Skiing in Andorra

This year we decided to go for skiing to a new country, unlike our standard skiing destinations of France, Austria and Switzerland. We researched a few places and finally zeroed in on Andorra. It turned out to be quite a comedy of errors for us to get there, though not because of the place. I ended up having to book the flights 4 separate times due to various reasons. But eventually we got there.

And we were thankful for having made it. It was a great experience to ski in Andorra. It was similar but different from most of the alpine skiing I have done before. The slopes were wider, the sun more present, and the base villages less snowed out. Overall we had a great time.


Getting there

Getting to Andorra wasn't as quick as other skiing destinations. We took a flight to Barcelona and then it was a 3-4 hour drive till Encamp, in Andorra. The infrastructure to get there is convenient, there are many shuttle buses running directly from Barcelona airport to Andorra for all the skiers turning up. So right after landing, we got onto one of those buses and were off.

The drive was initially through green hills with some peaks in the far distance. Then the landscape changed to dry rocky lands, with a few villages in between. We passed by small castles on the hilltops, with the setting sun casting all colours of shadows all around. All in all it was a pleasant drive, though it got dark pretty soon and we couldn’t see much outside for the second half of the journey.

Encamp

After reaching the capital of Andorra, we were shifted into smaller buses to drop us to our small ski towns. We checked into our hotel, Petit Paris in the town of Encamp. The town felt small, quiet and unalpine. There was no snow in town!! To see the snow, we would have to take a gondola up the mountains. The temperatures were still freezing though. Also we realized after reaching that Andorra is not in the EU, after our EU roaming stopped working!

Andorra is a small country, landlocked between Spain and France. Its culture is similar to both. There are some small towns around, though at that time it felt like the entire country was one big connected ski resort, given you can get to all the towns skiing across the mountains.


Skiing in Andorra

The next 4 days we skied all across the different slopes of Andorra. We started with blues and then mostly did reds with a few blacks in between. It was a breeze to ski. The slopes were wide enough, so we could feel safe, and there were enough slopes to keep us busy for a week. There were a few slopes like El Diablo which had moguls, the rest were ok. All the slopes required varying levels of skill, so it was always interesting to explore a new part of the mountains. And the entire vibe was more chill, less competitive than in the Alps, which made it quite enjoyable.

The markings on the slopes left a lot to be desired though. The maps don't really cover all the slopes, turns and exits accurately. It's just not possible to figure out what goes where - it took us two days to figure out all that was not on the maps. Sometimes, slope linkages were missing, some huge flat had multiple slopes converging there but it was completely impossible to figure them out from the maps. We tried every day to ski together but would very quickly get lost 😂. And given that our EU roaming wasn't working, it wasn't possible to meet up after either. 

Encamp

Many of the lifts were perched along mountain edges and they felt scary to ride in. Especially when it was windy, it was quite an experience to be in them, and wonder where one would fall if something snapped 😂.

This year there was less snow than usual though. So some of the slopes had grass peeping out of the snow. Also in the valleys below, we couldn’t see much snow either.

The slopes

There were many small towns all around where one could ski down to. My village, Encamp did not have that option though. One of the days, I skied down to Pas De La Casa. It was such a cute little town. It would have been nice to stay at a place like this, it felt very remote and cosy. It also had lots of red slopes near it. Another day, we skied down to Soldeu and it was again quite gorgeous. Also a thing I noticed about skiing here was that during lunch breaks when there was music, people danced more. Maybe it was the Spanish influence, nonetheless it was quite enjoyable to see. 

In the middle of our stay, it snowed. So both Encamp as well as the slopes were fully white. It was a pleasure to ski then. Though I must talk about the one evening I thought I was going to die in the mountain snow. I have heard many times that the weather on the mountains can change any time and one should always be prepared - I finally experienced it in Andorra.

One day, the clouds came down suddenly and the mountain got windy and completely foggy - we couldn't see a thing. The lift that was to take me back to the Encamp gondola also stopped working. I went up a lift (which was moving wildly in the wind, with zero visibility around) from where I should have been able to link to my gondola down to Encamp. But once on top, we couldn't see anything - even how to get to the gondola!

Slowly the number of people coming up the lift also reduced and I felt a bit lost. We had no clue where we were, and how to get back home! Some of the skiers we encountered were going in a completely different direction. Somehow, I found some other skiers who were lost and we decided to help each other (or at least stay with each other till we die together 😂). We started skiing in a direction we felt could be right (at least it wasn't going off the mountain 😂). We just knew we were on a slope, though with no idea where we were going. And we continued like this. We had a few such scary minutes just skiing slowly like this - some of the others just took off their skis and started walking. 

After some time, we saw a board pointing to a slope going down to a town and we were then able to figure out at least where we were. Then we slowly started skiing down, thinking that once we were down, at least we could take the bus back to our town from there. And suddenly the clouds cleared! The blue sky appeared and all was well again.

We went down the slope. And then instead of taking a bus back, I got confident and thought, let me go back up the mountain and take the gondola going back to my village. And when I got to the top, again the clouds were back and again I could not figure out where to go - I really felt I am going to die there this time for sure.

Thankfully the lift operator told me where to find the gondola (it was right in front, 10 metres away, though I could not see it) and then jaan main jaan aayee. I was going to live! I took the gondola, and quietly went down, not attempting anything again that evening 😂. What an experience it was, quite scary, and taught me so much about the mountains! The next day the moment it started getting cloudy, I ended my day and promptly took the gondola down - I had learnt my lesson 😁. Though after the few days of snow, the valleys and slopes looked prettier than before, the grass was gone and everything was covered with soft layers of snow. It was a lot more fun to ski after the snowfall.


About Encamp

View from hotel

We were living in a small ski hotel, called Petit Paris, next to the small stream that runs through Encamp. When it snowed, it looked so pretty outside our hotel, the stream and the buildings beyond. It was a 20 mins uphill walk from there to the gondola and it killed us every day to walk up there in the mornings! Especially walking through the snow and ice around.

Sunset in Encamp

I ventured out in our village a few times. People were generally friendly. And they spoke a language that sounded different than Spanish. We ate out regularly in town and the food was ok, nothing much to write about. One of the days we went to a Filipino restaurant and it had amazing food and service, that one we loved.

Old town

The architecture in town was very different than the Alps. One of the evenings, I saw a nice sunset along the stream. Another of the days when I came back early from skiing, I explored the historic part of town. It was quite small. There were some narrow alleys, some cobbled streets, a church and a few houses. The roads were lined with old wooden and stone houses, they looked cute. The rest of the town had modern buildings and was nondescript.

Painting on the streets

Overall the feeling in Andorra was definitely not of alpine skiing, maybe because it wasn't always snowed under. The place felt a lot more chill. There were enough reds and blues everywhere, with very wide slopes. And the slopes were quite relaxed too - it was a pleasure to ski here.


Leaving Andorra

On our last day, we took a bus back to Barcelona. The drive back was gorgeous, through mountains and valleys, with some snow far off but mostly dried brown grass in the valleys around. We passed by some stone houses and settlements, some trailer parks, some hilltop castles and a river along our drive. It all felt so rustic and charming, Andorra was different.

Though our 3-hour drive turned into a 6-hour long ordeal. The delays were caused at the border when the police were stopping and checking all passengers and their luggage. Apparently this is because Andorra is not in the EU, and some people smuggle shopping across the border. We had no idea to expect this. So we took 6 hours to drive back and missed our flight. At the last minute, we had to then book a hotel near the airport and stay overnight, before flying back out in the morning.

But overall, we had a pleasant experience skiing in Andorra and would definitely recommend it.