Love Tignes? Where to go next for the snow, the glacier or the size
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Tignes is high, snow sure and built for skiing. Tignes le Lac sits at 2,100 metres, the second highest village of the 55 resorts we cover. The Grande Motte glacier above it is open through the winter, and the season runs from late November to early May. Nobody goes to Tignes for the architecture. They go because the snow will be there and they can ski to the door.
So when Tignes regulars want somewhere new, the honest answer is a question: which part of that do you actually need? Each answer points somewhere different.
First, Tignes measured
That second to last line is the one to read twice. Tignes's blues are some of the firmest we measure. They average 17.6 percent, steeper than the French average of 16.2, and only six of our 55 resorts have steeper blues. Overall the mountain is not unusually steep: 25 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, just under a typical resort. But the easy runs are not as easy as the colour suggests, and if your group has improvers in it, that matters.
That is average gradient, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch. Treat it as a guide to how the week feels, not a verdict on any one run. It also changes how to read the alternatives below. Two of them are kinder at the easy end. One is firmer still.
Sestriere: if it is the altitude, in a resort built for skiing
- VillageVillage
- 2,035 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,840 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 305 km
Sestriere: 160 km of piste we measure. 50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
Plus 11 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
Sestriere is the closest match to Tignes we measure, anywhere. It is a purpose built high resort, practical rather than pretty, and its village sits at 2,035 metres, 65 below Tignes le Lac. It is the hub of the Via Lattea, the Milky Way, and on the standard Italian pass you have roughly 305 kilometres, about the same as Espace Killy. The 400 kilometres you will see quoted includes Montgenèvre in France, which needs the dearer International pass.
The catch is the top. Sestriere's lifts reach 2,840 metres, more than 600 below Tignes's 3,456, and the season runs December to April rather than late November to early May. In the heart of the winter that matters less than it sounds. At either end of the season, the dates tell you what you are giving up.
The skiing is a little harder overall and a lot kinder at the easy end. Thirty percent of Sestriere's piste is steeper than one in four, against 25 at Tignes, but its blues average just 12 percent against your 17.6. Italian grades are set differently from French ones, so trust the measurements over the colours. A mixed group will find the bottom end easier going here.
Hintertux: if it is the glacier and the long season
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 206 km
Hintertux: 110 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 38%66 km red 59%2.9 km black 3%
If what you love about Tignes is knowing the glacier is there, Hintertux is the purest version of that we cover. It is the only Austrian glacier open every day of the year, its lifts reach 3,250 metres, and like Tignes it is modern and snowy, with no frills.
The trade is everything around the glacier. The village is at 1,500 metres, 600 below Tignes le Lac. The glacier itself is 62 kilometres. The 206 kilometres of Ski Zillertal 3000 is on the wider pass but needs a bus, so this is a much smaller week than Espace Killy unless you are happy to travel for it.
And do not read the piste map as gentle because there is almost no black on it, about 3 kilometres. Thirty two percent of Hintertux's piste is steeper than one in four, more than at Tignes, and its blues average 19.3 percent, the second steepest we measure. Austrian and French grades are not set the same way, which is why the measurement matters more than the colour. This is the firmer one.
La Plagne: if it is a bigger area, still high and purpose built
- VillageVillage
- 1,800 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 425 km
La Plagne: 203 km of piste we measure. 128 km green and blue 63%47 km red 23%28 km black 14%
La Plagne is the French answer, and it is bigger. Paradiski, which it shares with Les Arcs, is 425 kilometres against Espace Killy's 300. The village sits at 1,800 metres, 300 below Tignes le Lac, and the lifts reach 3,250. It is modern and purpose built like Tignes, friendly and practical rather than polished, and it is a family favourite.
It is also kinder at the easy end. Thirty nine percent of La Plagne's piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 30 at Tignes, and its blues average 15.5 percent against your 17.6. The steep is still there, 27 percent steeper than one in four against your 25, so a strong skier loses nothing on the pistes.
The trade is altitude and the shoulder seasons. Three hundred metres off the village matters less than it sounds in January and more in late March, and the season runs December to April rather than from late November.
So, which one
you want Tignes's altitude and purpose built practicality in Italy, you are going in the heart of the season, and your group includes improvers.
the glacier is the point and you are there to ski, not for the village.
you want a bigger area and gentler easy runs, and you can give up 300 metres of village altitude for them.
It is the closest match to Tignes we measure, and the gaps are at the top of the mountain and the ends of the season, not in the week itself.