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Camper vans in Tignes (dec-jan)

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi all,

Considering hiring an indie camper from Geneva and driving to Tignes. Heard you can park in Tignes Les Brevieres and stay there overnight. But have also read on the internet that you’re “not allowed” to camp during the winter?

Have read some reviews online saying that the indie camper vans are really good in the winter.

Would love some advice.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Don't know the answer but you might get more people see the question if you post in the Piste section or this Tignes/ValD thread...
https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=161226

This section is specific forum tech questions.


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sun 27-11-22 16:31; edited 1 time in total
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Thanks! New to this so not sure what I’m doing Eh oh!
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No problem and welcome to snowHead's
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I'll move it for you
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@rhiannanwinters,
No chance.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I'd forget the idea. Many people struggle with their own vans, which they've spent months preparing, the first time they go on a ski trip. A hire van just won't have all the kit you will need. I looked at their website and there is only one motorhome you could consider renting, even then you will only get 3 or 4 days in a ski carpark before having to head for a campsite/aire for servicing and to recharge the batteries.
Totally forget doing this in a camper van, for £200 per night you could get a nice cosy hotel room
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I've stayed for a few days in a motorhome parked in the Tignes Les Brevieres lift station car park towards the end of (but still officially during) the ski season with no problem.
There's a sign saying no camping cars and a symbol of one being towed away, but upon enquiring to a fellow motorhomer who looked like he'd been parked up there for a lot longer than I, he confirmed what I thought, - that this sign was just a formality with nobody actually enforcing it. Ie it's technically illegal, but they're really not bothered if people do it anyway - and generally turn a blind eye to it.

I found a very different situation in that massive Val Claret car park though, where I was turned away from even driving in during the season. Though I was able to stay for several days there out of season in the summer for glacier skiing.

I've also seen motorhomes parked up in Tignes Les Boisses car park which looked like they'd been there for a while, but haven't tried to stay there myself so can't really comment on the viability of that area. Might be worth a try there as well though.

So anyway to sum up, Val Claret and the main car parks you can only camp in and stay overnight, out of the winter season. But the Les Brevieres car park seems to be fine at any time.
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What @BoardieK says. The cheapest rabbit hutch apartment will be ten times as comfortable and probably half the price.
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Quote:

Les Brevieres car park seems to be fine at any time


...so long as you are happy to also pay €19 a night to stay there.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
The logistics of staying in a camper are fairly involved when the temperature is below zero.
I know people do it but it is not simple.
We have our own van and while I can do the odd winter night in Scotland there is no way I'm going on a proper ski holiday in one.
Here is a link if you want to go into some details
https://www.wandering-bird.com/motorhome-skiing/
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
bobski62 wrote:
Quote:

Les Brevieres car park seems to be fine at any time


...so long as you are happy to also pay €19 a night to stay there.

If you can get booked in!


Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Sat 3-12-22 15:23; edited 1 time in total
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@rhiannanwinters, It'll be super cold in depths of winter in TLB, that car park gets super cold and it's long in the shade, I'd suggest that hire campers won't be fitted out with the required insulation, either take a quality 4 season sleeping bag and wooly hat or better still find a cheap room in a warm apartment block.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@rhiannanwinters,
The use of campervans as accommodation is illegal in Tignes in the winter.
In the past some have done it short term and either
a) left before being discovered
b) got a warning ticket and left
c) ignored the warning ticket, had their camper towed to the police compound, and had to pay the fine, release fee etc.
There is a new company (attempting) to run the parking in Tignes this winter who have introduced payment for nearly all the (former) free parking.


Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Sun 4-12-22 11:50; edited 1 time in total
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Poorly insulated vans make cold worse inside the van than outside. No way i would van camp tignes in winter without a proper stress tested set up.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
It makes me cold just to think about it. Part of the pleasure of skiing is getting back into the warm. And being able to put dry clothes on in the morning! Preferably have a shower, though that's nothing like as important as being warm...
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The van has to be properly insulated, anything you hire in France won't be.

Have stayed in a van while on a trip (not skiing) in Canada in winter in a properly insulated van. It was tough going and even with a diesel heater like an Eberspächer the van will be cold in the mornings. That trip was an adventure but I don't think I would like to use a van as a base for skiing in winter. There are better, and most importantly cheaper, alternatives.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Do snowploughs go through the car park in the silent hours after/during a snowfall?
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@achilles, Most definitely yes.
Although the most convenient motorhome Aires are next to a ski lift that usually means next to a car park and if it snows it has to be cleared by 7. Often woken in our motorhome by a snowplough 50cm from the side of the van at 6am on a powder day!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
This looks like fun but the reality may be less so ...

https://www.outsideonline.com/video/skiing-and-vanlife/
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La Plagne has a purpose built Motorhome park literally beside a piste. Details here:
https://en.la-plagne.com/accommodation/campsites-and-mobile-homes/plagne-villages-mobile-home-camp-site
4 terraces and 40 parking spaces (8.50 x 4 metres), electricity via individual 16A outlet beside each pitch.
Service area with drinking water, waste water disposal and cassettes. Shuttle bus stop, payable Wi-Fi access
Video surveillance, intercom with the site manager,

As in Tignes, 'camp' anywhere else and you will get towed pretty quickly.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@bpirkle This link sort of shows the wet heating system on our van (plus a bit more around the bed than shown). Just back from France using the heat exchanger with the engine coolant to keep the habitation at 22C whilst driving in 2C outside, for free.
When stopped we have 6kw gas plus 3kw of 220v( if on hookup); a diesel Webasto for engine pre heating and cab if it's a really cold start, plus total insulation and a 36cm heated double floor.
Cosy.

http://www.southdownsmotorcaravans.co.uk/hymer/hymer-slc-chassis-heater.jpg
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@BoardieK, I don't think that you would be getting anything close to Hymer's spec or build quality (and winterisation) renting from Indie Campers.





