Arinsal Andorra

VILLAGE PEOPLE

This week I thought I would mention some of the Village People that you may meet during your stay in ARINSAL. At the top of the hill is the SAN ANDREU, famous for it’s ”Curryoke” (sic) night, run by two ex ski instructors, SIMON and the much more lovely KIRSTY. If you are ever in the QUO VADIS, you will be served a shot by KEVIN, a very hospitable South African from Scottburgh. His very attractive team includes a very vivacious blonde, CHLOE. Across the road is EL CAU, famous for the Friday Seventies Night. CARLOS runs a very effective team which includes the long serving ALICIA.

EL DERBI, which attracts a lot of Irish guests, is run by South African twins, DEAN and DARREN. After knowing them for about ten years I still get confused when I meet them separately, but can correctly identify them when they are together.

Behind the bar of THE RED X, a bar popular with ski instructors, is TIGGER, who is from Hartlepool. He has a monkey above the bar. For those who are unaware, a monkey is the mascot of Hartlepool F.C. and in a typical piece of English eccentricity, the guy who plays the monkey was elected as Mayor of Hartlepool. What makes the story even better, he was re-elected for a second term.

Down at the bottom of the hill in Erts is the HOTEL PALARINE, where I stay. GRAHAM and STUART run a very friendly team which includes the vibrant and curvaceous TINA, who is from Argentina, and looks absolutely fabulous when she wears her Chinese outfit when serving in the BAMBU restaurant.

I apologise to the many other friendly staff in ARINSAL that I have failed to mention but they all know that I love them all

Last Wednesday I was in the RED X listening to TREVOR, playing his guitar and singing requests from a rather lively group of Irish skiers. During that evening I danced with a lovely blonde Irish girl called Debbie. She was wearing a figure hugging terracotta dress and calf length leather boots. She looked stunning. This made me think about an earlier report, when I complained, that for five months, I do not get any real ale to drink. Another thing that we miss out here is ladies’ legs. On the slopes they wear ski pants and in the evenings sensible trousers or jeans. Ladies, if you pack a dress and bring suitable shoes that you can carry in a bag to the bars, I can guarantee that you will receive a lot of attention from instructors and other deprived workers.

Every Friday, weather permitting, the ski school holds slalom races. Each instructor has a “gold?” medal to award to the member of his group, who completes the slalom course in the fastest time. The intermediate course is set on Les Fonts, by the very popular Floppy, who trains Argentine boy racers during our summer. The beginners’ course is set near the nursery slope just above the Refugi restaurant and is much easier. These races are filmed and shown in various bars in the evening. This is a very popular event and the bars can get quite crowded during après ski. Many people go on to the Seventies night above El Cau, to hear sounds from the seventies and to watch the Full Monty. Sometimes there are not as many people on the ski slopes on Saturday morning, due to a little over indulgence. But that is another story.

Today, Sunday is change over day for the British and Irish. So there is very little work for us. Steve the horse, the lovely Corinne and I went skiing and enjoyed the quiet slopes and the good condition of the snow. We all enjoyed the black and red gullies down from the Pic Negre. The weather has been warm for the past week and the conditions are similar to March. Firm to start with, then very good until late afternoon when it becomes very heavy. We stopped about 3pm.

In the ski school race on Friday, special K did win her fifth medal by narrowly beating Chris, a young man with the potential to become an instructor. Well done Krystyna, not bad for a young glamorous grandmother. During my free time I enjoyed several runs with her and Jake.

There are a few more clients here this week. The numbers tend to build up until the school half term. If you do not have children try to avoid going skiing on the 10th and 17th February. Either come on the 3rd or wait until 24th. The atmosphere is entirely different during half term. The slopes are very crowded and the bars have children in them in the early evening and are very quiet at night. There are very few young single people in the resort during than period, except for a few groups of teachers.

We could do with some new snow or a few cold days so that we can make some.

On Friday we had a very successful Burns Supper in the HOTEL PALARINE. The dinner was fully booked and some others arrived for the dancing and poetry. Stuart, our convivial barman gave a spirited rendering of Burns’ “The Henpecked Husband”. The Burns Party at the RED X BAR, was much quieter, which made the dancing much more comfortable. Those that did attend enjoyed their evening and I was grateful for a fairly early end to the night.

This week I have had a group of “advanced beginners” and a few private lessons. This had me thinking, which is best? Group or private lessons? Being in a group is very good for someone on their own. It is a great way to meet other people of a similar level. However to improve your skiing there is no doubt that a private lesson is best. YOU will have the undivided attention of your instructor, rather than it be shared with a dozen others. The speed will be suitable for YOU, not constantly being adjusted to suit the inevitable difference in abilities of 12 people. There is no pressure to keep up with the others, the only objective would be to improve your own standard of skiing.

There was a lovely lady in my group who skied well but lacked confidence in her own ability. She booked a one hour private lesson with my good friend, the very attractive Corinne. The next morning this lady was skiing as well as anyone in the group and not staying at the back, a long distance behind the others. I am positive that it was that one hour lesson with Corinne that totally transformed the lady's skiing.

I had a private lesson with a client in his 60's. He had been skiing for some years and had become used to skiing around the mountain safely and enjoying himself. But his parallel turns were a succession of skids. Before the lesson had finished, he was edging his skis and carving his turns instead of skidding.

The choice is yours. You can enjoy the company and fun of a group lesson or if you want to improve you skiing rapidly, go for private lessons. After all it is YOUR holiday, so enjoy yourself

We had a nice fall of snow on Friday night and some on a blustery Saturday. Sunday was my day off and when I awoke, there was a bright clear blue sky. I had a quick breakfast and rushed up to the slopes. The snow was light and powdery and there were very few people on the pistes, so I had a great morning’s skiing. All the gullies from the top of the PIC NEGRE were open and we made the most of the quiet slopes. I finished early and went to the HOTEL PALARINE for a late Sunday Lunch. Roast beef and roast pork with all the trimming, washed down with a couple of bottles of Fuller’s London Pride. I felt very pleased with my day and I still had time for a quick “siesta” to refresh me for the evening.

If there are any “Jocks” coming to Arinsal for next week, we have a treat for them. There will be two nights to celebrate the birth of Robert Burns. On Friday the 25th The HOTEL PALARINE will be holding a Burns’ Supper with Haggis , Roast beef, smoked salmon and other Scottish fayre. There will be live music and Scottish country dancing. It is surprising just how many instructors are now expert at “Strip the Willow” and “The Eightsome Reel”. It would only be fair to point out, that they all ski a lot better than they dance!

On Saturday 26th, the RED X bar will hold their long established Burns’ Party. This is a very informal occasion, where people are encouraged to bring finger food to share. Haggis, by it’s nature, does not make good finger food so plates and forks are provided. There is usually wild and energetic dancing, fuelled mainly by Whisky and San Miguel. Last year we had six nationalities dancing in one Eightsome reel. Both nights promise to be great fun.