Winter has arrived early in the Pyrenees and it’s been snowing for most of November in the mountains, right down to village level.
Formigal and Astun ski stations both opened last Saturday (16th Nov) – I’ve never known them to open that early before. From today Panticosa and Candanchu are also open. The snow is fantastic! Probably better than at any stage last season and there’s a good covering on and off-piste with plenty of powder. Great news for all those signed up to our snowshoeing holiday in Feb/March as this snowfall has set up a great base that should last all season.
At the escuela de esqui deportesmoga you will learn everything you need to have fun during your winter vacations.
We’ve taken advantage of the snow and headed out both on the ski’s with the family to Formigal and on snowshoes to the peak of Errata.
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It’s great living near a ski resort and skiing is part of the lifestlye here. On Wednesday afternoons the kids have ski lessons with the school and last Sunday we ventured out to Panticosa for our first day’s skiing with the whole family – and to make things more challenging for us we took two of Isabel’s and Christophers friends with us too!
The kids on the gondola
It was a fantastic sunny day – perfect for the kids. The school lessons are at Formigal but we headed to Panticosa as it’s a great resort for kids with quite a few beginner runs on travelators for the little ones and some easy blues and reds for Isabel and Iñigo.
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With the holidays over, the tourists gone and the pistes empty once again I headed up to Formigal yesterday for my first days skiing of the season.
We’ve had a lot of snow over the Christmas period – a couple of really big dumps but mixed in with a few days of rain and some high winds so I’ve heard varying reports of the snow conditions so was keen to check it out for myself.
Anayet ski area with Pico Anayet in the background
I’m happy to say there’s loads of snow and conditions are fantastic for the time of year. In both Formigal and Panticosa virtually every piste and lift is open. This is a vast improvement on the last cuple of seasons when during January the snow was very thin on the ground. I’m not saying it’s the best snow I’ve ever skied on but for this time of year it’s great and there’s lots more snow on teh forecast and I think we’re in for a great ski season.
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Formigal in the Valle de Tena is a great ski resort that doesn’t get enough British skiers. I ski there most weeks and there’s some superb on and off-piste skiing to be found there.
There’s not much information in English on the resort so I’ve written this insiders guide to the resort.
Read the full article here.
Up at Formigal on Wednesday – great conditions with plenty of fresh snow. The Sextas area was as good as I’ve seen it this season and the fabulous Bosque run is open.
Plenty of powder on some pistes particularly at Tres Hombres. A lot of wind slab particularly on northern slopes and plenty of fresh avalanches around so take extreme care if venturing off piste.
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It’s been snowing heavily over the last week in the Pyrenees and yesterday got out on the snowshoes for the first time this season with Rafa and Emilio. We headed up to the ski station of Formigal and set out from there. Sunny lower down but cloudy with a freezing wind higher up. Beautiful scenery though and great to see the mountains covered in snow again – every year the first time out on the snow is special.
Rafa and Emilio heading out from Formigal
There’s plenty of snow around in the Portalet and Anayet area of Formigal and and the ski station is due to open this Friday. Sextas has suffered from the really high winds we’ve been having which has swept most of the pistes clear of snow there. Plenty of deep drifts in the sheltered spots though!
Emilio showing how deep the powder was….
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Portalet station at Formigal
Went skiing up at Formigal yesterday and snow conditions were better than expected after last weeks warm weather and rain. It was clear and sunny and I actually felt quite warm as I took the first lift up. I did have a lot of layers on (‘like an onion’ as they say here in Spain) and I was glad for them as the temperature was -13 at the top of the lift! Continue reading →
Hiking, cycling, nature and life in the Pyrenees
