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.

While it’s really difficult to know what true impact the global recession is having on the ski industry, the first hurdle Christmas / New Year holiday periods, seems to be beating watchdog estimates. Many had predicted disaster and confirming two premises put forward by long term ski industry veterans.
First that skiers and boarders will keep skiing and boarding whatever the economy as it’s “a part of their life” and second that good snow brings good business, and for many areas of the world, the snow this year has been excellent.
Continue reading ‘Business in most ski resorts unaffected by global economic downturn’

Andorra’s Vallnord region has invested 10 million Euros in upgrades this winter, including a new detachable six seater chairlift for Arinsal.
Another new chair lift has been installed at Pla de la Tosa, above Pic del Cubil in Pal. This chair lift duplicates skiers transport capacity from Pal to Arinsal, Setúria or Coll de la Botella areas.
Money has also been spent on enlarging and improving the snowmaking coverage at all three areas including Arcalís and Pal, although with the huge snowefalls the area received ahead of the season, this has hardly been needed and is mostly buried under snow at present.
However there are 15 more snow machines in the Arcalís area (Portella del Mig and Basera trails, with a total of three more kilometres covered), 31 new snow machines in the Arinsal area (one more kilometre covered) and two more kilometers covered at Pal.
In Arcalis the Tunel trail has been remodeled and it has changed from a blue grading to to green (easy), gaining more room for beginners in the area that contains some of the most spectacular challenges of the whole region. The De la Portella trail has been widened in its narrowest part with snowmaking from Cap de les Portelles up to Planells.
In addition in the Pal area the Del Camí Inferior trail from Coll de la Botella up to Planell has been widened and there’s a new Freestyle area for beginners.
Arcalis also offers Speed Riding this season, an activity which combines paragliding with skiing, allowing people to ski on the best trails in Andorra whilst hanging from a paraglider.
www.vallnord.com

As ski resorts face the coming ski season with some trepidation given the economic downturn, Andorra has been successful in having two of her resorts 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 companies such as Tribune think this figure will be revised down.
Continue reading ‘Andorra skiing gets new vote of confidence’

Skiers hoping to get a break from Andorra’s Grandvalira regional price increase for skiing are in for a big surprise as the six day ticket increased to 210 euros, making it one of the most expensive ski tickets Europe.
By comparison, a high season six day pass for the area which includes the villages of Pas de la Casa and Soldeu has been priced at 213.50 Euros, more than the cost of lift tickets at Verbier or Val d’Isere.
Indeed very few single European resorts now charge more for a lift ticket than Grandvalira. The highest price at Ischgl for skiers who don’t qualify for guest discounts and visit high season is 219.50 Euros. Otherwise it is area passes that cost more, with Dolomiti Superski priced at 220 Euros in high season, the Three Valleys 225 Euros, the Chamonix area’s Mont Blanc Unlimited pass will be 235 Euros, the Paradiski pass linking La Plagne and Les Arcs costing 243 Euros.
Europe’s most expensive single ski area lift tickets are likely to be again found further west than Andorra with Spain’s Baqueria Beret charging 222 Euros for a six day pass.

Andorra’s Vallnord, which encompasses the ski areas at Ordino/Arcalis, Pal and Arinsal, has announced that it has invested 10 million Euros in improvements for the coming winter.

The biggest investment is going toward a new detachable six-seat chairlift for Arinsal, as well as the continued expansion of the area’s large snowmaking system.

The new chair lift “Arinsal” replaces the old double one and will mean a faster, more comfortable route up from the mountain base at Arinsal (1550m) to Comallemple (1950m). Another chairlift will be installed in the Pal sector at Pla de la Tosa, above Pic del Cubil. This chair provides an alternative route for skiers from Pal to Arinsal, Setúria or Coll de la Botella areas.

Slope improvements include the remodeling of the Túnel pistel in Arcalís area which will change from blue (medium) to green (easy), gaining more room for beginners in the area that otherwise contains the greatest challenges of Vallnord. The De la Portella trail has also been widened at its narrowest part and there has been a remodeling of the Freestyle area.
In Pal the Del Camí Inferior trail from Coll de la Botella up to Planell has been widened and there’s a new freestyle area for beginners.

The additional snowmaking includes 15 more snow machines in the Arcalís area on the Portella del Mig and Basera trails, with a total of an additional three kilometres covered, as well as 31 new snow machines in the Arinsal area covering one more kilometer, and at Pal, covering two more kilometres.

Grandvalira, the largest ski area in Andorra and in the Pyrenees, has reported a 12% growth in business last season compared to 2006-7. The ski area reported 1,512,000 skier days were taken.
Periodic snowfalls combined with extensive snowmaking operation enabled good conditions for snow sports throughout most of the season.
Grandvalira‘s positive results could be put down to a long and successful season according to resort managers. The resort opened ahead of schedule on November 24th as early snow came in, and closed with great conditions thanks to a row of snowfalls since the early Easter in March.
By closing weekend, skiers and snowboarders had a metre (over three feet) of snowpack and powder snow covering most of the resort. Although snow falls were again not huge, it did arrive at the right time. Snowmaking efforts also helped maintain snow conditions and allowed the resort to claim the most terrain, 95% of slopes and 100% of lifts, fully operational in the region. Grandvalira is planning to continue investing in its artificial snowmaking.
The focal point of the season was Pas de la Casa – Grau Roig’s 50th anniversary, the original Andorran ski area now integrated in to Grandvalira with neighbouring Soldeu El Tarter and other linked resorts. There was a full programme of events to celebrate this achievement. www.grandvalira.com