Arinsal Andorra

A small group of ski instructors enjoyed an excellent Chinese banquet at the Hotel Palarine last night, accompanied by wine and live music and followed by beer and more live music from Trevor.

The last remaining member of the group (aside from the instructor who actually lives in the hotel) was eventually told by the hotel management that he was too drunk to walk home, given a room key and sent to bed. We wonder if this could a new initiative to drum up business for the hotel in the quiet part of the season?

The winter season has come to an end here in Arinsal - no more skiing until next year unless you walk up. The final weekend saw the annual Ski School Race, as well as the Arinsal Ski Club's end of season event and various barbecues and parties. The sun came out and the snow was good so there was plenty of entertainment.

The winners of the instructors race were as follows:-

Women's skiing - Mecchi
Men's skiing - Edur
Women's snowboarding - Nicole
Men's snowboarding - Punti
Women's combined (ski and snowboard times added) - Nicole
Men's combined - Edur
Fastest (and only) monoskier - Scott

Well done everybody. We'll see you all next year. The summer season is just around the corner, and next year's ski holidays are already on sale so get booking.

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.

The resort closed at 5pm today, so another season is finally over. The weather and skiing has been great for the last three days after several days of light snow during the first part of the week.

The instructor’s end of season party was poorly attended due to some being on courses and others had left to do whatever instructors do in the summer. Our table consisted of 6 very lively people. Some residents came for the banquet and some friends came for the dancing and drinks. So overall there was a good attendance.

There was plenty of dancing and everyone joined in, except Jan the Swede, who fell asleep sometime after the dessert. Some of the guests sang duets with Trevor, our live musician. The hotel management considered that one of the instructors, who deliberately left his car at home, was unfit to walk and gave him a bed for the night. After the last instructor had left there was an unfortunate incident. A couple who had enjoyed themselves then had a domestic row. The management tried to call the police to diffuse the situation. However he dialled 110 (the correct number for the police) but failed to get an outside line, so he connected with room 110. He asked a very tired and puzzled young lady to come to the Palarine to deal with a disturbance. Eventually the real police arrived and the lady booked into the hotel and the gentleman left in a “taxi” with flashing blue lights.

We have had some great parties in the Palarine this season, New Year’s Eve, Burns’ night, St Patrick’s day and a really great Chinese New Year. All were very lively indeed but I think that I might have to look for another venue for next season instructor’s party. This year’ one was just too eventful.

I hope all of you have had a great winter and that I may see some of you next year. I will write a report as soon as I have some information on next season.

Bye