Ski Instructor Report 24th December 2011

We have just finished the first week of the season. Sadly the guests did not have good weather. It snowed over the weekend that they arrived but it turned wet and when the sun shone it was windy. My group of beginners said that they had enjoyed their week and would all be skiing next year ( a good result). I met a lovely lady in the Palarine, who said that she regularly reads this report. This cheered me up as I often wondered if their was anyone out there. After my request in my last report; someone wanted to know how their daughter can become a ski instructor and is it a good job. They also mentioned meeting a solicitor who worked as an instructor in winter. Firstly, one must obtain a qualification by an internationally recognised ski association. I chose the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI). I am also qualified under the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA). If you google either of those names you will find details of location dates and times of the courses. Both have a level one qualification, which allows you to work in an enclosed environment. After this there is a level two qualification, which if you pass the assessment, you may teach on the mountain. You must check the local rules of the country where you wish to work. For example, Andorra insists on an extra four days on snow training before being allowed to teach in Andorra. The French want you to pass a racing speed test. A word of warning; BASI have far more qualified instructors than they have actually working. It is easier to find work if you are bilingual or polyglot. If you can speak Russian, Hebrew or Dutch, you would be able to jump the queue to work in Arinsal. Anyone becoming a ski instructor must consider what they are going to do in the summer. If they have a proper job and their employer is willing to give them four months leave each winter, which would be great. However most instructors have to be a bit more imaginative. Here is a list of fields where instructors have found work in the past: Garden Centres, Campsites, Building sites, Pop concerts, Holiday airlines (some of them moth ball some of their fleet in Winter) Bars in Spain, teaching water sports or skiing in southern hemisphere and many more that I am sure you can think of. Is instructing a good job? I love the holiday atmosphere in the resort. There is great job satisfaction; if you have a class of a dozen absolute beginners on a Monday and at the end of the week, they all tell you that they are all booking ski holiday next year.( Like this week’s group) Or when you have a private lesson with an unhappy person, whose friend or family have tried to teach them to ski and have just terrified them, by going too high, too fast, too soon, then at the end of the lesson they are happy and now love skiing. If you think instructing is for you go for it!

Ski Instructors Report 17th December 2011

Arinsal ski station opened at 9am on Saturday 17th December. It had snowed overnight so I was up there early to enjoy the fresh snow. It was still snowing gently; this meant that the visibility was not good. I enjoyed a pleasant day skiing. I used the word pleasant rather than great, as my tired old eyes definitely prefer good visibility. Our season has now started and we are looking forward to greeting our first British groups on Monday. Whilst waiting for my bus; an unfortunate Spanish guy, on foot, asked me, “Where could he buy snow chains?” He must have been one of those doubting people who declared that we would not have a snow fall before the start of the season. I have been writing these reports for about three years and find that I am now repeating myself. So if there is any one reading them, could he or she please suggest a ski based subject, which I could write about. To suggest topics for the Ski Instructors report please let us know by leaving us a message.

Ski Instructors Report 9th December 2011

There is not much to report this week, as the resort has not yet opened. I have enjoyed several good mountain walks with my friends, Corinne, Mark and Nick. It really was ideal weather for walking. The sun was shining but it was not too hot for the uphill sections. The views were magnificent and the company was good. Obviously, you do not want to read about my mountain walks but about skiing: all three of the Vallnord resorts, Arinsal Arcalis and Pal have a good cover of snow on the top runs. But sadly for us Arinsal does not have easy access up to and down from these runs. However at Arcalis things are different; the green run from the Coma restaurant and ski area, is a road in the summer, so at present it is very easy for cars and busses to drive to the Coma restaurant and enjoy the Coma ski area. I have had reports of good skiing there. I have also been told that it got very crowded in the afternoons due to the limited area and the fact that last week the Spanish had two Bank Holidays. (It sometimes pays to live in a catholic country.) We are all hoping that the cold spell that Britain recently had, will drift down to us soon, so that my next report will be about me enjoying great skiing."

Ski Instructors Report 29th November 2011

I have just arrived in Arinsal; The resort is not open yet. The weather is very nice and only a few of the bars are open but there are several friendly old faces about. The changes that I have noticed are; the Quo Vadis has had the interior revamped and looks very nice. El Moli has been taken over by an English couple, who are very experience in catering and hope to turn it into the best restaurant in Arinsal. I will report bck after I have eaten there. The coma Pedrossa has opened as a popular locals' bar. Access to the ski scholl has been improved and it looks a lt safer for people on foot. The Palarine is going to operate a mini bus service for people want to eat there, this should make it more accessible.

