 Poster: A snowHead
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| johndiamond wrote: |
Hopefully you are right Mr vinegar. Baqueira with fresh powder was like an epiphany for me. Our first day on the mountain this year is 28th Feb so if tradition could oblige I'd be grateful.
Staying in pont d'arros just outside vielha. Say we get flat light/low visibility. Has anyone done the drive from vielha to espot/sort during winter? If so what's it like and are those hills any better in low visibility ? |
I'm also going that weekend!
No idea about the light in Espot, but I know the road around Bonaigua sometimes needs chains when there is lots of snow..
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cool. Let's hope for a good weekend!
If you see two scouse snowboarders (not many of those in baqueira) say hello!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Showing cooler temps next week with a bit of snow on Monday in Baqueria now. I was hoping for sun all week 
Fly out tomorrow morning
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Perfect piste conditions in Luz Ardiden today - for skiers and alpine boarders (moi).
Plenty of sunshine (slightly softening the snow in the afternoon). 100% blue sky visibility.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Another excellent day in Baqueira yesterday.
The slopes felt a bit busier, but not over crowded anywhere.
The easily accessible off piste and itineraries are skied out, but worth a look if you time it right.
However, with pistes in perfect condition and sun out it was a day for high speed cruising and tapas refueling stops.
That's me done for this trip, which is a shame as the forecast is for sun and cold temps to preserve the snow into the weekend.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Gavarnie was good today. Good visibility. Plenty of sunshine (tho many pistes in shade at certain times of day). Piste condition very good though most black runs unmaintained/unbashed. Windy, which meant anti-windchill measures required on long, slow chairlifts.
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Apologies for duplication but I will be able to do a few days around March 18-21 flying out of Toulouse. Where would anyone recommend on French side - like long lazy blues in the main.
Thanks for any insights.
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timmythedog : Font Romeu Les Angles etc,
http://www.neigescatalanes.com/
Im not sure about the availability of chains from the car hire cos at TLS, might be worth checking this
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Bareges was pretty good today, in excellent weather conditions. One of the reds was a bit iffy, but ok. Didn't get to check out the blacks.
La Mongie was excellent today, for the small fraction of runs I managed to do.
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Hi, flying to Pas de La Casa (Grandvalira, Andorra) on Feb 19th!
Any ideas on cheap tickets? Should I purchase online on grandvalira.com or look for some offers elsewhere?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Warm yesterday in Baqueria with some sun drenched slopes getting soft giving the knees a good work out. Majority holding up well. Looks like it's set to continue, sun cream needed with sunglasses for the moet bar (as long as I am not instructing
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I’m off to Baqueira Beret on 9 March and excitement is building. Never been to the Pyrenees so looking forward to trying it out! 
Any recommendations for lunch on the mountain? Thanks
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| byrt wrote: |
I’m off to Baqueira Beret on 9 March and excitement is building. Never been to the Pyrenees so looking forward to trying it out!
Any recommendations for lunch on the mountain? Thanks |
"El Refugi San Miguel" in the Bonaigua area is amazing!
No snow forecast for now, GFS shows potential snow around 28 Feb, but that's fantasy stuff for the moment...
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You know it makes sense.
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Era cabana next to bottom of ts esquiros chair is cheap and if space a great place to sit outside
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@byrt, I would say, having been to BB very recently for the 2nd year, options for dining or 'apres' slopeside are limited.
As @mrvinegar mentions, the El Refugi San Miguel is very good, traditional and authentic and not at all expensive. Other than that, the other 2 major venues to eat at lunch are the in Baqueira Beret sector and the venue just below the top of the Bosque gondola. Both of these offerings are perfectly acceptable and very reasonably priced but are not your typical alpine chalet style eateries; think more good quality school canteen dining, very efficient and good value.
..Nick
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Poster: A snowHead
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Ok - ignoring the slight thread drift !!!
I have to disagree with @big_ben, suggesting slope side dinning is limited in Baqueira.
