La Tania ski resort

Overview

La Tania was inaugurated in December 1990 as a satellite accommodation base to house the international media personnel covering the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics. It has since developed into an Anglophile family-orientated resort offering a good-value gateway into the immense Three Valleys (Trois Vallées) ski domain.

It is located in a forest clearing just off the road between Meribel-Village and Courchevel Le Praz, centred on a compact traffic-free base area at the foot of the ski slopes. Many of the resort's buildings are the original multi-storey blocks of apartments built for the Olympics, plus a few more recent ones built to match, but there is also a cluster of attractive chalets in a quieter residential quarter up on the hillside above the central base area.

Each quarter of La Tania can be reached on foot, and all of the amenities and ski lifts are no more than a few minutes walk from most of the accommodation.

The main negative factor against La Tania is that its local slopes are actually quite limited, yet because they link fairly seamlessly with routes to/from Courchevel and Meribel this likeable corner of the Three Valleys is still a serious contender for consideration as a viable base in this world-class ski area.

Ski area

La Tania's local ski sector consists of just a tiny little nursery area and a short beginners' slope closest to the resort, plus a selection of three pistes that sweep down the forested mountainside and converge in the central base area. These three home runs do however cater for most abilities: with a recently re-landscaped green-graded trail which meanders through the forest; a rolling high-end blue which takes a more direct route; and a good fast red that cuts straight down the fall line.

The principal attraction of La Tania is of course the fact that it forms part of the huge Three Valleys ski area: a gondola links La Tania with the mid-altitude Praz-Juget plateau where onward lifts then link towards Courchevel 1850 (via button ski-tows) and Meribel (via chairlift), meaning La Tania is only two lifts away from the slopes of either of those topnotch resorts.

Another positive feature of the otherwise limited runs in the La Tania sector is that they are surrounded by sheltering forest, and tree-lined pistes mean that visibility is often still good here even on days when mist or low clouds close in; something that can't be said of the other Three Valleys resorts, whose slopes are mostly all higher above the tree line.

Off the slopes and apres ski

La Tania's Hotel Montana has a fitness suite with a tiny pool, Jacuzzi and sauna, all accessible to non-residents, but these are really the only leisure facilities to speak of in the resort. Off-slope activities here tend to be homespun: the beginners' slope directly in front of the central base area serves as a sledging hill after the lifts close.

Snowmobile excursions and snowshoeing treks are also organised locally. A much wider choice of activities and attractions are available in Courchevel 1850, about 40 minutes away by free ski bus which runs until around 22:00hrs at night.

For such a small and relatively quiet resort, the apres-ski scene in La Tania is actually quite animated. The prime venues are the terrace bars that face out on to the base-area slopes, particularly during 'happy hours' just after the lifts close; Pub Le Ski Lodge is the biggest and liveliest, the smaller Le Chrome Bar generally attracts a wider age range; these same venues also host regular live music sessions and occasional theme parties throughout the season. For more full-on nightlife, Courchevel and Meribel are just a taxi ride away (Meribel is nearest, about 20 minutes drive).

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