skill, athletic fitness, mental determination, and strategic riding on some of the best mountain bike trails in the world.

The competition uses a mix of ski lifts and natural trails to form the course, the series has six stages and moved onto Les Arcs for day two. The final stage is set to finish in Chamonix.

On Day 1 the riders traveled 49km with 4751m of vertical, check out the stunning images below.

Tignes le Lac and the 'fingers' in view with the village of Val Claret to the right of the photo

La Grande Casse looking a little snowy in the background.

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Dumping down in South America!

Portillo (Chile) got 25 inches in 24 hours- dude where's my car?

Snow is continuing to fall in South America after over 200cm in some places last week!
Chile and Argentina were inundated with snow last week, weather men said that it may this may have been the largest storm to hit central Chile in the past 5 years.
This good for central Chile which has suffered from many droughts over the last few years.

Originally, central Chile had 19-feet of snow forecast in 4 days last week!

View from the Nubes chairlift at Catedral ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina.

It was reported that a spectacular day of powder skiing was to be had on Monday at  Catedral ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina.

Of course this amount of snow help's to fill in rocky features, creating new airs and hits all over the mountain, and it's always to nice to have that extra cushioning on any landing especially when it goes wrong! Although it has to be said putting ski's back on in deep powder and even finding skis can be an extreme challenge. On these occasions it's useful to have a powder trace on your skis to help locate them when they have nose dived into deep snow.
How often do we see people having this problem in the Alps! 

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Brandon Semenuk's ground-breaking run...

This spectacular run by Brandon Semenuk was filmed in one-shot as part of the unReal movie.

Brandon demonstrates stunning tricks and skills, plus a shed load of bottle.

It's truly amazing considering it was filmed in just one take. No second chances!

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Would you swap the French Alps for skiing in Dubai?

Plans have been announced in Dubai to build the World's longest indoor ski slope as part of the Meydan One project which will also include a shopping mall, residential tower and five-star hotel.
It's not the first indoor ski slope in Dubai and will be located approximately 15 km's from Ski Dubai which is 400m long and was opened in 2005, the indoor ski resort which features the world's first indoor black run as part of the Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest shopping malls in the world.

Meydan One's futuristic indoor ski slope 

The 1.2km slope will be the world's longest such indoor facility, beating Germany's AlpinCenter in Bottrop which is 640m.

However, this is not the only the record the Meydan One project plans' to break;

• Dubai One tower- will have the highest observation deck at 655m and highest sky restaurant at 675 metres when built as well being the tallest residential tower.
• Dancing fountain- expected  to be the world’s largest at more than 420 metres in length.

Overview of the project

The project also includes the Meydan Arena at the base of the ski slope, it will seat up to 8,000 people. It will host sporting events, live concerts and theatrical shows. Some of the outdoor sport options include football pitches, mountain biking, walking and running trails, a skateboard park and a BMX park.

Swap the French Alps for Dubai?

So hands up, who will be swapping their Ski trip to the Alp's for a glitzy ski vacation on Dubai's slippery slopes? I thought not!

But it does have it's advantages; no more worrying about the prospect of a white-out day, and with a man made climate there's no fears about a good snow base when you arrive.

On the other hand there definitely wont be the excitement of a powder day, and backcountry skiing doesn't exist.

Having said that it's hard to deny that if you are a resident in Dubai it would be an extremely exciting prospect, and just sometimes lots of money can make anything possible, even skiing in the desert! 

http://www.thetigneschaletcompany.com

A Winter Olympics without snow?

On Friday the IOC selected Beijing as host city for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, this means it will be the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
An obvious choice then you might think considering the city's pedigree?

Yanqing, the venue for some of the skiing events receives just two inches of snowfall per year

There is an obvious floor with the bid as you may be able to recognize in the image above...
This part of China barely receives any precipitaion which means hardly any natural snowfall!
Beijing is not a mountainous city, so the skiing, snowboarding and sliding events will be held in Yanqing (55 miles away from the capital) and Zhangjiakou (100 miles away), on the edge of the Gobi desert. But even these remote venues see minimal snowfall - Zhangjiakou averages eight inches of the white stuff per year, while Yanqing gets a miserly two inches.
To combat this organizers plan to take snow-making to an entirely new level by stock-piling snow in warehouse ready to transform the baron mountain where it plans to host the downhill events, in addition to this snow cannons will also help to tranform the mountain.

So why did the IOC choose Beijing?

Shymbulak ski resort, Kazakhstan

Well to be frank they had only one other option to choose from. The other contender to the host the games was Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The main advantage of hosting the games here is the actual snowfall they receive during the winter, and this was reflected in the presentation of their bid with the cheeky slogan 'Keeping it Real'. The disadvantage is the city's distinct lack of experience in hosting such an event of this caliber and this was ultimately the deciding factor. The Kazakh city was left as the only competitor to Beijing for the games after a series of European cities, including Krakow,  Oslo and Stockholm, withdrew from the selection process, blaming low public support and concerns about the huge costs of hosting the Games.

So with the 2018 Winter Olympic Games to be hosted in South Korea it seems like Asia is taking full advantage of Europe's current financial inability to host in one of her cities.
The major question to be answered is  can these two Asian cities provide an inspiring Winter Olympics with very little skiing tradition?

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