We have lift-off in Andorra!
Novice skiers will soon be whizzing down these fun, friendly slopes
WALLOP went the six-yearold on the icy wooden floor and splat went the bright red meatballs. ‘Oh my god!’ shouted the immaculate lady with the iPad taking in some midday rays in a white ski suit. And down went our hearts as we imagined the return to the 20-minute scrum for food in the self-service mountain restaurant.
But family skiing is like that. Peaks and valleys at every moment. A perfect day’s carving, a crunching fall in the car park.
Second prize for the proud son in the ski school slalom, then brought sharply back to earth by a 14 stone snowboarder at 30 mph.
When my sister picked Andorra for a ski holiday, I was disappointed. I had read the blurb for Channel 5’s Andorra-based Brits On The Piste documentary about budget breaks and bargain booze. No thanks.
All protests were overruled, so at 10.30am on Monday in February half-term, with the family tucked in to an English ski-school, the sun smacking off gleaming white gullies and peaks, and the fresh chamois prints meandering beneath the chairlifts, I shook hands with one of the most delightful and brilliant guides in Europe: retired Lancaster-born, Andorran resident Mike Wilson — and met his lovely wife Elizabeth.
I learnt more about skiing in five days with them than I have probably learned in all my five decades. I certainly learn more about Andorra than most Andorrans know.
This was the perfect place for our two boys, aged six and 12. The relatively gentle Pyrenees produce flatter, smoother slopes than the Alps — absolutely ideal for beginners. And at that age you don’t need miles of piste to have a wonderful time.
Andorra is a tiny country in the Pyrenees on the border between Spain and France, just two hours from Barcelona. Its resident population is just 76,000. The week we were there looked like being the busiest in the history of the resort, with a perfect storm of overlapping British, French, German, Polish and Belgian half-terms.
I timed it and never waited in a lift queue for more than four minutes and 36 seconds. Mike turned out to be a former engineer and explained the reason: all but two of the chairlifts in Andorra are among the fastest in the world.
Above all, the people are absurdly friendly. The multinational team at the Hotel del Clos were good nature personified in the face of exhausting demands from stressed parents and overexcited children.
Yes, it was a bad moment turning back to get more of those meatballs. Then, a tap on the shoulder. A waiter had spotted the disaster and in the child’s place at our table was a fresh plate, a drink of Sprite and a double helping of chips. I rest my case.