Lets hear it for the Pyrenees
29th November 2013
Last modified on September 26th, 2021
The resorts in France, Spain and Andorra are having a fabulous start to winter. The headlines have been grabbed by the Alps but there is almost 2m in places and more is falling. PlanetSKI reports.
Some people think the Alps is the only place to ski in Europe.
It is not.
Last winter the snowiest resort in the world was Cauterets in the Hautes-Pyrenees in France. It had depths of over 5m.
The rest of the area had fabulous snow too, but it went largely un-noticed in the UK.
The same is happening again as, if anything, the Pyrenees has had a better start to the winter of 2013/14 than the Alps, but it has barely been reported.
Here at PlanetSKI we want to set the record straight.
Many resorts are opening in the Alps this weekend – Verbier, Argentiere, Ischgl, Val d’Isere, Les 2 Alpes and other big names. Facebook and ski web sites are swamped with photos, information and tales of the first turns of the winter.
All great but we advise you take a look at what is happening in the Pyrenees as well.
Peter Derbyshire works for Borderline Holidays in Bareges in Le Grand Tourmalet in the Hautes-Pyrenees.
“It’s snowing very, very heavily today with little visibility so I’m not out skiing for the opening day but the resort is now open. We have huge amounts of snow for November, it’s been snowing on and off all month. It would be a battle just to get to Bareges today though with snow settling from 500m,” he said to us on Saturday.
“There is lovely deep cold powder everywhere with up to half a metre fresh snow expected today and there will be fabulous conditions for when the sun comes out. It is the perfect start to winter for the Hautes-Pyrenees,” he added.
Cauterets is just as good – if not better.
80% of the area is open and there is 1.2m at the top and 80cm on the lower slopes. 3,000 people were out skiing last Sunday.
PlanetSKI visited Cauterets last winter – see here for our blog from the time.
Elsewhere in the Hautes-Pyrenees in France there has been significant snowfall in the past 10 days.
Peyragudes has 1.9m at the top while the resorts of Barages and La Monjie have around 75cm.
In neighbouring Andorra it is a similar picture.
Pas de la Casa has a base of 1.5m and neighbouring Soldeu 1.1m.
20cm is due to fall in the next few days.
“Andorra has had around 8 days of snow which has prepared the mountains perfectly for opening this Saturday, with 80cm at the base and already 150cm at the top,” said Steve Hull from Andorra-Resorts earlier.
“Grandvalira has 160km open and around 90 slopes with all sectors linked, plus two of the snowparks.”
Steve has just sent us the following comment on Saturday evening.
“The snow in Andorra for opening weekend is the best since 2010, and even then it wasn’t this deep yet. To have 150cm is fantastic and there’s a real buzz in resort with everybody excited about hitting the slopes. More snow has been falling today, Saturday, which is great, and still consistently low temperatures.”
The image below was taken as the sun cleared this week in Andorra.
Earlier on PlanetSKI we were sent an image of the clearing up.
It has happened with regularity as the snowfall has continued.
PlanetSKI visited Andorra last year too – see our report here.
The Spanish Pyrenees has not missed out either.
Formigal looks exceptional and Baqueira Beret too. Baqueira has 1.2m on its lower slopes and 1.7m higher up.
In Formigal 7 lifts are now running as the season gets underway.
So lets celebrate the good conditions in the Alps, but we advise you not to ignore the Pyrenees.
Here at PlanetSKI we will be skiing in the area this winter and are already licking our lips.
It looks pretty good. Again.
For the spirit of the mountains
