Poster: A snowHead
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Hey
I did a season in Canada last year and now I'm planning to do another in Europe this winter. Has anyone done a season in Spain? Which resort would you recommend? And is it better / worse/ any different from France?
I can speak a little spanish so I thought to go there, but only if the boarding is good for an intermediate
Thanks for any advice!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Know nothing about Spain. You should do it and tell us all about it and be our resident expert to give advice for future years
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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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Baqueira has a good reputation.
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Lizzard wrote: |
Baqueira has a good reputation. |
Yep, we did a season there a few years ago. A lovely part of the world. As it's close to France you could end up doing a season in Spain and France.
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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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elliecol,
My direct knowledge of Spanish skiing is limited to one a long weekend in Baqueira... I have rather a lot more experience in France.
France tends to offer more "mega" resorts with more joined up or mostly joined up skiing. Ski towns can be larger which may be an advantage of you are there for 4-5 months. In my limited perception major French areas tend to be more snow sure and/or more cannoned up.
But my OH did two seasons in Baqueira some years back - the skiing is good, it's very well organised and I rather liked it.
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Depends what you are after - a good deal of Spanish resorts are small day/weekend style, Baqueira being an exception and potentially Formigal of the ones I have visited. Spanish resorts tend to be very busy at weekends and quiet through the week (so they can save their holiday time for 4 weeks in the summer). Sierra Nevada can have a very short season but is of reasonable size - not sure what the village is like. There is also Andorra where there are large resorts (but the official language is Catalan - or lager speak if you are a Brit!)
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elliecol, I have only done seasons in France and it was a different experience in each resort. I'm guessing it is the same in Spain. People in Andorra are rather proud to speak Catalan so they will probably prefer speaking English to Spanish (that was my experience in Catalunya anyway).
In France I've done 2 seasons in a small resort, Les Carroz, the advantage is that you get to know all the seasonaires and as there are only a few pubs there you will always bump into someone you know. The disadvantage is the same, you can't really choose who you hang out with as everyone hangs out in the same 2-3 bars.
Then in a bigger resort, like Val Thorens or Meribel you have a lot more choice of pubs and bars and you can choose your own friends. My favourite season was in Val Thorens personally, had so much fun and met a great bunch of people. Skiing in the 3 Valleys is pretty epic as well...
I would probably choose a bigger ski area with some guaranteed snow but if you are more into the partying then I hear Andorra is rather good fun...
The other main thing is - who would you work for? I'd try to avoid the big Tour Operators personally...
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