BTW, I think this thread kinda ran its course, as it was duplicated in the Tignes snow report section.
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Don’t do it. Having stayed at over 5000m in altitude in a building with no heating there’s no way I would stay in a poorly kitted out hire vehicle for 1 night forget longer. Although it was cold being able to keep myself warm with several layers, hat, hot water bottles (yes, plural) and a 4 season bag, the real problem is getting up at night for nips to the loo. You need to be careful of your water tank and your pipes might freeze.
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Quote:
Having stayed at over 5000m in altitude in a building with no heating....
Not sure of the significance, when the van dwellers would be 3,500m lower and perhaps with a diesel heater too Puzzled
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Me and my wife did it 46yrs ago in a home converted Vw aircooled van, -13 at night was the coldest , catalytic heater running off a large calor cylinder, down sleeping bags and a quilt, never got cold at night but ended up wearing our ski gear when driving and scraping ice off the inside of the screen as air cool VWs have very poor heating.Stopped at various places on the trip,nearly always parking at the town lift . Ended up in Pertisau Austria the place where I first learnt to ski. It's amazing what you can put up with when you are young. Still got VW camper but it has a diesel heater and is water cooled. snowHead
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
mountainaddict wrote:
Quote:
Having stayed at over 5000m in altitude in a building with no heating....
Not sure of the significance, when the van dwellers would be 3,500m lower and perhaps with a diesel heater too Puzzled


At least the building had insulation… campers don’t have that much. Also if the camper is parked in the shade, as others have said that makes a significant difference. There’s no way I’d stay in an untested camper at 1500m in Dec/Jan. it was -10*c when I stayed in that hut at over 5000m , it can easily get to that at 1500m… so that’s the significance, right there !

Also not sure burning a diesel heater through the entire night for however long they’re there is a good idea, what with the risk CO poisoning n all, as well as the price! If they even have one - you even say ‘perhaps’

Just stay in a warm apartment.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
It was -10*c when I stayed in that hut at over 5000m, it can easily get to that at 1500m… so that’s the significance, right there!
Fair dos. The clarification is appreciated. Right there!

Quote:
Also not sure burning a diesel heater through the entire night for however long they’re there is a good idea
I wasn't suggesting it was. I assumed they'd get the van toasty warm before getting into a 4 season sleeping bag under a 25 tog duvet...Then putting the heater back on in the morning (once awake) before emerging from the bag/duvet.

I'm not saying I would do it - but, in years gone by (ie before the Tignes camper van ban) I've seen a fair few seasonnaire vans parked at Les Brevieres and Tignes 1800. So it must certainly be do-able

Quote:
If they even have one (ie a diesel heater) - you even say ‘perhaps’
I do indeed. I once read a ski mag article about a fella who spent an Alps ski season living at altitude in a vehicle. It was a Ford Fiesta - without any supplementary heating Shocked
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
We stopped at the Lagazuoi lift one night. At dusk an old geezer (that's you guys in your late 70s or 80s Very Happy ) turned up in his estate car and slept in the back.
First light he was gone and up the mountain; hardy type.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Camper vans - like boats - which have proper separate diesel heaters - can leave them on at night if that's what's wanted, with no danger of poisoning! Quite expensive though, and noisy for others in the vicinity. If you have your own van, and have it organised, I can just about imagine having camped in Tignes when I was young. But given that the cost of rental will be similar to a cosy little apartment, I don't see the point.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Camper vans - like boats - which have proper separate diesel heaters - can leave them on at night if that's what's wanted, with no danger of poisoning! Quite expensive though, and noisy for others in the vicinity. With my own winterised van, equipped for the purpose, I can just about imagine having camped in Tignes when I was young (I've spent some quite chilly nights on small boats....). But given that the cost of rental will be similar to a cosy little apartment, I don't see the point.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
How much does it cost to run a diesel heater for a van all night?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The Eberspächer diesel heater in my VW Transporter Camper uses between 0.1 - 0.3ltr/hr of diesel, depending on the setting.
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mountainaddict wrote:


Quote:
Also not sure burning a diesel heater through the entire night for however long they’re there is a good idea
I wasn't suggesting it was. I assumed they'd get the van toasty warm before getting into a 4 season sleeping bag under a 25 tog duvet...Then putting the heater back on in the morning (once awake) before emerging from the bag/duvet.

I'm not saying I would do it - but, in years gone by (ie before the Tignes camper van ban) I've seen a fair few seasonnaire vans parked at Les Brevieres and Tignes 1800. So it must certainly be do-able



They’re flying in to Geneva then hiring the camper, not sure packing a 25 tog duvet plus two 4 season bags plus all the other stuff is particularly feasible.


Camping at brev is surely ‘do-able’ but doing it in a hire camper that probably isn’t that well equipped is not the same as in your own set up that you’ve spent months prepping and have kitted out with all the warm gear you could dream of… including all the 25 tog duvets one could want.

Just stay in a warm apartment.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
We spent a few weeks in Erzurum, Turkey, in our converted van last December for some skiing. It's just about bearable if you have a diesel heater and you know the van is reliable enough to start when you need it to. We slept in our clothes under a down duvet and with a dog as a hot water bottle. Got down to -22 degrees and have to say I wouldn't bother doing it again. Water pipes and 70L tank all froze which caused plenty of issues with our shower etc. Like others have said I don't think hire vans would be set up to handle the conditions (appreciate it might not be quite as cold!).
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