Arinsal Andorra

Well, it's snowing again, continuing the tradition of the last few years where the best snow of the season has arrived at the end. There are still two full weeks before the resort closes. The slopes and town are expected to be quiet, so there will be plenty of good skiing and finding somewhere to stay should not be a problem. A few of the tour companies are offering next week, including First Choice, Thomson and Crystal. For the rest of the companies this week is the last one in spite of the abundance of the white stuff.

In other news, the annual Arinsal Oscars party will be held tomorrow (Thursday) night in El Cau. This is the awards ceremony for the resort staff, with awards for various categories of good and bad behavior.

Tomorrow is St Patrick's day which means this week is usually popular with the Irish, and this year the week ends with Easter (and bank holidays) so it should be even more popular. The Weighless Astronauts from Gallway will be playing in the Derby Irish Bar all week, and also in the Hotel Palarine tomorrow (Monday) from about 10. If you are here this week, it should be a good one for the parties, as well as for the skiing.

Just like last year, March has begun with a big fall of snow. We have had a decent amount so far and it looks like continuing for a while. This has been a snowier season than last year up until now, and a good snowfall now will top things up nicely for a great end of season. Anyone coming to Arinsal over the next few weeks should be in for some great snow conditions.

Arinsal village today

As Number One points out in his report below, we have reached the quiet part of the season now that the school holidays have finished. There is still plenty of snow, and there will be until well into April. More snow is forecast over the next few days which should top things up nicely.

All in all this is a really good time of year to come, so if you were thinking about a last minute break, now is the time to book. Prices are cheaper, both for holidays and in resort for ski passes, lessons etc. The slopes are emptier and the weather tends to be nicer. Easter being early this year gives an extra opportunity to take a late March ski trip with less time off work or school.

3rd February 2008

The 16th Trofeu Borrufa has just been held in Arinsal and Arcalis. This is an annual event on the Junior FIS World Cup circuit. It is for national team skiers aged 11 - 14, so there may well have been a few future world champions racing. Arinsal saw two days of Slalom, while Arcalis hosted the GS and Super G.

The British contingent did well, with Ashley Hill coming second in the Slalom and third in the GS for the junior men. The junior ladies did evan better with Charlotte Guest winning the Slalom and getting third in the GS.

Not surprisingly the Spanish and Andorra teams did well on their local slopes, but the other team doing well were the Dutch. Overall, Spain were first, then Holland, Andorra third and Great Britain fourth.

Aside from the racing this week has also seen the yearly Carnival, so look out for upcoming pictures of skiers in fancy dress.

We have just heard about the site www.ski-ride.co.uk which is offering mobile phone based guides to Arinsal and a number of other ski areas. The guides are free to download and install on your phone and are full of handy information on the ski area and the surrounding region.

Almost all of the ski area is now open. All but the lifts in Arinsal and Pal are open except for four drag lifts. The link between the two areas is open now as are the majority of the runs. The fun park in Arinsal is also looking good for this time of year - there is a reasonable sized kicker, a selection of rails and the halfpipe was cut and opened last weekend.

Already the snow is much better than most of last season, and it is still snowing hard right now. So if you haven't booked yet because you are waiting to see what the snow does - it is here now.

As a promotion this season Ski Set are offering a 20% discount if you pre-book online. Click here to go to their site, choose Andorra, then Arinsal from the menus, enter your dates, browse the skis/snowboards and pick them up from Esports Rossell when you arrive. We'll let you know if we hear of similar offers from the other shops in town.