Snow in the Pyrenees
Snow in the Pyrenees

Since Christmas, we’ve had a huge amount of snow in the Pyrenees and even down at Biescas, we had huge falls of snow every day between Christmas and New Year. It made everything look very Christmassy which was nice as this has been a holiday without as much Christmas cheer as usual!

We were able to snowshoe direct from the front door which isn’t very common. In the woods above Biescas there was 50 cm of lovely powder – great fun!

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There’s a lovely route from Biescas up to the ‘Casita de las Brujas’ – the witches house. The trees were totally covered and looked beautiful. It was tough going with such deep snow but fortunately we weren’t the first to pass so there were tracks to follow.

This is also a nice walking route to do in summer to and Biescas have been really good in the last couple of years and created/signposted several really nice routes around Biescas. The best ones go up to the dolmen at Santa Elena, this path to the casita de las brujas and a lovely route up to the ruins of the 11th century Monastery of San Pelay.

We got out with the kids and the dogs quite a bit – I’m not sure who enjoys the snow more. One day we took Christopher for a stroll on a tiny fabella pony – our dog Lucky was almost bigger than the pony!

Christopher got his first pair of snowshoes from Father Christmas so we got a chance to try them out in the fields around the village. Once the weather warms up a little I’ll take him up into the mountains on them – should be good fun.

Further up the valley the lakes were all frozen and everything looked very white and beautiful. Snow conditions are absolutely brilliant for skiing and the ski stations should be packed. Unfortunately, with the current travel restrictions here (we can’t move between provinces) Formigal and Panticosa, the two ski station in the Valle de Tena, aren’t open. Economically it’s a disaster for the valley and with no ski tourists, most hotels and restaurants are closed at the moment – tough times for all.

We’re now set for at least ten days of sunny but very cold days, so the snow will stay in lovely condition for a while. I look forward to getting out and having some more adventures on the white stuff.

Happy New Year to all of our readers and guests. Let’s all hope for a brighter 2021 and we hope to be able to welcome you all back to our beautiful mountains again soon.

1 Comment

  1. Maria Stephen

    It looks so lovely. You certainly have far more snow than we have in the Alt Pirineu not far from the border with Andorra. We are in Romadriu, a very remote village with only 4 people living here. We have managed some skiing/boarding at Portaine, which is on our doorstep, but with a new lockdown starting on Thursday are not sure whether or not we will still be able to go. Hopefully we shall be able to travel more freely by the summer – we would both love to come to your neck of the woods and see Biescas for ourselves. Happy New Year to you all.
    Maria and Greg Stephen

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