There is a large wide range of choice of eating/drinking on the mountain.
Each or the main ski station areas have a picnic room, a fast food type outlet and a sit down restaurant.
There are the https://www.cincojotas.es/restaurante-5-jotas/baqueira and of course the Moet Winter Lounge if you're after the higher end of things.
x2 for recommending El Refugi for a quick Tapas lunch stop with it being probably my favourite place to stop.
There are various other smaller bars dotted around the area worth a coffee stop or 2.
However, I do agree that slope side Apres is pretty much non exsistant.
The Bar at 1500 is about all that's got anything going on.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| mortonia wrote: |
| The Bar at 1500 is about all that's got anything going on. |
Best Apres last year was a bar on the way into Salardu that had DJs on an outdoor terrace until about 6.30, was great fun, hopefully they are still doing it..
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Is that the one on the righthand side of the main road ?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| mortonia wrote: |
| Is that the one on the righthand side of the main road ? |
Yes! Think it might be a hostel/refugi
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Great day in Luz Ardiden today. Lovely temperatures (cool in the shade). Plenty of sun. Pistes good in the morning, softening toward the afternoon.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Had a good day at Espace C’Ambre d’Aze on my first day of the Eastern Pyrenean break.
C’Ambre d’Aze unfortunately didn’t benefit as much as Les Angles/Font Romeu from the dump a couple of weeks ago (40cm/70cm current cover) so the runs that aren’t supplemented by artificial cover including 2 blacks and 1 red are closed but still a reasonable proportion open.
Coulee de Font Frede and Noire de l’Eyne are heavily mogulled and a bit thin so a somewhat like an Alpine black if you like that sort of challenge (C’Ambre d’Aze has pretty steep slopes for the Pyrenees). Weather was perfect, and snow generally not too hard. Worth going to if you like to avoid crowds during half term, v little in the way of lift queues.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 18-02-19 21:14; edited 2 times in total
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A great lunch stop in Le Grand Tourmalet is Etape de Berger at the top of the Bernays chair lift - if you like big steaks and a big choice of cuts. The biggest problem with it, is that it's too popular.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Baqueira weather update.... Its still sunny and warm.
Pistes softening through the day when in the sun, but still plenty of snow around, some hardpack during the morning until the sun hits them.
End of week looks like it might be a hot one.
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Les Angles today. Certainly the best base of the Pyrenees Orientales, particularly above 2000m, though a few patchy areas to be aware of. Not many rocks however and little chance of trashing your skis unless you get seriously lost! You can even ski through the trees to avoid the moguls on the Roc de Peborny unpisted/freeride area on the far right of the resort.
More crowded than Espace C'Ambre d'Aze, but lift queues not too bad for half term, helped by the fact that Zone C (Paris and south west) are not on holiday this week. Certainly a nice resort to consider if you want to avoid other Brits on half term holiday!
Clearly the heat is going to have an affect on the snow, but it was lovely to ski during the last hour before the lifts closed in the fading afternoon sunlight with the crowds melting away, zero wind and still pleasantly warm.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Pistes holding up surprisingly well in Grandvalira considering it hasn’t snowed for 2 weeks. Think they are snowmaking all night once the temps drop. There is a little slope just below our apartment, I don’t think it’s on the lift pass, it certainly isn’t on the piste map but they’ve just whacked on the cannons again. They’ve been on every night we’ve been here. There’s a bit of a hole in Trencalos (a black) but I’ve skied plenty worse and there are only a couple of runs shut. A lot are a bit firm and it’s often a lot nicer just off the overused pistes. Moderate but not ridiculous queues that disappear at 3.30. Factor 50 required +++
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Latest fantasy GFS model shows precipitation around 1 March, not sure if that means snow or rain though!
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Another couple of days in Les Angles. Remains v sunny and the runs without artificial cover beginning to show signs of wear unfortunately
(Costa Verde now shut). Highly recommend Robin G a new English speaking ski instructor at the ESF, a couple of private lessons with him helped my 9 year old son obtain his 3eme etoile with 2 skiing days still to gothat will stand him in good stead for his first ever school ski trip next year!
