sodeu / pas on 4th march 2012

Im also off Andorra on the 4th March so fingers crossed its good. Had my first ski holiday at the end of Feb last year in Borovets. That was good but then again, i could hardly ski :lol:

Tony_H wrote:Last season was bad at times across Europe. Having said that I skied St Moritz mid Jan and it was as good as I can remember conditions ever being - lots of snow and very cold and sunny. Lovely. This was at the same time as people I know in Morzine were skiing grass meadows.

Andorra and Bulgaria do seem to suffer a lot more than the Alps, and for that reason alone I would not consider taking a holiday to either, and Bulgaria not at all for many reasons.

I think you really need to think about what you want from a ski holiday, and for me thats 6 days full on skiing, nothing else matters that much. Dont take the risk would be my advice, go to the Alps and ski high up.

Firstly I must say that I was in Morzine for the whole season last year (as you all know - Yawn yawn) and never at any point needed to ski meadows. What some people forget/don't realise is that Morzine is a doorway to the whole of the Porte De Soleil which offers 650km of pistes in France and Switzerland and on top of that there is very much oppurtunity for off piste skiing. Many places in Europe suffered badly last year but there was plenty of skiing to be had in the PDS which is why Morzine and the other resorts of the PDS remained busy and like us fully booked. In fact towards the end of the season it became even more busy because people were being transferred/shipped here from other resorts . The pistes going down into Morzine did close earlier than usual but that wasn't until the beginning of April and it just meant a different lift had to be used to get to the snow.

Tony, I don't understand why you keep slating Andorra. I think you must have been misinformed because Andorra/Grandvilara is not a low area - 2640m Highest Lift/1710m Lowest Piste/1710 vertical drop and yet you keep telling people you wouldn't consider it due to its altitude but that's not bad compared to somewhere I know you do consider, St Anton - Highest lift 2450m/lowest lift 1304/vertical drop 1350


Andorra is not renound for being the place to go for experts but for regular holiday makers who are not into extreme skiing it is a good place to go.Snow is pretty much assured throughout the season. You can usually expect well over a meter base both upper and lower slopes during February and March and you will have access to 193km of pistes.

There are many places I would prefer to go and this is because there are so many areas that I have not had the oppurtunity to ski in yet and probably never will. But I will always speak up for Andorra as it is very much under rated. I have spent a few weeks there, I know.

Bulgaria on the other hand...Now that's somewhere I just would not consider again.

Now it's time to get back to that waist deep powder in Morzine! :D

snowb4ndit wrote:

Tony_H wrote:Last season was bad at times across Europe. Having said that I skied St Moritz mid Jan and it was as good as I can remember conditions ever being - lots of snow and very cold and sunny. Lovely. This was at the same time as people I know in Morzine were skiing grass meadows.

Andorra and Bulgaria do seem to suffer a lot more than the Alps, and for that reason alone I would not consider taking a holiday to either, and Bulgaria not at all for many reasons.

I think you really need to think about what you want from a ski holiday, and for me thats 6 days full on skiing, nothing else matters that much. Dont take the risk would be my advice, go to the Alps and ski high up.

Firstly I must say that I was in Morzine for the whole season last year (as you all know - Yawn yawn) and never at any point needed to ski meadows.

Not according to facebook posts you made last year where you said the snow had melted in Morzine, and you were skiing on grass in many places at times. I believe that was Jan 2011?

I also had a client visit the area in Jan 2011 and they came back and said the skiing was, I quote, "pants" due to lack of snow coverage. But that was 2011 across much of the Alps to be fair.

snowb4ndit wrote:Tony, I don't understand why you keep slating Andorra. I think you must have been misinformed because Andorra/Grandvilara is not a low area - 2640m Highest Lift/1710m Lowest Piste/1710 vertical drop and yet you keep telling people you wouldn't consider it due to its altitude but that's not bad compared to somewhere I know you do consider, St Anton - Highest lift 2450m/lowest lift 1304/vertical drop 1350

I don't slate Andorra, but I wonder why people would choose it over the alps. I've been there myself for a short break so can speak from experience. The snow coverage was dreadful just before Xmas, but that cvould of course have been an isolated incident.

