More than most winter sports countries, Andorra invites generalizations. Because it's such a small country, all the resort villages are remarkably similar, having almost all the same pluses and minuses: low prices (including duty-free goods), ugly villages, lively bars and clubs, good ski schools, fairly reliable snow, young clientele, a lot of Brits, mainly easy, well groomed, and often busy slopes with plenty of snowmaking facilities and mediocre mountain restaurants, are all fairly typical of Andorran resorts across the board.
There's an immediate temptation to compare Andorra to Eastern Europe. Some of the above pluses and minuses would be appropriate to Borovets and company, too. But Andorra really is in a different league. It is somewhat more expensive (though still cheap by Alpine standards), has much better lifts and other resort infrastructure, much livelier nightlife, attracts a mostly young and lively clientele rather than families, and has more reliable snow.
In recent years there has been substantial investment in efficient, modern lifts and this year's reporters have been extremely complimentary about the new lifts and the high standard of piste maintenance and grooming.
As with most places that draw a young crowd, boarding has a big following in Andorra. Most of the resorts now boast fun-parks and half-pipes amongst their facilities, and many areas are installing more chairs and gondolas. Tuition is excellent, and there is a lively après-board scene, with good cheap bars and pumping clubs.
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As the most remote resort in Andorra, it's easy to assume Arcalis is not worth a day-trip. But that would be a shame, as the variety of the terrain is better than most of the other resorts, even if the extent is not up to much.
With no village at the resort, it does at least mean that Arcalis has not suffered the affliction of the usual collection of hotels and apartments "thrown up" on the mountainside, as with other resorts in Andorra.
This lack of development may be due to Arcalis's publicly owned status - most Andorrans seem rather proud of the place. It also has some nice touches; it has the nicest base lodge in Andorra, and even a couple of sculptures nestling in amongst the landscape. The resort is very popular with weekenders, both from Andorra and Spain, and the ample car parking on the approach road soaks them up.
The slopes are made up of two valleys which join with a central ridge, creating a horseshoe shape. To the left of the ridge is the main valley, the Cercle d'Arcalis, which is bowl-shaped and is well populated on its left flank with trees. It also contains most of the lifts, which fan out from the base lodge. The ridge provides a couple of steep, sheltered, north-facing pistes back into the right of the bowl, and access to the south-facing runs off the side. These are long blues and reds which run down the second valley, the Cercle de la Coma, which is tree-free. These runs return to the base station around the end of the ridge.
Snow reliability is good. Artificial snow covers the base area and some pistes leading into it. The height of the area, which starts a good 400m higher than Arinsal, also adds to the length of the season.
Of all the resorts in Andorra, Arcalis has the most to offer experts. The black run that leads from the ridge back down towards the base is steep, and often mogulled, while the red run it connects to starts from the top of the main chair, going through a spectacular gulley before widening out. There is also plenty of space between runs for off-piste forays, especially in the Cercle de la Coma. Arcalis is well-known for heli-skiing; the mountains facing the area are favored by the guides.
Intermediates are well catered for, with smooth, long blues and reds being the main feature of Arcalis's slopes. These head through the trees in the Cercle d'Arcalis, and a couple of variations of wide, open runs on blues and reds down through the Cercle de la Coma. The beginners' slopes are conveniently located near the base lodge, with a couple of drag-lifts leading to some longer blue runs.
Queues are not a problem; midweek you can explore the resort and see hardly anyone. At the weekend the area is much busier, especially in good weather, but the approach road/car park has lifts at a number of different places, and with recent investment in high-speed chairs there shouldn't be a long wait at the bottom.
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Pal has escaped much of the development that other resorts in Andorra have succumbed to. Pal is a quiet and picturesque mountain village over the ridge from Arinsal (about 5km by road), with a small, reasonably varied, wooded ski area a couple of kilometers further up the hill. It is remarkably different from its nearby neighbor, and the link between the ski areas is a great enhancement for both resorts.
Arinsal is a little village of Catalan slate and gray stone, near the head of a narrow valley north of Andorra La Vella. It has seen rapid development in recent years, giving the place a building-site appearance.
The gondola, from the village center to the mid-station, installed in 1999 put an end to the trek to the inconveniently situated chair-lift.
Pal has a small area of local slopes which are the most wooded of the Andorran resorts, and the ample car parking space makes it popular with the locals at the weekend. It is surprisingly different from Arinsal, which is tall and narrow with no trees; Pal is short and wide, and covered with greenery.
The only thing to attract experts will be fresh snowfall, when access to off-piste through well-spaced trees is best. Tree cover is so sparse in other Andorran resorts that Pal is the only option for this. Intermediates should go high, where well-bashed reds come down from the summit to the mid-station area. There are a couple of quite steep reds leading off to the Col de la Botella, one of which can grow moguls. Beginners start off on the very gentle slopes just in front of the base lodge, and progress to the short blues that are accessed by longer lifts starting from the same spot.
Queues are not generally a problem, and mid-week the slopes are often deserted. By midseason, the weekenders really do make their presence. By the end of the season the Spanish are already making for the seaside!
Arinsal's small local area is a narrow, east-facing combe of mainly open slopes, suitable for beginners, children and unadventurous intermediates. Almost all the runs lead straight back towards the mid-station area, ideal for parents to keep a watchful eye on children.
