 Poster: A snowHead
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After many years skiing in the French and Swiss Alps I fancy skiing in the Pyrenees probably Spanish Pyrenees. I will drive down from St Malo and want to experience the best skiing on offer.
Have any of you guys any experience of Resorts, Hotels etc.
Many Thanks
Joskin 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Went to Formigal about 25 years ago. All I can really remember was that it was incredibly windy for a couple of days.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Wed 5-10-16 11:00; edited 1 time in total
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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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Doesn’t sound very promising... I can produce enough wind on my own. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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There's a thread or two here. I went to the Spanish side a couple of seasons ago late season and it was good. It was the end of season thing, so the snow was piste-only. I did follow the plough up to the resort in the morning drive from Barcelona though. I stayed in some stone village thing and that was laid back and nice. The main issue is that you can't eat until about midnight, so you need to adapt to that.
Food... edible but not fantastic. The resorts were basic junk, although not branded. The villages, quiet at that time of year, had some locals type places where I'd stick to simple local stuff.
It's easy to get there from the Spanish side, a three hour drive or less maybe. The French side looks accessible too.
https://vimeo.com/121837441
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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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Go midweek, the Spanish on the whole are weekend skiers, places like Formigal can be blissfully quiet Mon - Fri lunchtime. Consider basing yourself in Jaca and visiting various resorts - lots are quite small.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I am guessing the idea is to take in several resorts? What about Baqueira Beret, looks bigger?
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As there does not seem to be much up to date here, I'll add my 'for what it's worth'. I learnt to ski in Spain - Panticosa and have skied many of the resorts, but not for a number of years. They are well worth a visit, the people are great and the food in my experience better than reported above. However although there have been some extensions extensive it is not. Think Scottish ski stations plus with more reliable weather. If you can travel around try Panticosa and Formigal (close to each other) and Astun and Candanchu (even closer to each other).
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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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I am sure I posted on a similar thread recently.
Baqueira is fine but soulless during the week, not been there at the weekend, as most people stay down the mountain or commute from somewhere, the piste marking is dreadful (one side only - no use in a white out) and some of the lifts when one moves further away from the central area are poor. The Aran valley is a very pretty area tho'. La Mongie across the Col du Tourmalet of Tour de France fame is an enjoyable Franco Spanish resort - cannot remember what the Spanish side name is.
Access from the French side varies - cannot comment from the Spanish side - but La Mongie was OK but Baqueira is a bit of a hike up the Garonne valley - not a bad road but not a fast road
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@countryman - I think you will find that La Mongie and Bareges, connected by the Col du Tormalet are in fact both in France. Bareges is very quaint, but La Mongie a bit of a concrete village.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Another vote for Baqueira, one of my favorite resorts but I have sent some time in the Valley. Arguably best to stay down the valley, maybe Salardu or the main town of Vehila.
I don't recall issues with the piste marking but then they market them selves as an off piste resort. They have marked ski tours from last season.
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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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When I ski in Baqueria I stay in Arties. If you have a car driving to and from the skiing isn't an issue, unless you plan to ski there at busier times of the season.
Where ever you stay you have to remember you're on Spanish time. You might think it's soulless, but you might just be going out too early.
There is certainly plenty going in Arties during the week, with it being positively lively at the weekend. No Aprés to speak of so we usually end up in a tapas bar.
Certainly, more going on than I've ever experienced in the French Pyrenees resorts.
Can't say I've every noticed a problem with piste marking and asked the OH and she can't recall ever having a problem. There are a couple of older/slower lifts around the ski area, but some of them are a bit quirky. One you put you're skis on the chair in front of you and jump off at then top !
I have also skied a lot at Grand Tourmalet, but for the over all experience especially for someone coming from skiing in the Alps I would suggest Baqueria is a better option. Unless it's extreme off piste you're looking. For that I'd head to the Pid du Midi (Part of the GT ski area).
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@mortonia, Do you have a link for the GT area ? I've always fancied the Pic du Midi.
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You know it makes sense.
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If you're interested in skiing the Pic Du Midi I would recommend Jean Denis Prissé for a guided.
http://jeandenis.prisse.free.fr
We did try and organise a Snowheads day there last season, but never got a suitable weather window.
Perhaps we'll have better luck this coming season.
General information about GT here -
http://www.grand-tourmalet.com/uk/
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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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@mortonia, Thanks 
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Poster: A snowHead
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joskinjersey, welcome to sH!
I liked Ski lots's comment; the trick to making sense of Pyrenean skiing (outside of Andorra, at least) is to compare it to Scottish skiing - but with far better overall conditions - rather than skiing in the Alps. There is little in the way of package tourism, and, on the Spanish side in particular, there's not even much of a resort to talk about at most ski areas, and people stay in villages dotted around down the valley and almost everybody drives to resort. Nobody goes on a "ski holiday"; people go skiing like they go hiking... grabbing a day or two, usually at the weekend.