I also never said or intimated anything about its altitude, but I commented on the snow coverage based on experience of people I know who have been, my short trip, and comments picked up from listening to others in the business. Whilst altitude is high enough, that part of Europe regularly suffers with a lack of snow compared generally to the Alps. Its all well and good quoting snow depths from historical figures, we all know how they can be manipulated. However, the big issue for me when booking is: will the snow be good enough at the given time we want to travel?
The answer to that HAS to be yes for me to consider going, and unfortunately Andorra cannot guarantee that.
For me personally its a non starter.
I am not slagging the place off at all, but I do find it interesting when people consider it before many parts of the Alps. Thats all.

I have to add that the idea of tapas and Estrella Damm whilst skiing DOES have a massive appeal however.

Bulgaria is, as you say, a different kettle of fish altogether as far as I am concerned.

But each to his own, and I sincerely hope anyone going to Andorra has a fantastic time and that they have great conditions. I hate to think of anyone going skiing and finding limited runs open or poor conditions as that kind of ruins the whole idea of going for me.

Happy skiing.

I've been to Andorra twice now and both times it was due to a tight budget. And both times the snow coverage was poor. I'm not going to risk a third time to see if it was a coincidence or whether the snow is generally poor (when compared to the Alps, of course).

The skiing is ok, a bit limited and nothing much in the way of steep and fast. In the ol' days, Andorra's biggest appeal was that it was cheaper than the Alps. I don't think that's the case anymore, as you can get to most French and Austrian resorts on the same budget. I often wonder why people would choose to pay the same and go to Andorra but it does have a cult status as being 'Magaluf in the snow'.

Coop wrote:I've been to Andorra twice now and both times it was due to a tight budget. And both times the snow coverage was poor. I'm not going to risk a third time to see if it was a coincidence or whether the snow is generally poor (when compared to the Alps, of course).

The skiing is ok, a bit limited and nothing much in the way of steep and fast. In the ol' days, Andorra's biggest appeal was that it was cheaper than the Alps. I don't think that's the case anymore, as you can get to most French and Austrian resorts on the same budget. I often wonder why people would choose to pay the same and go to Andorra but it does have a cult status as being 'Magaluf in the snow'.

Funnily enough you can actually book holiday packages to other parts of the Alps for the same or even less than a lot of Andorra packages now. Its tried to market itself as higher class than it was, trying to shake off the lager lout image it once probably had. I met and spoke to some people from the tourist board when I was there, and they've made a real conscious effort to rebrand the place in order to attract tourists to ski there.

Limited skiing - be careful, you'll get shot down in flames for saying that, as the Grandvilara area has a decent extent )

Well Snowbandit you must have been in a different Morzine to the one I visited in March last year - slush, rocks & ski'd out pistes. On the Les Gets side they were bringing the piste bashers down for the summer.

Getting back to the original posting - the risk of leaving it late is that prices will rise because many of the tour operators have cut capacity and this has hit flight availability too.
According to a couple of travel agents we spoke to whilst hunting a last minute boys' trip bargain the accomodation is available but not the flights.
If you search for half term as an example there are a few bargains to be had if you can travel from Belfast but the prices jump by £200 for the midlands or the north & there's next to nothing from London airports. The same applies to a lot of last minute packages out of peak time - the flights aren't there.
It may be different if you want to drive.

The Gran Valira (Soldeu, Pas De La Casa & El Tarter) have a lot of snow making and use them more than many resorts so I wouldn't fret too much about booking now.
Most people who slate Andorra probably haven't been there in recent years (or haven't been there at all)

Is Pas expencive? I mean out on the booze every night, lunch time meals/drinks & maybe a couple of activitys with the reps.

I was planning £500 quid spends for a week thinking this would be more than enough being half board. But then i have the mrs taking a grand... :shock: surely this is abit much??

Tony_H wrote:

Not according to facebook posts you made last year where you said the snow had melted in Morzine, and you were skiing on grass in many places at times. I believe that was Jan 2011?

No disputing that, one post on the 13th Jan did say "Has anyone got any grass skates" (just checked) but you may also remember the many other posts before and after that in January 2011 that were saying what fantastic skiing I was having. You see the snow had melted in Morzine town in fact it was raining, but not on the pistes. (if it's raining in the village then it's snowing up the bubble. As I said there was still plenty of skiing to be had, once up any lift.

I don't slate Andorra, but I wonder why people would choose it over the alps. I've been there myself for a short break so can speak from experience. The snow coverage was dreadful just before Xmas, but that could of course have been an isolated incident.