This winter the first season in 6 years that you haven't been able (officially) to ski direct to La Tania over the Christmas/New Year period.

In the 10 year history of La Tania, it could also be the first season that Folyeres has ever been closed in the first week of January (although the current snow means it may open by Saturday).

The sad fact is that it didn't have to be like this. During the close season, 38 new snow cannons were laid down the Folyeres piste (the blue run into La Tania). The 2000/2001 official brochure from the Office de Tourisme boasts about these new snow cannons and the snow guarantee that they will offer. They are also featured on the official La Tania website (right-hand side, page down twice).

However, while the cannons may be there, they have never been used. The Office de Tourisme now claims that the installation of the cannons was on the first phase of a programme that will be completed in the autumn of 2001.

Unofficial rumours suggest that there may have been a dispute over the water supply, with environmental groups preventing the use of the orginally intended source and no alternative put into place.

The irony is that had the snow cannons been operational, they would have paid for themselves immediately. Currently the resort is exceptionally quiet at lunch times - Tim Wall, manager of the popular Pub Le Ski Lodge has noticed the difference: 'Right now we are doing maybe 100 lunches, when normally we would be catering for 250 on sunny days.'

[Thanks to Toffa, webmaster of LaTania.co.uk for bringing this story to our attention]


And finally, some skiing advice from LaTania.co.uk:

ski high, ski early, ski 1650, ski La Masse, ski Jerusalem, ski VT (early), lunch early and ski lunchtime to avoid the crowds. The new 8 and 6 seater lifts in Meribel don't have queues for very long so may be an option over the holidays. Obeying those Piste Ferme signs is probably a very good idea - chances are the snow runs out completely round the next bend. Above all, keep smiling...