|
Bars and Clubs
La Tania:
The social life of La Tania revolves around Pub Le Ski Lodge,
with draught Boddingtons, Murphys and Strongbow. Decent prices and
big party nights make this a place you'll spend a lot of time in.
Be there on a Tuesday for the biggest night of the week when bands
such as Shibboleth, Four Play or SuperFly perform to a rowdy crowd
of workers. All the live sports events on TV too. Recently the bar in the Hotel Telemark has become a good spot further up the hill, with live music several times a week and a chance to chill out.
Le Farcon (Pub L'Arbatt) has pinball and pool. Escape space
from the Ski Lodge.
Hotel Montana has a piano bar, a good place to get away from
the crowd and chill.
La Taiga (referred to as The Tiger) has a small bar where
you might just not get spotted if out on a date.
Further afield: Trips to Dicks T-Bar night club in Meribel
(make sure you don't pay to get in) at 1am (they're open 'til 4)
are quite popular - not so the getting back however, it's easy to
get stranded. This can be preceded with a quick Meribel pub crawl
taking in Jacks, The Tav, The Cap, The Pub and The Ice Café.
The Lodge Du Village in Meribel Village (from the same team as The
Ski Lodge) which will mean an almost compulsory stop on the way
to/from Meribel.
The Jump in Courchevel 1850 is a popular spot (especially at lunchtimes)
with La Tania workers as are The Bubble in 1650, Chanrossa in 1550
and Darbellos in 1300 (Le Praz). TC's Bar in Tignes is another haunt
as former La Tania resident and legend TC opened up his own drinking
den in December 2000. We also have a large affinity with Brewskis
in St Martin de Bellville - a great place to take punters for lunch.
Back to top
Off-piste
Usual warnings apply - Shovel, probe, transceiver (and know how
to use them - especially how to use a grid search with the analogue
types). Ski or board with someone who knows what they're doing and
remember that simply going down marginal areas one at a time and
waiting for that person to move to a safe area will save lives,
only 1 person gets buried and the rest can search…
Plumbers Crack above Col De La Loze is one of the more famous off
piste runs. The Courchevel Free Ride competition is held here down
the large couloir accessed by walking up the ridge on the right
- takes from 30 minutes to an hour to walk up. Avalanches frequently.
There are 3 routes down the Col De Loze to the right of the Lanches
chair (see Moguls below) accessed by walking across the ridge at
the top. These are known locally as Gasex 1, 2 & 3. The Gasex
machines are the large pipes that stick out of the mountain blasting
compressed gas out to set off controlled avalanches. There were
originally only 3 - suppose we could have a run called Gasex 16
now…. Again this can be unsafe and you must traverse right
above the tree line to return to the piste. There is a route through
the trees to the Folyeres piste but this can be tricky and has narrow
gaps between the trees.
There are numerous options from the top of the Col De La Loze into
the Meribel Valley (Three Valley pass needed). Keep away from going
directly under the Rocher De La Loze chair though - it ends in a
cliff.
Finally (we're not giving all our secret spots away) the runs through
the trees around Boulevard Arolles can be fantastic after a heavy
fall - although the trees tend to stop avalanches this can still
be dangerous, as anyone who has fallen in to a tree hole will tell
you.
Back
to top
Moguls
Often found under the 4-man Dou Des Lanches chair lift
directly above La Tania - not a marked run but quite
heavily skied and hence the bumps. The top part is fairly
steep and can be tricky in poor conditions.
Back
to top
Speed
Get the first gondola up and when you're told the 4-man
chair isn't opening straight away belt down Folyeres
in a straight line (but only if you've got first tracks).
This is a roller coaster of a ride - watch the humps…
and don't go for it at the end of the day when it's
full of beginners. Alternatively try Saulire first thing
when it's been perfectly groomed. A group of us managed
97km/h down it early one morning, timed via GPS - so
wide it didn't actually feel that fast.
Back
to top
Snowparks
Our local is Courchevel above 1850 next to Plantrey
chair and there should be some new stuff this season
around the top of Chenus. Alternate access to this park
is by a free drag lift from 1850. Locals often create
a jump under the Lanches chair, though the new snow
cannon reservoir may get in the way this season.
Back
to top
Events
The Ski Lodge always has a Mardi Gras (Pancake Tuesday
to us) party, Shorts n Shades, Toss the Boss and a big
St Patrick's night. Big closing nights and end of season
bbqs too. Tuesdays (Chalet girls day off the next day
- get it) is always a big night with live music and
the last 2 seasons have seen pillow fights on Mondays!
On piste The Courchevel Free Ride is a real spectacle
- take some beers and watch some incredible skiing at
the top of Col De La Loze. La Tania was host to The
Natives Workers Challenge. This fun race and party afterwards
was a great success last season - can we have it again
Iain?
Back
to top
Away Days
Tignes - because of TC's Bar, see above. Shopping /
Curry trips to Annecy and trips to Brewskis in St Martin
de Belleville are popular. Also to Champagny, only 25
minutes away with access to La Plagne (free for a day
with a 3 Valley pass). Nearest league soccer is Lyon
& St. Etienne, members of the SSSC occasionally
visit - that's the Sad Saturday Soccer Club who watch
the scores come in on TV in the Ski Lodge every Saturday
afternoon.
