andorra; a bunch of questions.

A snowHead

right, im looking at booking ski holiday number 6 soon, nothing is planned yet, except apparently weve got teachers in tow, which means school holiday skiing. Sad

been looking at a few places, andorra (at the moment pas de la casa or soldeu) or austria keep coming up again and again. theres a fair amount on austria and I know enough people who've been for a bit of background, but nothing on andorra.

so, first of all how busy is it normally, and how busy is it in the school holidays. ( basically i've been to france and got annoyed with the lift queues, ive been to bulgaria, and got annoyed with everything)
talking lift queue lengths, business of pistes (basically if i wasnt on the mountain by 9am in bansko, i may as well of not bothered, itd be well over an hour to get on a lift after that).

second of all, what is the apres ski like, I am one for going out and throwing shapes (albeit with just the arms, the legs are way too sore to be getting any kind of shuffle on) till 3/4 in the morning, but maintaining a pretty sober self, then getting up at 7, going for breakfast and being on the mountain at 8.30, does Pas de la casa have bars like this(sauze did), but also what are they like, I went to bansko because we tagged on with some friends who'd already booked, and hated everything about it, the whole place was aimed at 19 year old boys who wanted to get robbed in strip clubs and brothels, and night life wise the whole place was just a male dominated testosterone filled environment(i.e any girl that was out there was mobbed 15 to 1 by idiots)

2 seasons ago I ski'd panorama and loved it, the slopes where really quiet(even on the weekends) 3/4 nights a week the bar was pretty busy and open till the early hours, you could go out without being hassled by a 35 year old 20 stone 6 foot 6 bouncer to come to his club for a dance and a sucky sucky, the girl:guy ratio was 1:1 (im not going out there to pull,I've got a non skiing GF (who lets me go without too much resistance) but its nice to be able to hold a conversation with someone without having 10 other blokes waiting to jump in your seat as soon as you go the toilet).

oh and an absence of touts would be nice, I dont mind the odd person offering me drink offers or the like, but in bansko it was literally every bar.

Its also got to be somewhere thats beginner friendly(hence the wanting quiet pistes), but also with plenty of more challenging stuff. One of of the issues with the lift queues etc, if your skiing a red/black you tend to cover a lot of vertical very quickly, and are back on the chairlift in no time and if you have to queue 20 minutes for it, Its a no deal.

any other suggestions other than andorra. (soldeu looks more suited to beginners, with more blues, but realistically they wont be skiing that many runs a day)

thanks in advance.

A snowHead

kev182, which school hols? By Easter, most French skiers have given up for the season, and if you go somewhere with access to higher altitude skiing the conditions can be terrific. But I'd forget France in half term. Don't know about Andorra, sorry.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

yea unfortunately i meant february half term.

yea finding info out about andorra (other than piste maps, transfer times, and the price of cigarettes) no website or forum seems to want to tell me anything.

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kev182, hang in there, there are some Snowheads who have reported in the past on Andorra. Try the search function - if you're careful about the way you search, you should be able to find quite a lot of useful information. If you put "Soldeu" and tick the "search topic title and message text" box you'll get 1475 hits for Soldeu.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

kev182, I've been to Andorra at half-term, Soldeu el Tarter wasn't crowded at all, I don't remember any appreciable lift queues that week. You will be better off in Pas de la Casa for nightlife though, it probably gives you what you want. My eldest son went there with his mates and loved it. I think the tout thing is probably confined to Bulgaria, at least in a very pushy way. You might get the odd invitation to a venue elsewhere but no hassle.

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I didn't know anything about Andorra, but we thought we'd give it a go: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1470936

I quite liked the terrain, I quite liked the prices, I didn't quite like the standard of accommodation, I didn't quite like the number of out of control people and the amount of smoke literally everywhere. Like people smoking cigars 4 feet from you while you eat lunch.

If you got on with Bulgaria ok, then Andorra is going to be fine.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

We have been to Andorra for last 3 feb half terms but to quetest bit of Vall Nord sector as have friends who live down road from it - it doesn't what you are looking for as a drive out of La Massana and no nightlife without driving back to La Massana other than odd bar/hotel or restaurant.
Other than at weekends (when people drive up from Spain we have always found it very quiet and most annoying feature the odd English school group (annoyinng for their topics of discussion and presumption no one around them spoke English!).
Snow has been fantastic everytime we have been -tuition very good too (we asked specifically for intructors who spoke English as does vary). Have you considered Pal? You stay in La Massana so more nightlife etc. Ashamed to say I haven't skid there just been up for a coffee (on same lift pass as Arcalis - just haven't found time!). We are there for 9 days skiing at Christmas (yippeeee) so plan to put this right and at least have an explore!!

