We're back :(

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    • We're back :(

      We're done for another year unfortunately. Got home last night just after midnight. Currently dragging the videos and photos off the SD cards but by way of a run down:

      Flew out Friday 29/01, first day skiing Saturday 30/1. Four of us in the group, me (3rd year in Andorra + 1yr in Switzerland mid-90's), Dave (3rd year in Andorra) and my parents (2nd year in Andorra).

      First two days the weather was pretty poor. Snow was excellent but it was cold, windy and overcast - but that was never going to stop us! Still enjoyed it and we claimed the last couple of runs in Arinsal we hadn't done before. Skiing from the top of the resort down to the village (via Les Merades) was a novelty. First time we skiied it though the bloody chairlift back up was closed so we had to wait for the ski bus and get the gondala. I did have a feeling the big orange fence across the top of the run said "piste closed" but my spanish isn't that great so we followed the pack - when in rome! ;)

      Third day we went to Arcalis with Nick from San Andreu. Perfect skiing weather and what an awesome resort that is. Bit disappointed with the really long El Tunel green run though. Looking at the map we were hoping for an epic long cruisey run that would give my old dear some much needed confidence, but spent more time skating or walking along or UP the flat bits - annoying. The red runs there though are superb. One of them claimed me as a victim - spectacular crash which saw me flying face first toward the orange barrier fence. I was laughing before I'd even stopped sliding though and stopped inches from the edge so all good.

      Back in Arinsal we made our regular pit stop at El Cau for toasties and beer. After one too many beers we'd got Dave from El Cau to agree to film our first ever run down La Capa black run (or any black run) at 1030 next morning (lots of the bars get video footage on the pistes and play it on the big screens that night). Unfortunately everyone got absolutely s***faced that night and felt like death next morning. But we (me, Dave and Dad) conquered La Capa and we did it still slightly p***ed and got to enjoy watching it in El Cau that night. Another day of perfect weather as well.

      Wednesday me, Dave and Dad went across to Pal on the cable car. Another day of absolute perfect blue skies and sunshine. Had a good few hours in Pal and was nice to be somwehere where you could actually lose your bearings (and your father, but that's a different story!)

      Before we knew it that dreaded last day was upon us. To be fair though we had done a LOT of skiing and I know I was pretty weary by now. The weather had turned a bit crap again. Overcast, very few periods of sun so visibility was a bit flat and then by the afternoon it started raining, which made the snow quite slushy in places. We had one more run from the top and called it a day early at around 2/3pm. Every other day had been a first lift to last lift job.

      We left Arinsal in more gorgeous sunshine at around 12pm Friday for the drive back to Barcelona. Took a much better route than the most obvious motorway one we'd taken on the way in. No toll roads, no traffic, no problems. Greeted at Stansted by the good old British over the top passport control and queuing for absolutely everything - instantly wanted to be back in Arinsal! Whether we'll be back next year, I don't know. We've now done every run in Arinsal and maybe a new challenge might be in order.

      Not sure how the snow's going to hold up or if/when more is forecast but I thought it was starting to suffer in places. I'm no expert, and I'm sure there's a good base, but it was disappearing quite quickly at the sides and hardly any was left in the village.


      That's enough waffling but as a footnote - we happened to be at the top of La Capa when Will McIllroy and the crew arrived for his charity snowboard run from the very top of Arinsal to the very bottom - in a MANKINI 8o . One of the funniest and bravest things I've ever seen but well worthwhile with proceeds going to the Haiti earthquake. It was all caught on camera and no doubt still playing in El Cau now so visit justgiving.com/WillsMankiniSnowboardRide and donate a few quid.



      Ryan
      If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room.
    • Sounds like you had a great time, we are going tomorrow only one more sleep .......whoop whoop

      Did you stay in the St Andreu ? thats where we are staying, we read the great reviews on trip advisor and decide to give it a go, been to Arinsal 5 times but never tried it before. Whats the St Andreu like ? , Ive heard the food is good (thats what caught our attention most LOL ) we have booked a studio for 4 of us 2 adults and 2 teenagers, Im a bit worried it may be a bit cramped , but we wanted to keep the cost down and hopefully wont be spending too much time in the room. Hope the sofa beds are comfy as I will end up on one of them.

      I know they have a small kitchen in the rooms do they have a washing /dryer machine ? also thinking of taking my lap top so the kids can go on facebook , is there wifi acess in the rooms Ive read its in the bar area.

      Any last min info would be great

      Thanks J :thumbsup:
    • drive from Barcelona

      Hi ryanh

      Sounds like a great trip.

      We are driving from Barcelona Airport also and i was wondering what was the quickest route to Arinsal. If we get there on time we might be able to hire ski gear on the Sunday night and not have hassel on the Monday morning?

