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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3070 |
16th March 2018 Skiing: Grau Roig , Andorra Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny start then snow Max Speed: 39.51 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 39.33 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 16th March – ski ***** Grau Roig (Grandvalira), Andorra – sunny start then snow. 6 hours out, 39.51 knot max speed, 39.33 miles covered. Much calmer night in the van but because the skies were clear the temperature dropped, parking at 2120m doesn’t help and we woke to nearly minus 5 with ice on the inside of the van windows! We were warm and toasty with the diesel heater on though :) No avalanche management this morning – yesterday was deafening with exciting explosions from 7 a.m. With clear blue skies the decision whether to go skiing was made for us, all Mag had to do was check we had enough cash as the credit card doesn’t work, luckily, we had enough:) The next thing to decide was go for a morning or push the boat out and go for the full day? As it was cold we thought the slopes would be icy at 9 so put it off until ten and went for a full day, Mag made the girl in the kiosk smile when she handed over exactly 107 Euros (including small change!) for two passes including insurance. The pass covers the Grandvalira area and includes most of Andorra’s well know resorts including Pas de la Casa, Grau Roig, Soldeu and El Tartar and I was hoping to visit all of them if the weather and our legs held out! With picnic packed, GPS on we were on our first lift out of Grau at ten heading towards Casa. We had read some pretty poor reports of skiing in Andorra but we were pleasantly surprised by the long wide and in the main well-groomed pistes, good long lifts with no queues. We definitely picked the best end to ski first as Grau and Casa offer the most picturesque skiing with tree lined runs. Huge wide runs surprisingly free of skiers with a fantastic backdrop of a bowl of peaks including the impressive Pic Negre D’Envalira at 2815m! We started the day with a blue back into Grau then over to explore Casa the limit of the skiing to the west and in the end had the best skiing of the day as the sun shone all morning. We tried all the lifts in this little resort. Even the accommodation was fairly tasteful, we have seen much worse and learners were well catered for too. We went on a variety of runs from a steep super-fast black to wide reds, even Mag enjoyed the Jordi Anglis black accessed by a roller coaster of a lift! With the weather starting to crack up with black clouds approaching and Mag needing the loo we headed back over towards Grau and found the ice Hotel with its very posh toilet in an igloo, the highlight of the day:) It was then back down into Grau and up again to explore the best area first accessed by our favourite - a T-bar which we always find hilarious! Then a difficult button but it was worth it as it was stunning even if snowing by this time! We found a nice place by a small stream for our picnic as the snow fell. We then did the dog-leg drag a few times doing the red and black down. Then with the weather improving we ventured over to Soldue, although the area is full of super wide runs it’s a little featureless and Soldue is nothing to write home about - the blue down was awful, lumpy slushy snow rucked up by an abundance on nervous beginners. Also, the visibility was deteriorating and our legs were getting tired so not much fun. We headed back which must have taken half a dozen lifts! In the end we were pleased to get back to the van, knackered after being out six hours but another top day skiing and our first and probably last here in Andorra! Managed to get the ski gear packed away before the snow came back then had the last of our cake with a well needed cuppa! With the weekend coming we won’t ski again until at least Monday. We need a shop too so will head over to France tomorrow and hope for a couple of relaxing days hopefully with some sunshine somewhere quiet. You get free wi-fi with a code on your lift pass but I think we were too far from the base so it keeps coming and going but we managed a couple of Birthday best wishes and to let the family know what we are up too as Mags mobile has not worked while we have been in Andorra. Photo Gallery Here Saturday 17th March – travel and walk **** Eyne circuit – Brief sunny start then cloud with sleet, snow late. What a terribly disturbed time we had at Grau Roig last night!! We knew it was always going to be busy on a Saturday but we hadn’t anticipated people arriving late on Friday night!! Maybe we should have moved away yesterday after skiing? The problems occurred because all the campervan spots had filled up so after we went to bed they were still arriving and trying to squeeze in-between the ones already there. First of all – at 11.45 - we had a VW California reverse tight to the left of us. They had their diesel heater going on and off for ages. It got worse when another small van reversed into the righthand spot and after a few attempts they managed to squeeze in. It was now 1 a.m. and minus 4/5 degrees! There were four adults inside and they opened and slammed closed their doors many many times and were inconsiderately laughing and chatting while their neighbours both sides were trying to get to sleep! Then much later the snow plough was scraping about in the carpark when no snow had fallen. We did get off in the end and woke at six to minus 7 outside but fine in the van. We dozed until seven – always our drink time - by which time the dopey gigglers had driven off! Then things got worse when a tall white elephant parked next to us in the space the small van vacated!! How he didn’t hit us and the camper the other side we do not know!! It was like a total eclipse and we hate that feeling of being so close to other people but that is how the big campers spend all their nights! If that was campervan life we would sell our much-loved VW! We couldn’t face being there any longer so we packed up and left - not that easy as our outdoor mat was stuck fast in thick ice as were our levelling wedges! We managed to free the wedges but sacrificed the mat when we forgot all about it! We then took the high mountain route out of Andorra past the pistes we skied yesterday, down into Pas de la Casa - it didn’t look so great from the road side and it was very busy. Straight through the border with its bored looking policemen, surrounded by high snowy peaks. We were pleased to be back in France as all the villages instantly look much more inhabited and better maintained. A lot more pleasing on the eye! We stopped and made our breakfast at the little ski resort of Porte Puymorens and were really tempted to stay as it was our sort of resort, half a dozen lifts, nice carpark to stop, and some nice runs - all for 30 Euros a day. As it was Saturday the carpark was filling up fast and we needed a supermarket so reluctantly continued down the mountain. We stopped at the Carrefour at Bourg Madame, went to a ATM in the town. We then headed up to the closed ski resort we stayed at last year, Station d’Err Pugigmal, but they had had much more snow this year and we couldn’t get down to our carpark:( There were again loads of ski tourers here walking to the top of the high mountain but with the weather closing in we decided to head down again. We tried the next little ski resort of Eyne but before we reached the station we saw a sign to some valley walks just to the right of the old village. It looked a promising walk for tomorrow up a deep valley by a stream, it even had a carpark with maps! Unfortunately, it was very wet and muddy and we didn’t want to risk getting stuck but we managed to find a spot just off the road back towards Eyne. It took us several attempts to get reasonably level just as the sleety rain arrived. Had lunch followed, by a read and doze then the rain eased and we decided to go for a walk as our bums were becoming moulded to the shape of the seats! We headed down the road to Eyne and up into the village. Then found a footpath to the ski station only 2.2 km away so walked uphill to it past a field of horses, the hardy type that stay out in all weathers. There was even a foal – amazing how it can survive in such low temperatures and snow!! Nearing the resort, we saw two deer run across the piste – our first this holiday :) We turned at the lifts and returned along the road. The temperature dropped and it was 6.30 by the time we got back. Diesel heater on to warm up and lovely pasta for tea as the snow started to fall let’s hope we don’t have to dig ourselves out in the morning. Still we are very close to the road and should be OK! |
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