Grandvalira is freezing prices on all lift tickets and some packages will be cheaper.

The cost of a six day lift ticket at Andorra’s largest ski centre, Grandvalira, is dropping for next season – albeit by just half a Euro for a six day pass, other tickets will cost the same as last winter 08-09.
However the change is significant as the resort’s lift ticket price had increased at a percentage rate faster than most other resorts over the past five or so years as huge investment in state-of-the-art lifts and many other improvements moved the resort from a collection of small provincial ski centres in to the world top 50 by size.
The cost of a Grandvalira high-season, six day, adult lift ticket drops from 213.5 Euros to 213 Euros.
In another new development, both Grandvalira and the other Andorran ski region VallNord have introduced a ‘teen’ price range from age 12 to 17, during which time children in that age bracket receive about 10% off the full adult price, which was previously payable from age 12  and up. in common with most French and Spanish resorts.

Both Grandvalira and VallNord also offer a ‘low season’ when prices are discounted by about 15% on the full ticket price. Low season dates in Grandvalira include December 9 – 18, January 11 – 24 and March 27 to the end of the season. Vallnord has more extensive low season periods. www.skiandorra.ad

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Included in Inghams’s upcoming winter Ski and Snowboard programme are new trips to resorts in Slovakia, Andorra, and Romania, among 90 other resorts in 13 countries.
“Inghams extensive ski programme continues to grow,” said Inghams Chief Executive Litsa Constantinou. “Despite the current climate, the ski market is resilient and diversifying.”
Trips to Poiana Brasov, Romania include lift pass, ski equipment hire, tuition and half board accommodation from as little as €762 ($1078 U.S.). There are also added value savings including free lift pass and free ski hire and 2 for 1 on ski and snowboard lessons offered in many resorts.
In Slovakia, new to Inghams this winter, is the resort of Salla in Lapland which offers many activities including reindeer, husky and snowmobile safaris, ice fishing and Learn to Ski and Board packages. Inghams also offers a choice of five resorts in Lapland and three and four night Santa Short Breaks in December.
For those looking for more than just a ski holiday, Inghams offers once in a lifetime winter experiences including sleeping in a glass igloo, ice-driving, ice-karting, snowshoe trekking, dog sledding, winter walking trails, train excursions, ice fishing, gold panning and spa treatments.

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Some large late-season snow falls in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the USA has brought powder skiing conditions to many of the several hundred ski resorts where the 08-09 ski season is still continuing.
In Canada, Marmot Basin near Jasper where the ski season ends this weekend reported powder snow conditions yesterday following a fresh fall. Several feet of snow also fell at the weekend in Colorado where all the big resorts have closed but Arapahoe Basin and Loveland are still operating with Echo Mountain and Aspen Highlands open at weekends.
Europe’s most southerly resort, Sierra Nevada in Spain, received another foot (30cm) of snow at the weekend and that resorts in Italy’s Monte Rosa area have received up to 1.5m (five feet) of new snow over seven days.
In Switzerland, Andermatt, Saas Fee and Zermatt have all added 30cm (a foot) of snow or more to their totals in the past week. The same three resorts have the most snow in the country with 400 – 470cm (13 – 16 feet) on upper slopes.
In Andorra, where the lifts will run until May 3rd at GrandValira, there was another 6cm (three inches) of snow on Tuesday.

Click here to read more news on ski resorts from Ski Rebel.

An annual study of lift ticket prices charged by more than 500 ski areas in 35 countries worldwide has reported that prices for British guests are well up this season to most international ski destinations.
The findings are published as part of the World Lift Ticket Price Report 2009, the eighth annual edition of the Report by Scottish based independent research company Snow24.

Continue reading ‘Andorra tops European average lift ticket price league for second year’

Andorra’s ski areas stepped up their constant slope safety and security campaign by staging a special ‘Saftey On the Slopes’ weekend on 24 and 25 January.
“We are always looking for new things for our guests, especially for their security,” said Ski Andorra spokeswoman, Marta Rotés
During the weekend resort staff handed out leaflets detailing the rules of safety on the slopes and containing a little mini-quiz with prizes of 20 five day Ski Andorra passes to be won, valid at both the principality’s ski regions – Vallnord and Grandvalira.
The importance of checking your ski bindings were working properly and correctly set was also emphasised with many of Andorra’s ski shops offering a free binding check as part of the campaign.
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By Paul la Vella

Avid skiers looking forward to their annual holiday are more than likely busy poring over information on the numerous ski resort destinations available to them. Some of them just want confirmation that the resort they loved last year is still the best place to go. Others like to change things up every year, experiencing new ski challenges and collecting new stories to relate to their friends back home. Either way, the choices are abundant and depend mostly on what the skier is comfortable with, whether it is a familiar resort or new ground.

Continue reading ‘Finding the perfect ski holiday in Europe’

Nearly six feet of snow before Christmas encouraged skiers in Europe to hit the slopes and forget their financial woes – much to the relief of the ski holiday industry. And the good news for ski country Andorra comes as two of her resorts have been named in a leading ski internet site’s top ten
- something which might help Andorra win a bigger share of the European ski market this year.

The skiing holidays site suggests nearly a million Brits alone will be hitting the slopes this winter, but with the economic recession other leading travel ski holiday internet sites think this figure will be revised down.

The good news for the Andorra resorts comes firstly because of Arinsal.

Arinsal topped the poll and won because, with some sixty per cent of British skiers fitting in the novice category, the Andorra ski holidays resort is perfect for them. Away from top class skiers, the whole village atmosphere makes for happy new skiers – and happy new skiers are likely to continue skiing in future years, boosting the ski holidays industry not just in Andorra but with other resorts too.

As well as friendly ski slopes, Arinsal has a good mix of accommodation. Hotels are from hostel standard to four and five star luxury, while there is self catering too with aparthotels, privately available apartments by the week, and the occasional chalet too. Arinsal offers ski instruction in either groups or on an individual basis from novice to advanced, to complete the skiing holidays in Andorra scene.

The second piece of good news for Andorra is that a second resort also makes the ski holidays travel sites’ top ten – an accolade in itself.

They place Pas de la Casa at number four of its top ten ski holiday areas and praise the Andorra resort for its low prices, adding ‘The happy hours, discos, lively cafes and restaurants also give the Andorran resort of Pas de la Casa its reputation as one of the liveliest resorts in the mountains.’

Pas de la Casa is Andorra’s highest ski resort, and consequently has the earliest and deepest snow, with well known Soldeu at a slightly lower altitude.

Andorra started to develop her ski resorts for tourists back in the 1980′s. For the first decade Andorra decided to go for the budget skier, and was able to provide ski holidays at a lot less cost than neighbouring France, and other ski countries in Europe including Austria and Switzerland.

But now Andorra has moved away from the image of the poor man’s Switzerland for skiing to one that is pretty upmarket, with ski resorts such as Soldeu, Arinsal, Pal and Pas de la Casa attracting serious skiers to her slopes as well as novices. In Soldeu for example there is a good choice of Andorra hotels, including four and five star ones, while spa hotels are dotted around the country.

And while the skiing fraternity might be a bit more upmarket with money to match, so are the new residents who move to Andorra to live there full time and take up residency in Andorra.

While Andorra property averaged between three and hundred thousand Euros a few years ago to new residents, the average now is closer to double that. Not because Andorra has seen her property prices rise that much necessarily, although it is true to say it has risen close to fifty per cent in the three years preceeding the current worldwide recession, but because more and more people are choosing Andorra over Monaco as a tax haven.

Andorra might be a small country, but it might fare better than the big ones for 2009 in the current recession.