Arinsal Andorra

It always snows in April in Andorra that has been true for the last 26 years that I have been here. This year we had three falls during the first week of April, so we have been enjoying good skiing for the past week. It has been very busy during this week, as a lot of Portuguese arrived and gave work to the Spanish speaking instructors. Some of the English speaking ones left early as they thought that there would be no work for them this week. One is on his way back to Australia for their winter season. We needed you Dingo, have a great season down under.

Now that the season is over, I have been thinking what I shall miss in Arinsal and what I am looking forward to in England. Of course, I will miss the skiing and the great holiday atmosphere in the village. I will miss my many friends that I will not see again until December. I must also mention the tremendous hospitality of all the staff at the Palarine, especially Graham, Maria, Stuart (BBA) and the lovely newcomer, Daniela.. And finally free skiing with my good friend Corinne. What I will NOT miss is the smoky bars. Andorra still permits smoking in bars and restaurants. They will eventually catch up with the rest of Europe, after all they have allowed women to vote since 1970.

Now, for the things that I am looking forward to in England. Firstly, seeing my wife and daughter, Alexandra. A pint of real ale in a smoke free pub.. Seeing this year’s spring flowers. This year they are late appearing in Andorra.. Usually I see crocus, hepatica, grape hyacinths and hellebore before I leave Andorra.

This will be my last report until next season, unless I hear something interesting about Arinsal, before next winter. Bye for now and have a great summer.

Last week I attended an instructor’s refresher course in the nearby resort of Soldeu. This course was both enjoyable and informative. When the course finished, we like many other skiers, decided to go for an “après ski” beer. We went into the Aspen Bar, an ordinary bar but very conveniently situated in the main street. I was shocked to be charged €6 for two bottles of local beer. Back in Arinsal you would have been charged €2-50 for the same round in the Palarine during après ski. Two pints of the same beer on draught would have cost you €3 in Cisco’s and there, they would have offered you free nachos. Soldeu has an extensive ski area and is a much larger village. Many people have said that it is not as friendly as Arinsal. Now I have decided that it is also a lot more expensive, especially The Aspen Bar.

Enough of me complaining about the price of beer in Soldeu, let me tell you about the great spring skiing that we have been enjoying in Arinsal. The past week has been very warm and sunny. This means that the snow is very slushy by the late afternoon but we have enjoyed great skiing in the mornings and higher up the mountain during the lunch time. We had a fresh fall of snow on the 1st of April and it was a lot colder, so the skiing was great for the whole day. We have very few British skiers in the resort but quite a few Spanish enjoying the Easter holidays.

Next week is the last of the season, and then it is back to England for the summer. I am always sad at the end of the season but I am looking forward to seeing my family again.

It has been very warm this week. I had a morning group from 9 o’clock until noon. This meant that we had the best of the snow. After lunch, I did not go skiing as the snow was very heavy and slushy. There were very few people in the resort so the skiing was exceptionally good. There was a great difference in the level of skiing in my group; this was due to the Monday night pub crawl. On Tuesday morning I only had seven clients. Three others turned up but did not put their skis on, they returned to the hotel, without skiing Two others did not get out of bed until midday. The result of this was that we made great progress with the seven, some had slight hangovers but greatly improved their skiing during the lesson. Usually when this happens, an instructor who has a slow group takes the ones who missed the Tuesday lesson. However this week we have so few groups that all the instructors took their classes up the mountain on the chair lift on Wendesday. Next week I am going to advise my group that should they miss Tuesday’s lesson though drink, I am going to assume that they have left the class. Regular readers will know that I occasionally go out for a drink in the evenings, indeed sometimes until the very late mornings but always turn up for lessons, although sometimes I do not feel 100%. I realise that clients are on holiday and want to enjoy the social life as well as the skiing. They must make their own minds up, to what is more important to them..

One evening this week, I was walking home as usual, when I met Graham and Stuart (BBA) going up to the village. They invited me to have a drink with them. To cut a long short, we visited every bar except one (it had already closed). The point of this story is to point out Stuart’s misfortune. Each time that he has an evening off, his duty next morning is early morning breakfast chef. This means that he has to prepare a cooked breakfast for the hotel guests by 7-45 am

Music was very much the theme for this week. The Big Snow Festival attracted a lot of skiers and snowboarders. The ones I met seemed a very nice bunch; however I was never around for the 11 pm to 3 am gig at the Surf. I understand that was, (how shall I put it?) very lively

On Wednesday all the bars celebrated the birthday of St. Patrick, The Weightless Astronauts from Galway started the evening in the derby at 5 pm. There was a bit of Irish dancing, (at which I was not very good) then a lot of modern beat and jive (at which I was even worse). I then went to the Quo Vadis where I danced to Mike (aka Elvis) whilst wearing a freebie hat that looked like a pint of Guinness. I was dropped off at the Palarine by my dance partner, the lovely Corinne, about 8-30 pm.. That gave me a very short break to have bath and then enjoy the special Irish dinner provided by the Palarine. After dinner we went into the bar where the ubiquitous Mike had set up his equipment for a special Irish session. We had a few guest singers the beautiful Jackie from Majorca and Mike’s daughter, Lucy. Both these ladies drew much more applause than Mike. I sure we did “Sweet Caroline” somewhere but I cannot remember where or when. We stopped celebrating just before 3 in the morning. It had been a long day but a very enjoyable one.

Next morning my 9 am class had a few absentees, they were Irish and of course, here on holiday to enjoy themselves. Which they thoroughly did...

Tomorrow the 21st we will have a live appearance of Leapy Lee, who I am sure, will sing his biggest hit “Little Arrows”. I will do a report on the event next week.

Now back to the skiing. We had a great week of sunshine with cold snow until the last couple of days when the temperature rose. Then it was typical spring conditions,; firm first thing and soft late in the afternoon. The sun was so strong that one of my group missed a day due to sunburn. She attended hospital for treatment but was able to ski for the remainder of the week, with her face covered. I mention this merely as a warning to anyone coming to Arinsal in March or April, do use a lot of sun cream..

We have very few guests for the next three weeks, so anyone looking for a good deal with any of the hotels should get a bargain. .