Skiing in the Pyrenees
A ski break in the French Pyrenees is unlike any other ski
holiday you've taken. It's not like the French Alps or Switzerland: the
resorts are
smaller and more
family-oriented. The mountains themselves are in general lower than the
Alps (around 3000 metres) but the French resorts are all on the northern
side of the range where snow conditions are better.
There are three main
regions:
* the eastern Pyrenees where a half-dozen resorts group around
the town of Font Romeu - among them Les Angles, Pyrenees 2000 and Superbolquère.
*
the Ariège valley which winds from Toulouse up to Andorra
* the Central (or High) Pyrenees with two poles - St Lary
and Peyragudes to the east and La Mongie, Cauterets/Luz and Gavarnie more
to
the west
The Eastern
Pyrenees get a lot of sunshine and, as Font Romeu is a bustling centre,
it attracts a lot of spanish skiers at the start of the season.
The smaller resorts - among them Les Angles, Pyrenees 2000 and St Pierre
- are based on typical Catalonian villages with chalet-type residences
and easy access to the slopes. All are within easy reach of a number of
hot water spas - the most dramatic being St Thomas-les-Bains where you
can bathe in 38° water surrounded by deep snow. This region is also
well served with airports: Carcassonne 90 minutes to the north with direct
flights from Dublin, Liverpool and Stansted. Perpignan is 90 minutes to
the East (Stansted) and Gerona just over the Spanish border to the south
with its wealth of connections to Stansted, Dublin, Liverpool, Frankfurt
and Glasgow.
The Ariège
Valley winds up from the plains through Foix and Tarascon to Ax-les-Thermes,
an old spa town turned ski resort. On the mountainside
above Ax a tremendous ski domain has been developed at Bonascre which stretches
right up to the Andorran border. Andorra, itself a ski destination, is
best avoided ... unless you like sharing your hotel with lager louts and
the slopes with roadhogs. The real problem with Andorra is access: the
only road in from France takes a high 2400 metre pass which is invariably
blocked with snow adding hours, even days to the journey. Incidentally,
this is a magnificent region where a few dicerning UK & Irish visitors
do their house-hunting in France - there's a lot of cheap
property on
the market.
The
Central Pyrenees is the vast region between the Garonne valley
at Luchon and the Vignemale massif above Cauterets which marks the
end of the high mountains before the range descends into the sea at
Hendaye. Luchon itself is a traditional spa town with all that goes
with it: fine but decaying hotels, ornate turn-of-the-century baths
and lots and lots of cafés, markets and action. The ski resort
- Superbagnères - is limited in size and ambition but has a
great postion dominating the town. Toulouse airport is only 90 minutes
away.
Just
a few miles further east lies the 'in' resort of Peyragudes much
frequented by the student fraternity of Toulouse, the local university
centre. Then we get to St Lary which is probably
the most complete ski resort in the Pyrenees: based in a real village
which was there long before skiers of boarders were thought of, it has
a permanent feel which many an alpine resort lacks. The slopes are above
the village, reached by rapid cable car, and offer a serious range of
pistes from beginner to dangerous. Boarders are well catered for too:
in the last winter Olympics local St Lary boarders took a gold and silver
medal!
The Lourdes-Tarbes-Pau
region is dominated by the enormous Tourmalet ski area which, as its
name suggests - stretches over to either side of the infamous Tourmalet
pass to La Mongie on the west and Barèges to the east. Great skiing
and lots of accommodation in the two main resorts. Cauterets is
on the western side of this vast area with its own fairly high ski area
on the Vignemale. All these resorts can be easily reached from Pau or
Lourdes airports.
Ski
resorts in the Pyrenees