Skiing in Baqueira, Spain

The sky was blue and the fresh snow was glistening all around us as we enjoyed a meaty Sunday lunch in an abandoned Pyrenean village. We had just skied down a deserted valley at the bottom of which were the renovated church and a small refuge (https://www.refugimontgarri.com/). The ambience was idyllic, even more so when greeted by a large group of husky dogs as we reluctantly started to make our way back to civilisation. This reluctance was replaced by exhilaration after attaching our ski poles to a long rope behind a snowmobile which then proceeded to drag us at high speed laughing and screaming for six kilometres to the nearest ski-lift.

This was just one of the many highlights of our long weekend skiing in Baqueira Beret, which is the largest ski resort in Spain but only now becoming better known internationally. It’s 2.5 hours by road from Toulouse airport and the journey itself is very scenic. The road winds through traditional towns and villages where people relate much more to the region than whether they are French or Spanish.

We were on a long weekend off-piste trip with the Ski Club of Great Britain, the same trip which had been cancelled the previous year because of a lack snow. Luckily for us there were no such issues this year; it had snowed almost 50cm just prior to our arrival and a further 30cm accumulated during our visit. The town of Baqueira itself is not as attractive as the ones lower down the valley, but it has great ski infrastructure including a small train that carries you to and from the main lifts. The après ski is a little limited with most taking place in the hotels, however there are some small bars and restaurants dotted around. There’s even a Moet bar on the slopes for the more moneyed skiers although overall the resort offers better value for money than many other ski areas.

We stayed at the Montarto hotel (https://www.montarto.com/en/) which had clean and comfortable rooms, three welcoming bars, a 20m swimming pool and a spa (at extra cost). The buffet breakfasts and dinners provided a huge variety of food and, as tends to be the case when skiing, most of us returned home with a couple of extra pounds around our waists.

We were hosted locally by Kabi Travels (https://kabi-travels.com/en/), founded by Erdune Pasaban who was the first lady to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000m in the world. She and the guides provided a unique ski experience, giving us interesting insights into the region, its history, its geography and its people. All were proud ‘euskaldanaks’, originating from the nearby Basque Country. Our guides knew the off-piste areas very well and the tree skiing was some of the best we’ve experienced in Europe.

January is a great time to go, as the peak period runs through February to mid-March. Even still, it’s a good idea to lunch early….the Spanish like a long late lunch which marks the end of their ski day.

Overall Baqueira is now high on our list of favourite ski resorts and we will definitely return.