BRINGING YOUR HOLIDAY IDEAS TO LIFE!
Debbie Skiing in Pas de la Casa
Still rocking Pas de la Casa by Debbie Marshall
The bus ride to Andorra from either Toulouse or Barcelona takes around 3 hours, and upon greeting the driver at Toulouse airport with a cheery “bonjour”, he shook his head and replied “hola”, reminding me that Spanish is the main language of this tiny principality nestled in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. Andorra was officially founded in 1278, and since then has retained its independence, governed jointly by France and Catalonia. As the bus climbed the winding mountain road and we passed through the border, I remembered my last visit to Pas de la Casa nearly 30 years earlier, with its disjointed ski area requiring different lift passes for adjacent resorts, and a proliferation of bars and late-night parties. If truth be told, I could remember more about the apres-ski than the actual ski. So it was with some trepidation that wondered if I would still have the energy, whether I would feel out-of-place amidst all those high-octane youngsters, and, most importantly, whether I would be able to get a decent cup of tea.
We pulled into the town centre where a mismatch of 1970s multi-coloured apartment blocks overlook the main street, and it’s fair to say that Pas de la Casa won’t be making an appearance on chocolate boxes any time soon. Walking up through the resort, there was an astounding number of duty-free supermarkets, each packed to the gunnels with tobacco, alcohol, perfume and electric goods, and not a fruit & veg counter in sight. With smoking laws in the UK forbidding open displays of cigarettes, it was quite a shock to see them being sold quite literally by the thousand, and with big promotional offers next to the health warnings. And as for the alcohol: aisle upon aisle with an astonishing variety of spirits all at knockdown prices. Pas de la Casa is really not the place to come for a detox!
My walk continued uphill past busy bars and restaurants where the apres-ski had already begun at 3pm with a friendly and relaxed vibe. My final destination was the Princesa apartments, located at the top of the resort in a modern block overlooking the slopes. As one would expect from a trusted company like Pierre & Vacances, my apartment ticked all the boxes: a good size, bright, light, well-equipped, clean, warm, lovely views, skiing almost from the door and plenty of hot water.
Deciding that the apres-ski could wait for another night, I was up early the next morning to explore the slopes. Unlike many other resorts, there was no queue for the first lift at 9am; apres-ski had doubtless finished only a few hours earlier. It was over 30 years since my last set of turns here, and times had moved on with local disputes between the resorts resolved. This means that the Grandvalira Andorra ski pass now covers over 200km of pistes with 67 lifts and 123 runs all accessible from Pas de la Casa making it the largest ski area in the Pyrenees. I was impressed, and after a fabulous morning cruising red and blue pistes in the sunshine, I stopped for lunch and met a 3-generation family who have been coming to Andorra for years. Everyone was in good spirits: the teenage children who skied all day and partied all night, the parents who kept up with the skiing but took the apres-ski at a gentler pace, and the grandparents who had taken the lift to meet the family at lunchtime, before spending the afternoon on the terrace in the sun.
There were plenty of older skiers on the slopes, as well as a few boarders, and I stopped to see if I could assist a middle-aged gentleman lying on his back at the top of a chairlift thinking he might have fallen and be in need of assistance. It turned out that he was finding it difficult to fasten the bindings on his snowboard due to a combination of increasing mid-riff and decreasing knee flexibility at the age of 65, and he was lying in the snow to take a rest after all the exertion. Vowing to myself that this was another good reason not to take up snowboarding in later life, I was glad to be firmly attached to my skis.
By mid-afternoon in March, the snow was starting to get soft, and it was time to contemplate the multitude of apres-ski options, starting with a popular pit-stop at the top of the main lift before the final descent. After that, a beer at the foot of the slopes and later onward to Paddy’s Irish Bar where I was possibly the only lightweight drinking tea (and a very good brew it was too). Here I met two enthusiastic local reps herding a large group on a pub crawl with a free shot in every bar. This involved a specific challenge at Paddy’s where two eager volunteers were turned upside down and attached to a pair of ski or snowboard bindings on the ceiling, then cheered on to drink what is apparently called a “dirty” pint. Well clearly I’ve lived a sheltered life, and I watched on bemused as two young lads hung upside down downing their drinks with ease to cheers from the crowd. There might not be much in the way of culture in Pas, but there’s certainly entertainment.
To be honest, wild partying is not really my scene and I retired early to bed, deciding I was no match for the younger generation who seemed to be on a mission to drink vast quantities of cheap booze. However, do not be put off by Andorra’s reputation as Ibiza on ice, as this is only part of the story. The resort offers great value skiing with a laid-back and sociable atmosphere that makes it easy to meet people, and welcomes visitors of all ages to enjoy the slopes, duty-free shopping and apres-ski at their own pace. It was good to be back.
Fact box
Debbie was a guest for 2 nights at the Princesa Apartments in Pas de la Casa.
For more information about Pas de la Casa, visit https://www.pasdelacasa.com/
For more information about the Princesa Apartments, visit https://www.pierreetvacances.com/gb-en/fp_ONC_self-catering-residence-pas-de-la-casa-princesa
For information about the Grandvalira ski pass, visit https://www.grandvalira.com/
Debbie Marshall
July 2023
