ALAMY, SUPERSTOCK
VALLNORD
While Grandvalira is a fully-fledged domaine,
Andorra’s other ski destination, Vallnord
(
vallnord.com), is more a PR flight of fancy.
The two ski areas that huddle together under
the marketing banner, Pal-Arinsal and
Ordino-Arcalis, may share the same lift pass,
but that’s where the connection ends – it’s
a good 20km drive between the two and in
character they’re worlds apart. Despite a
spruce-up, Arinsal still hankers after the
good old days when drinking was as much
of a sport as downhill skiing. Yes, there are
new four-star hotels; yes, there’s a hands-free
lift system, but at heart it is still a party town,
with plenty of happy hours to dance the night
away in your ski boots.
Pal, meanwhile, has no accommodation
and is little more than a daytrippers’ car park.
The two are linked by a six-minute cable car
ride, and the terrain at either end couldn’t
be more different. While Arinsal’s skiing is
based around a high, treeless and often windy
east-facing bowl, Pal is hunkered lower down
and has plenty of tree cover for sheltered
cruising. A gondola plugs the handsome valley
town of La Massana into the ski area, lifting
day-trippers up the mountain in five minutes.
As the closest gondola to the capital, Andorra
la Vella, this can lead to crowding on Pal’s
already limited slopes, but it also offers an
attractive base for those seeking a quieter
option and a fast-track route to the capital.
La Massana is also just a snowball’s throw
from Caldea (caldea.com): Europe’s largest
spa complex and the perfect place to soothe
aching limbs. At the heart of this striking
modern temple to ‘thermoludism’ is a vast
lagoon fed by hot springs and surrounded by
Turkish baths and saunas.
Not many tourists from abroad make it as
far as the principality’s third resort, the remote
Arcalis ski station. Right on the French border,
TOP:
VALLNORD RESORT
ABOVE:
THE LUXURIOUS
CALDEA SPA COMPLEX
“
Remote Arcalis,
on the French
border, is a treasure
locals prefer to
keep to themselves”
it feels a world away from the neon lights of
Arinsal down the road. The drive up the Vall
d’Ordino from La Massana takes you past
ancient stone farms and acres of untouched
land, a breath of fresh air after the clogged
streets and mass development of Andorra la
Vella, just 20km down the hill. There are no
hotels in Arcalis itself, but Ordino, the main
hotel base, is a beautiful town of cobbled
streets set around an ancient square. Housed in
a traditional stone building on the Plaça Major,
the three-star Hotel Santa Barbara de la Vall
d’Ordino (www.hotelstabarbara.com) is full of
character and charm.
There’s talk of expanding Arcalis’s 26km of
north-facing piste into the neighbouring French
valley (on the El Túnel piste, you’ll see signs of
an earlier effort to bore through the mountain).
For now, this is a treasure that the locals like
to keep to themselves – and with Andorra’s
highest skiing, most unspoilt surroundings and
finest snow conditions, don’t count on a major
global marketing push any time soon. Instead,
hop on the Els Feixans draglift from the back
bowl to the top of the ‘Fora Pista’ freeride area
and soak up the silence, before floating down
through the vintage Pyrenean powder, with not
a single happy hour in sight.
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2012
WIZZ MAGAZINE
59
