Some information on snowboarding/skiing in Andorra

Splinter

myself and the missus are off to Andorra in January for some snowboarding and skiiing fun I'm a "virgin" snowboarder so just looking for some info on what to bring really, i have the boots and board and lessons and insurance hired no prob but just wondering about clothing etc and what people reccommend. Date im going is 14th january and the region is pas de la casa (chez paulo is the resort i think)

btw, im doing snowboarding and shes going skiing, im guessin we can share slopes together after the lessons?? any help is much appreciated thanks folks

Splinty

robinph

For clothing you want to have several layers that you are wearing so that you can put more on and take them off as required, also a helmet and wrist protection might be an idea as well for boarding as you will fall over a lot. After the lessons you can go anywhere you like, there are no slopes just for skiers or boarders.

Pas is a very lively resort so you'll not get bored there in the evenings either as there are plenty of bars around the town, and lots of opportunity for spending cash on duty free goods.

Try asking in Faceplant as well.

Splinter

kool thanks, the one im wondering about is boots i know they provide boots but im guessing they are only for on the board, should i bring my own too? if so any one got any recommendations on what to buy?

robinph

Whilst you will be able to walk around in snowboard boots, which is something that you cannot do without great difficulty in ski boots, you will be leaving them in storage locker after you've finished on the slopes. Some hotels have their own storage, otherwise there are places in resort near the lifts that you can leave your skis/ boards/ boots overnight and your regular footwear during the day as if the hotel is not right next to the lifts then you'll be apreciating having normal boots to wear on the walk between hotel and slopes in the mornings/ evenings.

A pair of doc's serve me well enough for wandering round the snow on the street in resort, you don't need anything special but sandals might not be the most appropriate.

5starpool

Get thermal socks for your feet, this is important as cold feet are easy to come by out there. You have options for your ski clothes. You can either hire then out, for about50 or 60 quid (not sure, but not very cheap) or buy some like I did. If you plan to go again then they are a good investment. They are not cheap though and a good jacket and pants will set you back around 200, even more if you are willing to pay, but after 3 trips it will have paid for itself, and you get to choose colours yourself etc. Any camping shop or the likes of Arnotts ot TK Maxx will have plenty of ski gear.

Get a warm hat as well, and as suggested above, helmet and wrist, knee pads are good for boarding as you are guaranteed to fall heavily lots of times at first at least. Goggles are also good, but make sure to get ones with antofog lenses in them as foggy goggles are awful. Also, some thermal leg warmers might not go astray either.

The coldest you will be will probably be going up in skilifts. Some of them can be 20 mins long or more, and you will be 10 metres on average above the slopes and it can get very cold dangling there, especially if there is a breeze.

Enjoy. I am going again this winter for the 6th time in 8 years so despite the doom and gloom sound of above, I love it.

jank

Im looking for some advice myself regarding Andorra.

Went skiing last year in Slovenia and loved it. This time I think we are looking at Andorra. Is this something we can book ourselves or do we have to go through a travel agency?

Do ireland have direct flights to andorra?
What on average would you expect to pay?

Splinter

yup,im flying from dublin and i booked from www.crystalski.ie , think including insurance and school and boots etc was 757 each...thats a half board 2 bedroom with on suite

robinph

Andorra does not have any airports so you will have to make a 3.5 hr bus transfer from either Toulose or Barcelona, it does not make a whole lot of difference which though. I did look at trying to book everything myself before but it ended up looking like far too much hassle and not actually saving any money.

Also with one of my trips this year, which happened to be to Andorra, getting there was a big hassle due to avalanches closing the roads into resort from Spain where we were supposed to fly to so the flight got diverted to France. But by the time we got there though there were avalanches on the road into Andorra from the French direction so the bus had to drive the long way round to Spain and back in from those now opened roads. If the trip had been organised ourselves we would have been stuck, but it was then the tour operators problem to sort everything out and get us to the resort, we just had to sit around and wait.