With that in mind, things start to make sense: driving means not much apres-ski (and in any case, the Spanish would generally wait until the evening for the drinking), and so you won't find much in the way of afternoon entertainment. The Spanish eat late, so after-dinner drinks won't happen until really late. The typical lack of a central resort base on the Spanish side means that there isn't much in the way of manufactured entertainment, and it's more of a local atmosphere.
On the French side, the logistics are a bit different, because the resorts are more centralized and almost all have a direct lift up which removes the need for driving. Still, culturally the French don't seem to go in for apres-ski much (nor indeed, any other type of partying afaict) in the Pyrenees anyway. They do eat a lot earlier at night, of course.
I'd certainly echo philwig's comment about the on-mountain food being junk in general in the Pyrenees, although you can pay more and get good things in Baqueira, and on the French side there's usually also one place where you can buy something decent and costly. I'm not sure I agree when it comes to off-mountain though; it shouldn't be like that in the villages, and in particular if you're getting bad food in the Val d'Aran (Baqueira) then you're not doing it right - although of course the style of the food might not be what you're used to. Eating in the villages on the Spanish side has overall been a much more enjoyable thing than doing the same on the French side, in my experience.
And of course, mid-week means nobody there, so excellent for skiing and rubbish for evening entertainment. Keep an eye on the snowfall from the start of December onwards. If there's a very good dump to start the season then you can consider a pre-Christmas trip, but otherwise I'd wait until the inevitable month of obstinate high pressure finally come to an end, usually in the second half of January. February and March skiing can be really good, since there is regular snowfall and regular sunshine. If you like skiing in sunshine then you're coming to the right place.
After all that, it's time for some recommendations. If you've got the inclination, you can do a nice road trip of the Spanish Pyrenees. The resorts of Astún and Candanchú have a shared lift pass this year, and are connected by a regular 10-minute free shuttle bus. Worth a day; definitely base yourself in Jaca for one or even two nights, as chocksaway recommended. It's the same situation with Formigal-Panticosa, and whilst I'm not too excited about Formigal, I think Panticosa is worth a day trip - especially if there's good snow. Stay in one of the villages that are dotted between these resorts.
The village of Benasque which serves Cerler is lovely, but it's really off the beaten track. If you're just looking for a ski holiday rather than something broader, it's much better to go to Baqueira in the Val d'Aran, as others have mentioned. (A number of us have alread commented about where to stay in the in that first thread that mortonia linked to.) This is probably the best skiing, particularly for off-piste. You can happily spend a few days in Baqueira.
Finally, there are a number of other resorts dotted around Catalonia, but it would be hard to recommend them for somebody who's slogging it down from St-Malo. It would make more sense to go to Andorra than to visit them.
The paradox, really, is that to get the most out of the Pyrenees you need to treat it like a road trip, and yet because the lifestyle is village-based rather than purpose-made you need more time to get into the mood and swing of each place; it's not a question of simply arriving at resort and jumping into a music bar. So if you're rushing to drive the (long) distances from one area to another after each day of skiing then you're going to miss out on the relaxed atmosphere. You need quite a lot of time in order to get the maximum out of it.
On the other hand, it's perfectly possible to have a great self-contained week in Baqueira, Grand Tourmalet and Andorra. Also check out the shared lift pass of the N'Py resorts on the French side.
(Edited for typo)
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 6-10-16 17:13; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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All that sounds right. I expect you can be unlucky with village food quite easily, and I do like good food, which can be hard to find even in Paris or Barcelona if you don't know where to go.
I would not take the Scotch analogy too far though - the snow I encountered was significantly drier and the lifts significantly bigger than our northern friends enjoy.
The "non-destination" thing mirrors much of Canada and the US for that matter; most people there will drive to the resort then drive home. I've no empathy drunken fat people dancing on tables and shouting at each other at 03:00 which is maybe why I like these places.
When it snows, I will make that road trip to the Pyrenees because I think it's perfect for that.
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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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Sure; eating out in Catalonia can be very hit and miss, and in Barcelona it's a total nightmare.. really one of the low points of a generally awesome package. I'd definitely agree that you won't come across much fine dining in the Spanish Pyrenees, but the food will usually be authentic, satisfying and reasonably priced!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've not actually skied at these places, but did a road trip around the Catalonian Pyrenees in October last year and of course had to do some recon of the ski areas. Sort of near Baqueira is Boi-Taull - which looked pretty interesting and I'd love to give it a crack. Also Espot-Esqui, with its other two areas Port Aine and Tavascan. These places are pretty tiny by standard European metrics but certainly something different - see http://boitaullresort.com/pistes/ and http://www.skipallars.cat/
Another option would be basing yourself in the Spanish town of Llivia (which is surrounded by France) and driving each day - you'd be about half an hour from La Molina / Masella (es), Font Romeu (fr), Les Angles (fr), Porte Puymorens (fr), with a little more driving you could reach Nuria (es) and Pas de la Casa (androrra)!
Depends on how much you like driving vs how much you like skiing somewhere new every day.
Although to re-iterate, I've not done any of this, just ideas I have for a future ski trip that I've yet to deploy.
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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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