With most runs above 1950m and a fair number of guns, snow reliability is relatively assured. Most lifts above the mid-station are drags, keeping the mountain open when it's windy. Although it claims to have the steepest black runs in Andorra, experts won't find much of interest. But some runs are not entirely easy and are suitable for intermediates who don't mind a limited area. Piste maintenance is good.
Arinsal is well-suited to near-beginners or early intermediates. The nursery slopes are gentle, away from the main area and well covered by snow-guns. But they can get very crowded at peak times.
Arinsal's ski school is its pride and joy. It offers good technical tuition and patient instruction. English is widely spoken; prices are low; and lessons are fun. Class sizes can, however, be large in peak season. There is a ski kindergarten and a non-skiing crèche for younger children.
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Even before the link with Soldeu, Pas de la Casa had the biggest ski area and highest lift-served terrain in Andorra. Now the two resorts have a combined 186km of pistes - that's about the same as some big-name Alpine resorts such as Kitzbühel, Wengen-Grindelwald and Les Deux Alpes.
Sited right on the border between Andorra and France, Pas de la Casa is a sizeable collection of concrete-box style apartment blocks and hotels, indicative of the rapid development Andorra saw in the late 60s and early 70s. At least some thought has gone into its development, with most accommodation conveniently placed near the main slopes.
The local slopes are on a high, treeless, north/south ridge, with Pas de la Casa on the east side, Grau Roig on the west. To the south of Grau Roig, towards the head of the valley, is Mont Malus, a small wooded area served by a drag with a couple of pretty reds and a black run through the trees. To the west of Grau Roig, a quad chair goes up to a ridge from which pistes lead into the next valley and lifts from there up to the Colada d'Enradort (2447m) and the Funicamp top station - connected to the village of Encamp by a 6km gondola. 6km of new off-piste runs (not trailed or marked), down to the gondola mid-station are now in place. The link with Soldeu also starts here, although two separate ski passes are needed.
Heavy investment in artificial snowmaking equipment, coupled with the area's height, has meant a very good snow reliability record and a season that often stretches into late April. Piste marking seems to have improved slightly, although some of the reds and blacks are over-rated.
Experts will find little to challenge them, but the black runs heading back to the resort, including the Slalom, are of a steep pitch and can be mogulled, though they are groomed before the bumps grow very large. The black run down from the top of the Mont Malus drag is a good one.
The slopes cater for aspiring intermediates far better, with plenty of top-to-bottom reds and blues on the main ridge, though the criticism that they are a little bland, being of consistent gradient most of the way down, is not wholly unjustified.
There are two areas for beginners and there are plenty of gentle slopes in the main area to progress to.
Snowboarding is popular with the young crowd that Pas de la Casa attracts, and there is a small, lift-served board-park and half-pipe on the Grau Roig side of the mountain.
Queues occasionally build up, mainly at the resort base in the mornings, where a high-speed quad gets through them reasonably efficiently. Over the other side, in the Grau Roig sector, high-speed chairs have eliminated most problems.
The ski school has an excellent reputation, with good English spoken.
There's floodlit skiing every Wednesday night on the Font Negre.
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Soldeu has a lot in common with other resorts in Andorra - low prices, great ski school, grim-looking village, lively bar-based nightlife. However, its local slopes are some of the best in the region. And thanks to the new link with Pas de la Casa/Grau Roig the ski area has more than doubled in size to 186km, as mentioned earlier.
The village is a small, though overgrowing, ribbon of ugly modern buildings along a busy road, most of them hotels and bars.
The main local slopes are shared with El Tarter. There are few challenges and the runs are most suited to early intermediates. A chair-lift rises over wooded, north-facing slopes to Espiolets, a broad, extensive nursery area. From here, a short gentle run to the east takes you to a lift up to Solana (2440m), the area that gives access to Grau Roig and then Pas de la Casa, and has new chairs to aid the passage. It has also recently created five new blue runs and three red, adding a further 11km. A longer, gentle run in the opposite direction takes you to the foot of the open bowl of Riba Escorxada and the arrival point of the lift up from El Tarter. Lifts ascend to both Solana and the high-point of Llosada (2560m), with blue, red and green runs down. All main routes have very easy options, so all but complete beginners can get around the area. A new six-seater chair links EL Tarter's Pla Riba Escorxada with Soldeu's Tossa dels Espiolets, giving easier access in both directions.
Soldeu enjoys fairly reliable snow. Most slopes are north-facing, with artificial snow on the descents to Soldeu. The snowmaking is expanded each year, but should runs to the village be incomplete, the area as a whole is not unduly affected. It's a limited area for experts. There are short off-piste trails down the bowl beneath Llosada, and sometimes you can play in powder among the trees above El Tarter. The most direct of the wooded runs down to El Tarter and Soldeu are suitable for good intermediates, while those of moderate ability will enjoy the relatively long pistes from Llosada. Timid skiers have gentle cruises throughout the area. Riba Escorxada is a fine section for mixed ability groups, and the new link to Canillo/El Forn and newly created runs there allow for more cruising mileage. A new building here includes a ski school and restaurant.
This is a good resort for beginners. It is relatively snowsure, and there are numerous easy pistes to move on to. The Espiolets nursery area and playground has recently been new rope tows have been added. A bar, cafeteria, and nursery are soon to be located inside a new building there.
There's a well-equipped fun-park and half-pipe for snowboarders, which is easier to get to due to a new six-seater chair.
The ski school has an excellent reputation for standards of English, quality of tuition and friendliness. Children aged three to ten can attend a non-ski nursery. Children's ski school starts from six years old, but lunchtime supervision is not available.