If you want to make the most of your next ski holiday and cram it with excitement both on and off the slopes, Tignes in the French Alps may be just the place for you. Along with a range of excellent catered ski chalets, Tignes has much more to offer its guests than just skiing or snowboarding. Those looking for a little high-octane adventure will find plenty of entertainment on the impressive lake in Tignes Le Lac, or by getting behind the wheel in the difficult conditions of the Alpine resort’s super-slippery driving circuit. In fact, you and your mates might have such a hair-raising time off the slopes that skiing and snowboarding begin to look tame by comparison.
Explore Beneath the Ice
Not for the faint-hearted, ice diving is a unique experience in which practitioners don a dry suit and plunge themselves through a hole cut in the lake’s frozen surface. The massive lake in Tignes Le Lac provides the ideal location for this, some might say, crazy sport. You’ll need to be brave enough to face your fears (and the cold) but once you’re under the ice it will all be worth while. Far from being cold and dark, travelling under the ice reveals a strangely luminous world of fascinating frozen formations that can’t be seen, or even guessed at, from the surface.
Skid into Action with Ice Driving
If diving under metres of frozen water isn’t your thing (or you’ve tried the lake diving and are looking for your next thrill) then book yourself and your mates into a session of ice driving on the frozen circuit in Tignes Les Brevieres. Learn the skills required to control skidding, breaking and counter steering in arctic conditions from experienced instructors as you race around this mountain track. The skills you pick up here might even come in handy after a seasonal snow-dump back home; just think how impressed your friends will be when you speed into the car park at work in a controlled skid and glide neatly into your parking space!
Skate Beneath the Stars
Close to many of the resort’s catered ski chalets, Tignes’ beautiful lake is a wonderful spot for a bit of outdoor ice skating. For those more used to the enclosed rinks of the UK, nothing compares to the sensation of skating around an outdoor area surrounded by the mountain peaks of the Alps. The rink is open until 8pm throughout the winter season, so you and your friends will be able to skate under the stars for a completely unforgettable experience. And the great thing is that with a 2 to 15 day ski pass, skating on the lake is entirely free.
Where to Stay
Whether you want to shred the pistes in the Espace Killy ski area or take on some of the resort’s other adrenaline-fuelled activities, the catered ski chalets Tignes has to offer make the perfect base for your holiday. Come home after a day of extreme fun and be greeted by a warm welcome and a delicious meal and you’ll soon be refuelled and ready to do it all again the next day.
Martin Wynn
