Formigal is one of Spain's top ski resorts.

If you don’t like partying with armies of women who’ve left their morals at home, then we suggest you avoid Formigal ski resort in the Spanish Pyrenees this weekend.

Hoards of partying women will hit the bars of Formigal on Friday to celebrate Santa Águeda day. Unsuspecting men should beware that on this one night of the year, ladies have the right to relieve you of your shirt, and anything else that takes their fancy.

Continue reading ‘Drunken female debauchery hits Spain’s Formigal this Friday’

Spain's Formigal ski resort plans to open this weekend.

With the exception of Eastern North America, which is suffering from unseasonally warm temperatures and a complete lack of snowfall, most other parts of the Northern Hemisphere have enjoyed exceptional early season conditions leading to early openings.

Europe:

Resorts across the Alps, Dolomites and Pyrenees have reported big and on-going snowfalls.

Switzerland: Engelberg was virtually closed down by snow at the start of the week as a massive storm hit central Switzerland with over three feet of fresh snow. St. Moritz and the Engadin Valley received 1.3m (4.4ft). Most other Swiss resorts have done well, too. Sedrun, for example, received about a metre (three feet) of new snow on November 30th.

Continue reading ‘Update: Ski Area Openings’

Masella ski resort expands skiable terrain

Masella, one of Spain’s leading ski areas in the Pyrenees about 1.5 hours north of Barcelona, has announced that it will extend the groomed skiable terrain by 4km and install a new lift in the Pia sector.
The resort will new runs this winter in the most easterly sector, Pia, of its ski area.
The new Leitner built “Pia Express” detachable six-seater chairlift will serve the new ski runs and provide access to the newly created Pia-1700m zone which can also be reached by road from the highway that links Masella to the neighbouring ski resort of La Molina at the Pla de Corda-2125m (the two resorts are also linked by ski runs).
The 4km of runs will be divided in to five new pistes which encompass all standards of skier and boarder (blue, red and black runs have been created). The north facing slopes are cut through the forests of the Pia and Estan areas.
The resort’ snowmaking has been extended to cover three quarters of the new runs with nearly 120km (75 miles) of runs served by around 30 lifts, including seven high-speed detachable chairs, three of them six-seaters.
www.masella.com

Ski Resorts:Read more ski resort news by clicking here.
Ski Spain: Find out more news about Spanish ski resorts by clicking here.

Several major resorts received boosts with more than a dozen powder alarms this week for falls of 20-60 centimetres (8-24 inches) over a 24- to 48-hour period.

France was a major beneficiary of new snow. Resorts still open, such as Chamonix, Tignes, Val d’Isere and Val Thorens, all reported recent good accumulations. Sierra Nevada in Spain will extend its season for two weeks thanks to heavy snowfall this winter which has left 3 metres (10 feet) of snow on the hill’s upper slopes. This weekend will be the last of the season in Andorra, however.

In the United States, resorts in Utah, California and Colorado all reported significant snowfalls. Snowbird (UT), Mammoth (CA), Squaw Valley (CA) and Arapahoe Basin (CO) are among resorts that will remain open into May and beyond. In the east, the ski season at New England hills will come to an end after this weekend.

Sunshine Village and Whistler in the Canadian Rockies are open and should remain so well into May.

Click here to read about Ski Resort News.

Spain’s leading resort, Sierra Nevada, will offer half price ski tickets after the Easter holidays and have announced that the season will last for an extra fortnight to at least mid-May because of all the snow.
The resort, Europe’s most southerly, currently has five metres (17 feet) of snow on its slopes and 100km (63 miles) of piste open. The discounted lift pass will be available from April 20th to May 15th.
Other Spanish ski resorts are almost as well endowed and have between 170cm (six feet) and 260cm (12 feet) of snow.

By Andrew Gibson

Pyrenees Mountains of Spain are the biggest mountain stretch in the Northern Spain, acting as natural buffers between France and Spain, Spain rentals are very popular in the Pyrenees region. This range of mountains stretches from Atlantic Ocean shores in west to the Mediterranean Sea coasts in east.

The first thing visitors like to enjoy in Pyrenees is hiking. There are several day hikes here, a majority of which have been signposted. Breche de Roland is one of the best hike areas, the route of which entails scrambling up a water fall and hike over one of the glaciers. If you are seeking for a higher-level route for your hiking experience, you can follow the marked trails that lead to the mountains or hire a guide in Luz.

Continue reading ‘Five vacation ideas to to do while visiting the Pyrenees’

A study by the Spanish Environment Ministry has found that the estimated 3,300 hectares of ice that covered the mountain range between Spain and France at the beginning of the 20th century have been reduced to 390 hectares over the past 100 years.
The study also found that the rate of melt has accelerated in recent years, with a quarter of the ice melting away in the past six years.
This year’s snowfall has been one of the best for decades in the region but Miguel Frances, the coordinator of the 20 year study, which was released last week, said that even winters with heavy snowfalls do not appear to be able to stop the process.

The snow stabilizes the glaciers but they do not grow,”

Frances told the Spanish El Pais newspaper.
The ministry study states that the melting of the glaciers in the Pyrenees and in other mountain ranges around the world is a direct consequence of global warming and changes in rainfall patterns.
“In 25 or 30 years’ time the majority of glaciers will have disappeared and by the middle of the century they’ll all be gone, “Fernando Lampre, president of the Pyrenees Glacier Monument Heritage told El Pais.