Andorra
The Country
Over the past few seasons Andorra, the tiny principality in the Pyrenees, sandwiched between France and Spain, has grown from a budget priced backwater, known for its duty free drink and easy, cheap and cheerful skiing, to become a major player in the global winter sports industry.
The enigma is, how can a country with a booming ski industry have less than half as many ski areas today as it did 10 years ago? The answer is that Andorra – unlike other areas that have seen ski centers close down in recent years, has invested heavily with hi-tec new lifts at all of its ski areas. The miracle of the shrinking ski area numbers has resulted from that success as smaller ski areas grow bigger and merge together.
Pas de La Casa, Grau Roig and Soldeu - El Tarter are already lift linked and are now collectively Grand Valira; Pal and Arinsal are also lift-linked and have merged marketing efforts with the remaining centre of Ordino (Arcalis) to become Vall Nord.
Another improvement designed to attract a more upmarket sector involves concentration on the construction of four and five star accommodation. The resorts have also been spending on 'alternative facilities' besides skiing and shopping such as high class swimming and leisure complexes. These include the most dramatic building in La Vella is the spectacular Caldea 'Thermoludic Centre' where mirrored glass crystal spires cut the skyline. A serious health centre, it features a vast array of luxurious pools as well as health and beauty treatments The gondola-linked base at Canillo is a good choice as it is one of the larger villages and has an excellent indoor sports centre, Andorra's national facility, including swimming pool and ice rink.
The increasing number of access points to the slopes are also seen as a key way of tackling the Principalities main problem – traffic. A victim of its own success, each morning the roads are full of cars in a snaking traffic jam up the steep sided valley from La Vella to the ski areas. Strategists have already calculated the maximum number of cars that can be crammed in to the road space, limited by the minimal amount of level ground in the country, before the principality grinds to a halt.
That time doesn't look to be too far off, especially as Andorrans themselves, reportedly generally at the more wealthy end of European living standards, tend to buy the biggest four by fours available. Plans to tackle the problem include an extension of the Spanish rail system in to Andorra itself - making it more tempting for Spaniards, who make up the lion's share of Andorra's market, to consider using public transport.
Another negative factor of Andorran skiing is the sky rocketing lift-ticket pricing. Certainly no longer Europe’s bargain basement in that respect, Andorra could be the most expensive ski destination in Europe by 2010 if the annual price growth rate of 10% over the past few years doesn’t slow down. It’s already up there with the pricier destinations in the French and Swiss Alps having overtaken average prices in Austria and Italy.
Snow
Snow conditions are also a little different from those of the Alps. The southern European sunshine can beat down very warmly by the middle of the day, perhaps getting into double figures Celsius. This temperature is quickly reached from normally overnight sub-zeroes, and rapidly returns to around freezing as soon as the sun drops behind the mountains in the late afternoon. Combined with the high altitude and north facing slopes, this means that the slope surface shows few signs of deterioration from such a heat blast.
The proximity to the Mediterranean makes a morning ski and an afternoon swim in the sea a reality, a special treat for the last day before you hop on the plane perhaps. Then again the slopes and lifts are still busy at 5pm if you want to save sea swimming for the summer.
High Quality Ski School
A major bonus for English speaking visitors is the fact that the Andorran ski schools, employ large numbers of Australian, Kiwi and British BASI qualified instructors to teach at all levels. Whatever the ESF in France may tell you, this undoubtedly leads to a different attitude to teaching - more friendly, more relaxed and generally more enjoyable than the norm elsewhere in the Alps. Children and first timers seem to benefit especially.
Mountain Dining
Mountain restaurants are generally of the large motorway services variety and not inspiring, although most have wholesome food on offer and the prices are far better value than the Alps. There are too few however, basically one big one for each sector with no small huts in between.
Pricing
Where Andorra has always won over virtually every other ski destination on earth is in its comprehensive across-the-board value for money. Note we are talking 'value' here and not just cheap. The French, for example, can offer some of the lowest accommodation costs if you're prepared to cram eight poor souls in to a tiny apartment. In North America you get a similar sized apartment for about the same money but are only expected to fit two people in it and standards in uplift, tuition, daycare and dining are all high. In the last category the prices are also amongst the lowest in the Western world, but not so for lift passes, ski school and daycare where you pay the most in the world, except for maybe Japan, to have that high quality. In the former Communist block countries of Western Europe the prices are low, but so is the quality of the lifts, the snow and often the food and lodging.
Andorra manages to come top three in virtually every value grading, although less so than a few years ago. The lift pass is getting expensive, but the lift system is state of the art; the same is true for ski school and day care. The country's duty free status gives it some of the cheapest on-mountain and après ski dining and drinking anywhere in the world. If you rent your car in Spain you'll get some of Europe's best value - not much more than in North America and similarly if you fill up in Andorra you'll find petrol a third of the normal cost - again on a par with the US. Accommodation in the budget category is the main fall-down area - prices if you just turn up on spec are not great for the quality - more spacious than the French cramped condos by a whisker, but generally in a lower state of repair. The best quality and value is to be had by booking through a tour operator.
The resorts are full of high quality ski fashion retailers, all retailing top name gear at prices that are often hard to believe - lower than the end of season clear out prices at many other resorts. Andorra La Vella is the main shopper's paradise stuffed with every consumer desirable imaginable and there's a large duty free mega mart perched on the border just before Spain.
Party Town
Soldeu and Pas de la Casa both have compact centres with a dozen or so small - medium sized bars in each. Service by English or Antipodean bar staff is the order of the day, with prices equivalent to those 'back home' or better, so they're generally lively as soon as the lifts close. The only problems that may occur are for families with children looking for a quiet meal at 'High Tea' time. For them the choice is more limited, with restaurants not generally offering food before 7pm and the bars providing sometimes unpredictable food service (you're not sure how long it will take to get served, or when your food might arrive). The low cost of duty free cigarettes combined with the generally relaxed attitude which makes 'no smoking areas' a rarity also rules out most Andorran bars for those not happy about excessive passive smoking.
Where To Stay
Again Pas de la Casa or Soldeu centres are probably the best places to stay for determined skiers. The best of the slopeside hotels is the new Sporthotel three-building complex in Soldeu. There are other hotels and apartment complexes in the area for the more budget conscious. Those with transport can afford to stay anywhere but parking near your accommodation may well be a problem. Similarly parking spaces in Soldeu, which has a great lift-side multi-storey car park if you're an early bird, have generally all gone if you roll in to town soon after nine. (Later than that, head for El Tarter with all the Spaniards where there's a bigger open-air car park complete with courtesy shuttle bus). If you don't mind the daily traffic queue up to and back from Soldeu, which kind of resembles the attendant crowds for a major sporting event, La Vella has the best of the shops and the night life. The five star Hotel Plaza is arguably the pick of the bunch for the best quality here and the chains are moving in, including the multi-national Accor group with their Novotel as well as lower priced brands and a Holiday Inn.
Resorts in Andorra
La MassanaHeight: 1,780m
Arinsal was established in the early 1970s when the Western end of the La Massana Valley was deve...
Pas de la Casa / Grau Roig
Height: 2,050m
Pas de la Casa, linked to Grau Roig, is the highest and sunniest ski resort in the Pyrenees with ...
Vallnord Ordino Arcalis
Height: 1,940m
Andorra's newest ski area with ultra modern lifts is located in one of the country's most beautif...
Vallnord Pal - Arinsal
Height: 1,780m
Arinsal was established in the early 1970s when the Western end of the La Massana Valley was deve...