      Also you mention Arcalis for skiing. Does it take long to get there and would you recommend skiing there for intermediate skiers?

      cheers,
      Mark
    • Ryan

      Oh my word - was at the cafe bar at the Nursery slopes when I thought I saw a man in a green Man-kini going down the slope :) Did you see the girl that was completely out of control and flew through the Nursery slopes and hit the fences at the end of the run - now that was something I didn't expect to see !

      We have just got back from a week out there - weather was fantastic for our week - Monday thru to Friday was perfect weather. Saturday, unfortunately, was a no go as a beginner with the snow fall during the day and high winds. But loved Arinsal and definitely going ski-ing again soon.
    • Jan - I realise I'm probably too late and you'll already know these answers but it may help someone else so I'll answer anyway: Yes the San Andreu is great in my opinion. This was my second year staying there and we spent a lot of the time in the bar there in the 2008 season (it was on the way back to The Crest!). We also stayed there on a summer motorbike trip. I've only ever stayed in one of the large studios, not sure if that's what you booked but we had plenty of room. Lounges are huge, bedrooms are more than adequate. I fell asleep on one of the sofabeds last year. They must be comfy as the rest of my family played "Human Buckaroo" on me. I'm sure you can guess but it involves placing as many items as possible on the dipstick who felt safe enough to fall asleep. They only stopped when they ran out of items. So either I was bloody tired or those beds are comfy enough. Or both.
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      Re the wifi, I know lots of people had laptops in the bar, I also picked up the wifi signal on my phone in the room but never bothered asking about the password. There's internet access there anyway via a coin fed computer in the bar, which has always been enough for us.

      Mark - re the drive from Barcelona, don't bother with the so-called easy route. We tried that on the way IN to Andorra and cocked it up completely. It's full of toll roads and I actually found the motorway route a lot more twisty that the national road routes. We followed the route given to us by Nick from the San Andreu on the way back and it was actually quite a nice drive. I'll try to describe it but it will be in reverse from what I did so please don't take it as gospel. Basically pick up the A2 from BCN heading to IGUALADA and continue for around 80km (according to Google the exit is signposted for Andorra). Follow signs from here for PONTS (basically all one road, the C1412, going through a few old villages/towns) and from there pick up the C14 and stay on it until LA SEU D'URGELL. From there you're only a few k's from the Andorra border.

      Re Arcalis - reckon it took about 30-45 mins in a minibus. I would reccommend it for intermediates, it's got some seriously good red runs and I'm sure we did a couple of nice blues. Basically the runs seem a lot longer than in Arinsal. If you can't be arsed with the travel nipping over to Pal on the cable car has the same effect. Bur Arcalis is deserted if you can get there early in the week.

      Tractor-Saint - yeah it was an awesome run down by Mankini Will, we followed and tried to film it but the damn batteries dies so we actually missed it!! I've seen several people run out of control in that area!! Can't say I saw the girl ploughn into the fence but I did see some girl end up in the ski school office!


      Hope that helps (someone)
      Ryan
      If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room.
    • Sant Andreu

      Thanks for the info on the Sant Andreu aparthotel Ryan , Im going in a couple of weeks too could you let me know the following plse,

      What time is breakfast and evening meals to and from ? we have never been half board before skiing and just a bit worried about being restricted to eating times

      Do they have a hair dryer in the rooms (save a bit a weight with my tight Ryanair allowance)

      Do they have two sofa beds in the studio lounge , as I have two kids (boy and girl) they will end up killing each other if they have to share LOL

      and finally , do they have bath or a shower , I really hope they have a bath to soak my aching body at the end of the day

      Cheers
      Cathy :thumbsup:
    • Hi Cathy

      What time is breakfast and evening meals to and from ?

      Breakfast is 8-10am, dinner is from 7pm. Our routine was basically up at 7.30 for shower and breakfast, grab the gondala as soon as it opened, kit up and be waiting for the lifts to open to pack in as much skiing as poss! At the end of the day it's easiest to get the 6 man chair lift down to The Crest hotel and walk downhill back to the San Andreu, but we'd always stop at El Cau for a free toastie and a couple of pints. Then it was time to trudge back uphill, get changed (or not) and have dinner.

      Do they have a hair dryer in the rooms

      I'm going to be "bloke-ish" and admit I didn't have much need for one so didn't notice! Drop Simon or Helena an email st.andreu@theoffice.ad and I'm sure they'll be able to answer.

      Do they have two sofa beds in the studio lounge

      Yes - I think. I know last year we definitely had two separate fold out beds (like the one in the photo above). This year we definitely had one of those but the sofa also has one of the 'drawer-type' pull out sofa beds. Either way, there's two separate places to sleep.

      do they have bath or a shower

      Both. It's a bath/shower affair not separate.

      If you haven't already found it, take a look at the website st-andreu.com/index.php which has got a few photos on it.

      Let me know if there's anything else,
      Ryan
      If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room.
    • Many thanks for all your info, its very helpful, yes I found the hotel website thanks but couldnt find much info on eating times and config of rooms etc so your advice is much appreciated ............Im really looking forward to going now , we are all on count down :D