Back
to top
Shopping
For ski & board essentials Ski Wave are fairly good
to locals but don't stock that much. Ski Higher in Le
Praz, 1850, Les Allues & The Mountain Centre in
La Tania are very worker friendly. Courchevel &
Meribel have a lot more variety of shops though.
Back
to top
Internet Cafés
At present only The Mountain Centre unless you can persuade
a resident to let you have a go of their PC. Plenty
of places in Meribel and Courchevel.
Back
to top
Eating Out
The Ski Lodge is excellent value for money with big,
big helpings of burgers, ribs, chilli, tandoori chicken
and pasta dishes. They'll do a group of you a hot rock
with as much salad, chips and wine as you can manage
for a decent price.
The other restaurants in resort La Ferme, Le Farcon,
Les Chantarelles and La Taiga all offer similar Savoyard
fare - Les Chantarelles specialising in crepes, La Taiga
in pizza, La Ferme in fondues & raclette and Le
Farcon in reblochonanade specialities.
Out of resort La Tsaretta in Les Allues is a good bet,
they'll organise you free transport too.
Back
to top
Mountain Restos
Mostly expensive. Better to ski to Le Jump in 1850,
Le Rond Point in Meribel or Brewskis in St Martin for
a reasonably priced sandwich/burger/pie and beer. Le
Sou Coupe, Roc Tania, Chenus and Le Bouc Blanc above
& around La Tania tend to be quite a bit cheaper
than those on the Courchevel & Meribel sides of
the ski area. The Ski Lodge terrace on a sunny day is
a great place to guide (escort!) punters to for lunch.
Back
to top
McDonalds
En route to Tignes: At Bourg St Maurice - almost exactly
half way around 40 minutes from La Tania.
En route to Geneva: In Albertville at junction 30, again
around 40 minutes on the turn off to Annecy and also
about 8km south of Annecy near the lake. There is a
further one on the Bourg en Brasse road near a big Decathlon
and Intersport - well worth a look for cheap gear.
En route to Chambery: You'll pass the 2 in Albertville
and there's one in Chambery too.
En route to Lyon: As Chambery above - plus there's one
between the airport turn off and the Lyon ring road
Autoroute. There's a big retail park here with an IKEA
(often 30% cheaper than the UK).
En route to St Etienne (for yer mates who come out with
Ryan Air for a fiver)
As Lyon above plus the one at the entrance to the airport
- there's nothing much at all inside the terminal building.
Finally, I can just remember there's a drive thru' on
the way to Chamonix when you pass through Megeve…
Back
to top
Shopping
Hyper Champion (still referred to as Provencia by the
veterans) in Moutiers is the place for Chalet shopping,
20 minutes away on a good run. Check out the exotic
foods of the world section - Marmite, McVities Biscuits,
Sharwoods Curry Sauce, Heinz Baked Beans, Walkers Crisps
etc!
The Sherpa Supermarket in resort is there for emergencies
and is not too expensive considering it's up the mountain.
The Pit Stop is a sandwich & pizza takeaway and
we've a Tabac, Post Office, Bakery, Tourist Office and
Cash Point too!
Back
to top
Transfer Day
Mostly Geneva 130km (between 2 hours and 6) - free internet
access to while away those hours of delays though. Traffic
queues form around Annecy and in towards Moutiers.
Then Lyon 190km (motorway all the way
and can be done in under 2 hours but again this can
easily more than double with delays, traffic and snow).
Chambery 90km (Just over an hour usually
- small airport with less delays)
Further afield there are the tiny airports of St Ettienne
(3 hours on a good run) and even Grenoble - quite a
way past the city - allow at least 3.5 hours.
Whatever the airport, all traffic comes through Moutiers
at the bottom of the valley as does all the transfer
traffic (and self drive traffic) for Courchevel, Meribel,
Val Thorens, Les Menuires, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Val
d'isere and Tignes - The Gendarmes have a queuing system
along the motorway to prevent Moutiers becoming grid
locked so expect huge delays on Saturdays in February
and holiday times.
Back
to top
Après-ski / Excursions
Any particular après-ski classics that the punters
love? Tim, the Proprietor of The Ski Lodge plays the
French and English National Anthems on his hunting horn
at lunch on the terrace and yes - the punters love it.
Trips to VT or Champagny (for La Plagne and the Olympic
Bob) can be arranged. Also, tandem parapenting is very
popular above La Tania. You can even go on a weeks course
here in the summer and learn to fly solo.
Back
to top
Living
Is there a better part of town to live/to avoid? There
are now some new chalets high up in the trees - a long
walk to the pub (and even longer one back). Apart from
that everything is within staggering distance.
Back
to top
Links
www.latania.co.uk of course!
If you're looking for accom, then check out the Hotel
Telemark.
Back
to top
CdS
Search
If you’re thinking of doing a season in La Tania then why not
search through the Club
des Saisonniers to see who else has worked there and what advice
they may be able to offer.
Join
Anyone who has done a season or has a firm offer from
a tour operator may join
the Club des Saisonniers.
Back
to top
[Thanks to Toffa for putting this Guide together]
|
