Snowboarding in Andorra

Klinsman

Planning a trip to Andorra in late February as a beginner. Soldeu seems to the best place to go and from what I can work out the two options are either El Tarter or Pas De Le Casa. Has anyone been to either and suggest which one might be best. Any suggestions for accommodation would be useful too. We are looking for three beds if possible; two and a couch is fine.

Some night life would be good as we are around the 30 mark so would like to enjoy pints after working up a thirst on the slopes.

Any other advise about snowboarding in Andorra in general would also be appreciated.

masseyno9

Not sure I fully understand what you mean about the resorts - Soldeu, El Tarter and Pas de la Casa are 3 different resorts all linked through the Grandvalira lift system.
A single lift pass gets you everywhere, pretty much, but as a beginner you might be better off getting a learn to ski type package (check with the tour operator) that gives you local lift access only.
I've been to them all and in order of liveliness, as follows:
Pas de la Casa - Can be a bit mental if you want it to be, but you can avoid the madness too. We went here yearly from the age of about 18-21, burned the candle at both ends for the week and slept for a day when we got home!
Soldeu - some lively bars and a decent enough size of a town, but nowhere near as mad, nightlife-wise, as Pas. Bars more than nightclubs. Big gondola goes right through/into the SportHotel (was called that a few years back anyway).
El Tarter - Quieter than Soldeu, and seemed to be more family oriented, but there are a few bars around too if you want a few beers. Ski-in ski-out from Hotel Nordic was brilliant.



From your description, I'd say Soldeu or Pas would be your best bet. Most tour operators will have Monday night pub crawls so you can pick pubs you like and head back. Pas is a bit more commercial with a big enough shopping centre, a burger king and a mcdonalds.

It's been a few years since I looked at Andorra and even longer since I was there, but I'm sure it hasn't changed that much. I'm open to correction by anyone who has more recent experience.

Snowboarding-wise, as a beginner, a nice goal would be to make it to the next town over by the end of the week, unaided. Generally it's a lift or 2 and a run or 2 to get there. Always carry a piste-map - even if it feels like you'll never get lost.

Klinsman

Cheers for the info, I appreciate it.

I got a bit confused, I thought Soldeu was the town and then the two other places were resorts. Only coped on after they are three seperate resorts.

I think we will go with the Pas option, from what you say it might be our best bet. Do you know is there a particular area we should stay?

Klinsman

Just an update on our trip to Andorra in case others are going down the same route.

We ended up going to Pas de la Casa for 6 nights. We went with a 5 day snowboarding package which included the board, boots, 5 day lessons, and 5 day ski pass and it cost us €335.

We were unlucky with the weather as for four of the five days only two of the ski lifts were operating with two out of order because of the conditions. This meant we had to queue for approx 40 minutes to get onto the ski lift which wasn't ideal. In a three hour lesson we might have only had 7 trips down the beginners slope which really only takes about 10 minutes max or less if you just go straight down without stopping (falling over!!).

The town itself was grand, it is relatively small but there are a decent variety of restaurants and pubs to keep yourself amused after the slopes close (17:00 most days at this time of year).

From looking at the slope map of the area it seems that Soldeu might have been the better option as they have a bigger beginner slope which just means more time on the snow and less time queuing.

Overall the trip was a little underwhelming but probably mostly down to the conditions and i think it is something that i have to try again before really assessing if i like it or not.

masseyno9

That's unlucky about the conditions closing the lifts. I was always lucky with that but it's a risk with this type of holiday. Can't remember the lift layout too well in Pas, but I'm assuming the ones up to the top to get you into Grau Roig were closed? Typically, they disperse the large crowds out into the rest of the Grandvalira area (Grau Roig, Soldeu, El Tarter etc.) and the main face into Pas is largely beginners and ski schools.

Like I said, unlucky, but good that you're not totally put off by it. I've gone on 10+ week long holidays and never had a lift closure for conditions that hampered the stay. I'm a weekend warrior these days in Canada, so generally pick when/where to go for the day based on conditions and avoid the issue altogether.

Klinsman

There were one red and one blue open. There are four lifts at the base of the slope and the two lifts to the far right were open. I think if i go again i'll just do a long weekend with maybe a 3 day pass. People were bussing out to soldeu where all the lifts were open but we were getting lessons so had to stay in pas. The day we left was perfect and forecast was good for the following days too so we just got unlucky.

I appreciated your advise though.

Seifer

Just to post another perspective:

I was in El Tarter last week for my third week of skiing. Signed up to do group lessons Monday - Friday afternoon. The mountain was closed at 3ish on Tuesday due to the wind which cut the lesson short but at least instructor got us onto gondola from Soldeu so we could ski back to El Tarter. On Thursday only the bottom tier of lifts were open due to the avalanche risk; we were a bit disappointed but instructor made the most of it and we did a lot of stuff on the blacks (Avet and Aliga).

On the flipside I had never seen powder like we got for the week. Our instructor kept saying how lucky we were and that he knows clients that have been coming once a year for ten years and never seen snow like we did. It was incredibly fun when you could get into it although we spent more time searching for lost skis than I care to remember :P

I realise it definately would've been a complete different experience for a beginner and it's interesting to hear what was going on on the other side of the mountain. Saturday was the only day we were able to make it across to Grau Roig and the queues were massive. There is a horrible bottle-neck of old, slow, 4-seater lifts in the middle of the resort.

Eurovisionmad

Oh to be honest I don't envy you Klinsman, you were extremely unlucky. The slopes above Pas de la Casa are the most bleak stretches of snow in Andorra, once you get over the mountain to Grau Roig and the whole resort opens up it becomes much more of a paradise. I went to Pas with a crowd from college after Christmas (good enough snow if not a bit icy/slushy, but everything was working and navigable) and the more experienced crowd of us spent barely any time on those slopes, I despised the long steep red down the centre, whereas the beginners, who were confined to those slopes for the first few days didn't really enjoy skiing/snowboarding to start off but once they were competent enough to get over to Grau Roig they loved the holiday! I suppose once just can't budget for conditions/equipment!

fannymagee

Why go to Andorra when you can go to Soll??! (That is actually a serious question lol- I've never understood the Andorra thing) ;-)

Eurovisionmad

fannymagee wrote: »

Why go to Andorra when you can go to Soll??! (That is actually a serious question lol- I've never understood the Andorra thing) ;-)

Cheap flights & accomm along with duty free drink and fags, try get that in Austria!