Tignes

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Coordinates: 45°28′06″N 6°54′20″E / 45.46833, 6.90556

Commune of Tignes
Location
Tignes (France)
Tignes
Administration
Country France
Region Rhône-Alpes
Department Savoie
Arrondissement Albertville
Canton Canton de Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Statistics
Elevation 1440 m–3747 m
(avg. 1810 m)
Land area¹ 81,63 km²
Population²
(1999)		 2220
 - Density 27/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 73296/ 73320
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France
A ski lift on the Grande Motte.
A ski lift on the Grande Motte.

Tignes (pronounced [tiːn]) is a commune of the Savoie département, in France.

It is also a ski resort near Val d'Isère in the "Espace Killy" region.

Contents

[edit] Villages

Tignes comprises 5 Villages; Val Claret, Tignes le Lac, Le Lavachet, Tignes Les Boisses and Tignes-les-Brévières. The first three are close together at 2100m and Les Boisses and Les Brevieres are further down the valley, above and below the dam respectively. Les Brévières is an old village whereas all the others were created as part of the Dam construction or development of the ski resort. All villages are part of the ski resort known as Tignes.

[edit] The Dam (barrage de Tignes)

The original village of Tignes was in the Isère valley below Val d'Isère. After the second world war, France needed electricity and it was decided to build a hydro-electric dam in the Isère valley. Whilst this was a great achievement for French engineering and was for the greater good of France, it very sadly meant that the old village of Tignes was drowned. The dam was completed and the village was consigned to the waters in 1952. A replica of the original church was created in Tignes les Boisses. Once every 10 years the lake behind the dam (Lac du Chevril) is drained for maintenance work and the remains of the old village become visible.

[edit] The Ski Resort

After the loss of the old village it was decided to develop a ski resort at the higher lake (Le Lac). This was surrounded by a bowl that is ideal for skiing and is headed by the Grand Motte glacier. The resort was developed largely during the 1960s and the building style reflects what was regarded as good building design at that time. In recent years the town has worked hard to improve the look of the new villages with some success.

The lift company STGM are continually investing to improve the quality of lifts in the resort and queues are mostly avoided by the use of fast 6- or 8-person chairs. They have also invested over the past few years in snow making equipment to create good bases for the pistes even in the early season.

[edit] Grande Motte glacier

Due to presence of the Grande Motte glacier, Tignes used to offer year-round skiing. However, the glacier has been receding over the last decades and now closes for a few weeks each year. As of 2005 the glacier had shrunk by around 25 vertical metres (80 feet) compared to a 1982 survey. It seems likely that the glacier will eventually be split into two by the rock spurs which are starting to become visible.

[edit] Tour de France

In 2007, Tignes was the finish of stage 8 of the Tour de France. The climb from Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise to the finish at the lake is 17.9 km long at an average gradient of 5.5% and is ranked as a Category 1 climb.

[edit] Tour de France stage finishes

Year Stage Category Stage winner Yellow jersey
2007 8 1 Michael Rasmussen Michael Rasmussen

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 45°28′06″N, 6°54′20″E