Will try Font Romeu tomorrow that will hopefully have preserved its north facing blacks.
The area could definitely do with a top up soon!
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You know it makes sense.
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Not a wisp of cloud in the skies above GrandValira today.
Snow on piste holding up remarkably well.
There are a few muddy patches, but they are well marked.
The steeper slopes in the shade should be treated with caution as were icy in patches.
Skied from Pas to Canillo and back. Checked out the new finish area for the World Cup races.
The slopes were busy and some queues in the usual pinch points at the start and end of the day.
Off piste looked horrible, but the good set of bumps at the top of the Coll Blanc provided the workout of the day.
French School Holidays start tomorrow. Expecting everywhere to be a load busier for the next 2 weeks.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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End of my time instructing in Baqueria, very warm today, pistes softening up quickly today, with snow off piste is beginning to disappear completely too on the aspects facing the sun.
Half term here isn't as bad as I expected in fact I would term it as quiet, queues not that bad apart from Saturdays when the locals come out to play too, some idiots on the slope skiing way too fast considering how busy the slopes are on a Saturday. The odd pinch point getting longer queues but they move quickly enough, and if you are on your own, there's serveral with single person lines which move a lot quicker.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Spent yesterday in Font Romeu. Quite busy though despite lack of fresh snow for a while, the northern slopes in particular are holding up reasonably well, in fact overall better than Les Angles despite the lower reported depth.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Flew over the Pyrenees this morning.
Looking pretty bare for the time of year!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Looks like snow starting next Tuesday/Wednesday until the weekend
Another consequence of this anti cyclone is high contamination levels / smog in Barcelona city (and elsewhere I'd imagine) , so precipitation needed all round!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sorry, what do you think?ski 30 march
les angles-font romeu?.. i dont know...
cheap, fir tree , snow..
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Got back from Pas de La Casa 3 days ago. I have no idea how the snow was holding together. Witnessed some guys skiing in Tshirts, given the heat wave. Off-piste is complete ice. Piste only gets decent after 13h00. They better change alpine skiing world cup to mountain bike or some other summer sport.
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Grabbed a quick day in the sun at Ax-3-domaines yesterday and the piste there are starting to look worn.
A few of the steeper runs are closed as the lack of any rescent snow fall and the warm weather is starting to take their toll.
Busy as expected with school holidays, but once everyone had spread out from the initial scrum for the first lifts up things weren't too bad.
Forecast for some snow next week. Fingers x'ed 
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Just back from 3 days in Baqueria, Friday and Sunday it was about 17 degrees in the Beret carpark, mad, but on Saturday morning there was even a dusting of new snow in Bonaigua. In the morning the pistes were icy but by afternoon it had transformed to fun spring snow, in general the pistes are surprisinsgly good, but lot of the station is looking pretty brown, snow is needed. Off piste is a non event obviously.
Lots more people than this time last year, but once you get away from the main choke points it was OK.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Promising...
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Just back from a week in Grandvalira. Roasting hot in the afternoon, but cool enough to freeze overnight. Absolutely amazing how many pistes are still skiable after 3 weeks of sunshine. Some runs are looking brown in patches so a top up is really needed. Fair number of icy patches around. Early morning runs lovely if you don't mind your teeth chattering as you ski over crunchy snow. By late morning, the lower runs were starting to turn into sludge fests. The higher slopes in Grau & Pas have the best conditions for longest so unsurprisingly are the most popular.
In general, the blues were taking the biggest hammering and the blacks were in the best conditions with low traffic. The exception being Mirador, being one of the main connecting pistes and Gaig which is low and needs significant snow before it can open. Aliga was partly closed due to preparations for the World Cup while Avet was fully open and as usual icy at the top.
Queue wise, not bad at all.
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FAQ
