Skiing in summer is a dream! This unique pleasure is available in a number of high-altitude Savoie resorts. In Tignes, summer skiing takes place on the Grande-Motte glacier, between 2,750 and 3,500 metres (about 9,000 to 11,500 feet) above sea-level. The skiable area, perhaps the most beautiful in Europe in the summer season, covers 130 hectares (just over 320 acres) and includes 20 km (12½ miles) of pistes (six blue, one red) over 800 metres of drop.
Summer skiing is also available from the beginning of July to mid-August on the year-round snows of the Péclet glacier at Val Thorens. The Pissaillas glacier near Val d'Isère and the Bellecôte glacier, which dominates La Plagne, are the two other places where you can put on your ski boots next summer.
The summits within your reach
Be aware that summer skiing only takes place in the morning, from 7.30 a.m. to 1 p.m., because the afternoon temperatures modify the snow, making skiing difficult. But what a joy to take the ski lift under an azure sky, with your warm clothes, hat and sunglasses... And in the afternoon, while the snow is melting and the lifts are closed, you can devote yourself to other activities, such as tennis, golf, paragliding, hiking or mountain-biking, ending your day with a flourish and on form.
In Val Thorens, the Sports Centre offers about twenty activities in an indoor area covering 9,000 m²: swimming, jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms, tennis, squash, table tennis, body-building, climbing, volleyball, roller-skating and more. Enthusiasts of the great outdoors will prefer microlighting or paragliding. In La Plagne, you will discover typical mountain sports such as the Via Ferrata (prepared climbing routes with cables and ladders) or scree running. In a more aquatic (and colder) vein, perhaps you would be tempted by rafting, white-water swimming or canyoning?
Contacts
Tignes tourist office, + 33 (0) 4 79 40 04 40
Val Thorens tourist office, + 33 (0) 4 79 00 08 08
Val d'Isère tourist office, + 33 (0) 4 79 06 06 60
La Plagne tourist office, + 33 (0) 4 79 09 79 79
Rhône-Alpes regional tourism authority, + 33 (0) 4 72 59 21 59
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