INSTRUCTOR-LED GUIDING RESORT REPORT
Tignes,
France
1,550-3,456m, six-day lift pass from €244 (Tignes and Val d’Isère)
It’s three weeks since it last snowed in Tignes, so expectations are not high that we’ll be floating through powder on this Instructor-led Guiding off-piste day in January, writes Alf Alderson. Our laconic guide Davide Mazzina of New Generation Ski School is realistic: “We’ll see what we can find” is the best he can offer.
So, how come six hours later I’m sipping a beer in the January sunshine with five Club members who also signed up for the day (Paul Goldman, Saeed Chaudhry, Dave X (as he likes to be known), Marco Ambleez and Phil Humm) and we’re enthusing about our day with broad grins and aching quads?
I guess it’s because Davide has done a great job – and shown why the Club’s ILG days are so well worth checking out.
Our day began with the customary transceiver check and avalanche search drill before Davide took advantage of the great piste conditions with some video analysis of our technique (another advantage of ILG days – free coaching).
“The first run of the afternoon was between the trees in soft, silky snow”
We then headed for Tignes’ high point, the 3,456-metre Grand Motte, where Davide pointed out some of the exciting backcountry terrain that would be accessible in better conditions, before leading us onto chalky off-piste to skier’s left of the Termignon drag lift. We then gradually worked our way down to Val Claret via a mix of piste and more chalky snow off the sides.
This, it transpired, was a warm-up for some challenging pre- and post-lunch action in a variety of gullies and couloirs. They’re steep and a bit on the narrow side but, as Davide is well aware, provide the best bets for finding terrain that isn’t too chopped up – and maybe even some powder.
Sure enough, we struck paydirt on the first run of the afternoon in the woodland below Glattier, where we skied between the trees in soft, silky snow. Yet more pow came our way on the Digues des Almes – admittedly the amounts were limited in both cases, but this shows how the in-depth knowledge of a guide like Davide is so vital in getting the most out of your day.
Indeed, the short powder run we enjoyed (twice) on the Digues des Almes is actually within plain sight of the Almes chair, yet no one seems interested in exploring it.
Our final run of the day was perhaps the steepest, the Ruisseau de Chardonnet above Tignes le Lac, where yet more dry, chalky snow allowed for an exciting descent before we called it a day and headed for a cold beer.
Given the conditions, it’s been a grand day out, thanks entirely to Davide’s intimate knowledge of Tignes’ slopes.
MEET THE INSTRUCTOR…with Davide Mazzina
New Generation ski guide Davide Mazzina. PHOTO: Alf Alderson
The ILG instructor for Alf’s off-piste day was Davide Mazzina of New Generation Ski School. Having raced for Italy at FIS level, he has been based in Tignes for five years.
The 26-year-old is Italian, but has been working as an instructor and guide in Tignes for five years. He arrived here via a circuitous route, moving from the Italian city of Ivrea to Sestriere to race at FIS level in slalom, before heading to Perisher in Australia, where he worked as a ski instructor, eventually ending up in Tignes via teaching stints in Les Deux Alpes and the Three Valleys.
“What I like about Tignes is the easy access it provides for all sorts of off-piste skiing and ski touring,” says Davide. “There’s something for all levels from easy side-country to full-on alpinism.” Indeed, it’s the latter that is Davide’s passion – last season he made descents of the steep and challenging north face of the Grand Caisse, and his ambition for this summer is to ski the east face of the Matterhorn.
Not one for tearing it up on the après-ski scene, Davide is more into a quick lunch between sessions at the unassuming La Croissanterie in Tignes (“It’s popular with instructors”), before heading home to the village of Le Villaret du Nial above Lac du Chevril to prepare for another hard day on the hill.
One of Davide’s side lines is SkinsBelts, an innovative new business he runs with his girlfriend, making belts and dog collars from used climbing skins – you can check them out on Instagram and Facebook.
Book ILG in Tignes this winter. A full day costs £50; a half-day £30.