After all it is free

monium, thanks that was great, although it has highlighted one thing. I really want a husky.

and yea, we were originally looking at pas, but one of the beginners has made a bit of a fuss about only having 2 runs they could ski(and apparently my argument of go get some proper teaching, till your more confident in your abilities fell on deaf ears)

Hi kev182, from what you've said I'd probably avoid Pas as there can be quite a few touts trying to get you in, although you'll find plenty of places to throw some shapes on the dancefloor! Soldeu would probably be more suited, plus they have plenty of English speaking instructors for the beginners in your group. It's the same lift pass for both resorts which for this year now covers 205km of runs, so plenty to go at for all abilities.

Soldeu's nightlife is a bit more up market although still down to earth, and still great value compared to a lot of resorts in the Alps.

Even in the school holidays, apart from the queue for the very first gondola up at 9am the lift queues aren't usually very big if at all, plus as long as the beginners aren't total beginners you can generally skip the first gondola queue by walking across the bridge to the chairlift.

Just ask if you want any more info!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Soldeu would be my recommendation, nightlife is not quite as wild as pas but there's still plenty there.
We'll be there again in Feb half term, the only bad time for queues in first thing Monday at the main gondola station, many turn up early, before the lift opens so they can join the queues at the ski school ticket office trying to be sure that everyone is in either am or pm lessons, if you have kids in the child care, you need to be there early as sometimes it gets full and has to turn people away.
Once you've got through Monday morning, lift queues are 10min max and there's plenty of areas where the lifts have no queues.
Soldeu ski school is run by an english couple and many of the instructors speak english as mother tongue.
As it is predominantly a beginner / intermediate resort the reds and blacks are often deserted, I have often managed to carve a red run flat out from top to bottom with no other skiers to watch out for.
Going self catering and eating out every night is usually cheaper than hotels.
We go there every year because we can use a freind's apartment, but also, having kids in tow, knowing the resort and where everything is, is a big help.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Sport Hotel Soldeu Vnice right near lift, terrain good enough for BASI tests and so was the Hotel.

snow reports

I cannot recommend Andorra too highly. The Grand Valira ski area offers something for everyone - I have only been to this area - not the Arinsal region - and have dones so 3 times. The Soldeu/El Tarter sector is particularly good for the less experienced and experienced alike. Soldeu town has some lively bars and a nice atmosphere. We have been in February half term twice and have not found queues excessive. Having also suffered the "Bansko Experience" (and wouldn't go back if I was paid) I can assure you that there is no similarities between these two cultures! I too agree that there is too much smoking indoors for my liking - but until a ban is imposed there is nothing we can do about that. Pas is a very lively place with some great bars. We have skiied over for lunch on a couple of occasions.

The Soldeu/El Tarter ski school is outstanding and very good value for money. All our novice skiers progressed rapidly on a daily basis and by the end of the week they were covering impressive distances! I cannot comment on the morning gondola at Soldeu as we have only stayed in El Tarter (where anyone that has skiied for more than 2 days can just a chair lift up and ski a very easy run to the ski school meeting place). However, there is no night life in El Tarter and taxis are a rare thing....the walk back from Soldeu is about 30-40 minutes (on dark unlit roads!)however our late teen kids happily make the trek on a nightly basis! I can say that when we have visited Soldeu during the day we have NEVER queued for the gondola. Weekends are a little busy - but a picnic compared to Bansko!!

We have had extremely good conditions on our 2 half term trips. Last year we went a week earlier and although they really needed some more snow, all pistes were enjoyable due to a combination of cold temperatures, snow making and superb piste maintainence.

I hope this helps!!!

I'll second what PS, has said, and I have been going there every year since 1976, but it is only a 2 & 1/2 hour drive away Blush

. The smoking thing is now very noticeable because it contrasts with bars in the EU where it is bannned, but it's the Andorrans proving that they are not in the EU.
Almost forgot, there is a round of the FIS World Cup on in Soldeu on the 12th Feb Ladies GS and I think Slalom, so things could be a bit hectic then.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

tangowaggon, Have you tried the new Slalom black that runs from just past the Espiolets restaurant, it is much steeper at the top!!

A snowHead

Have been to Pas and Soldeu and agree that there really is something for everyone in terms of both skiing and nightlife.

Make sure you prepare yourself for the long transfer. Don't be thinking that if you get an early flight you'll be on the slopes that afternoon.

A snowHead

Went to Pal/Arinsal a couple of years ago although probably after half-term by which time it was starting to warm up so afternoons were somewhat slushy!
Plus points are the prices, widely spoken English and that includes instructors. Accomodation (Diana Park?) was good.
Downside, transfers! Also for me, a very small ski area (63km) and after a couple of days had "been there done that!" - although didn't venture to Arcalis as bus times and 40 minute ride didn't sound attractive. Also cable-car link between Arinsal and Pal is a pain and is prone to being closed in high winds.

Help!!

andorra; a bunch of questions.

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