There are 155 runs over 300 kilometers of rideable area at the Tignes resort, and the lifts access an unbelievable amount of "off-piste," or backcountry, terrain as well. Come for the schussing, stay for the scene. Here, a couple of locals wave from the Le Lac lift just above The Loop Bar.

With such a massive area available to skiers and snowboarders, Tignes' ski patrol has its work cut out for them. Here, a 2.5-kg dynamite stick is thrown during routine avalanche control work inbounds at the resort.

Catching a few zzz's in the sunshine before last year's craziness of X Games Tignes got under way, near the SuperPipe in the base village. Come this March 20-22, this zone will be jam-packed with skiers, riders, spectators, athletes and the kind folk who serve up café and cuisine during the event.

This photo from early March 2013 proves that the X Games Tignes SuperPipe is well on its way to being buffed out for the 47 professional skiers and snowboarders invited to shred its 22-foot walls in a couple of weeks.

Fans get pumped during the medal ceremony for Women's Snowboard Slopestyle at X Games Tignes 2012. Even on the hill in the middle of the afternoon, the scene in Tignes gets hyped.

A couple of months after the X Games competitors and crowds depart Tignes, the snow line begins to recede in preparation for warm-weather pursuits and riots of wildflowers. Happily, skiing still goes off high up on the glacier all summer long.

No one does midday après like our European compatriots, who understand the critical nature of parking the sticks, zipping down the jacket and soaking up some rays on the glacier while the day allows. Here, holiday-makers lounge at The Terrace At Tignes in April 1975.

X Games MUSIC is stepping it up for the six global events of 2013, but famous DJs moving the night crowd goes back to Tignes 2010. Eager concertgoers make their way down the cold slope to join their friends in fist-pumping to David Guetta.

While X Games fans have come to know Tignes under its winter mantle, the area is also familiar to the competitive road-cycling community. This stretch, between Le-Grand Bornand and Tignes, made up part of the eighth stage of the 94th Tour de France race, in 2007.

At the Tignes ski station, a massive crowd bumps to French DJ Laurent Wolf in celebration of New Year's Eve 2010. Called the Fire Mix Party, this open-air nightclub has been in annual effect on Dec. 31 for more than a decade.