I ansewr to the inevitable question , What did you do in the summer. I had a relaxing time inthe sunny south of England. I did make one tip to Benidorm to meet up with Graham and celebrate his birthday with other people fom Arinsal. My wife and I thought Benidorm was an experience. Our hotel seemed to be full of old people. I do not mind old people but this lot behaved old; queuing up for dinner at half past six. Hordes of them in the bar playing Bingo every night at 8-30. We have become used to younger and more active holidaymakers in Arinsal. There were loads of people on those electric scooters charging about the pavements. Many were not disabled but just so fat, that they did not want to walk anywhere. The fatter the person the less they seemed to cover up. It almost put me of my beer, but not quite.


We were in a bar about 10-30, when a lady in her sixties came on the stage, took off the only two pieces of clothing that she was wearing, then proceeded to remove several items from a very private part of her body; a ball, yards and yards for coloured string, a bunch of flowers (artificial not fresh) six razor blades on a string. She performed several other tricks, which I am sure you do not want to hear about. Her final act, which impressed my wife, was to put a bottle of San Miguel between her legs and take the top off. I am going to give the lady the benefit of doubt and suggest that this was a magic show with specially prepared props and great sleight of hand, creating the illusion of performing these acts. Rather like, Jorge, the magician at the Palarine. His act was much more entertaining and enjoyable than the [UTF-8?]lady’s rather bizarre performance. Later in the week we saw several adverts for her act in different bars. We reckoned that she did 7 or 8 performances a night. She was obviously working full time. I pointed out to my wife that in the current economic recession, having a full time job provided one with dignity and self respect.



I am looking forward to returning to Arinsal, our clients, and live performers will appear very upmarket compared to Benidorm. I hope to meet many of you this sessaon and hope that we have lots of fres snow.

Ski Instructors Report 2nd April 2011

My season is now over. I had a very fast kid’s class for my last week, with ages between 6 and 10 years.. Seven year old Masie had the fastest slalom time in the ski school race, being two seconds faster than the winner of the top intermediate class. Well done Masie! I was assisted some of the time by Anne, a very competent skier, who helped when she got bored with skiing on her own. In the past I have praised private lessons over group lessons but Anne was a good example of someone who would have enjoyed skiing in the top group. She would have enjoyed the social side and may have found someone of a similar level to ski with after the class. We have had very hot weather all week, so the snow is very heavy by mid afternoon. If this weather holds it will be ideal for those of us who are leaving next week. It means that we will ski in the morning and chill out with a lazy lunch or beer in the afternoon sunshine. Amongst those leaving next week is Daniela and her Chef boyfriend Roland; they have both been excellent workers in the Palarine. I do hope that they both return next season. Daniela ended her snowboarding season on a high; she went to the Snow Park and landed a great leap over one of the jumps with a huge kicker. Some of my fellow workers have already left and a few will be leaving during this week, so I will have someone to chill out with before my flight back to the UK.

The resort will stay open until the 25 th of April but there will be no more British groups. The ski school is just keeping those who live here and are releasing the rest of us. This may be my last report unless I can think of something to write during my chill out period.

Ski Instructors Report 27th March 2011

I have not written a report for two weeks as I have been in England. My journey home was uneventful; I was picked up at my hotel by the Novatel mini bus and taken to the bus station where I transferred onto a coach that took me to terminal two at Barcelona airport, in three hours. This terminal is almost disserted as only Easyjet and other budget airlines use it. All the main carriers use the new terminal one. As I had time to spare I followed the signs for the railway station where there is a greasy spoon type of cafe. They do a steak, egg and chips sort of menu. It has a bit more atmosphere than the rather sterile terminal eateries. I enjoyed my stay in England; everything seemed so fresh, with new daffodils, blossom and other spring flowers. I was able to see my daughter perform in Thoroughly Modern Millie with the local musical society.

Unfortunately things were not alright with my eyes and I had to stay an extra week for treatment. Then another uneventful journey back to the Palarine, where Stuart BBA served me with my first pint of San Miguel for a fortnight. I must admit I did enjoy some real ale, whilst in England, which I much prefer to the local lager type beers that I get in Arinsal. Not getting real ale out here is a small price to pay for spending a fun packed winter in a ski resort. I had two great days of spring skiing on Thursday and Friday in Arinsal. On Saturday, I went with Kevin, Matthew and three other instructors to Soldeu for our yearly refresher course. It was both interesting and enjoyable.

Later that evening I attended my End of Season Ceildh in Bogart’s bar. Sadly this was poorly attended, some people had already left the resort and it clashed with another instructor’s birthday party. Kevin did a great job as stand in disc jockey and those that attended appeared to enjoy themselves. We did plenty of dancing and a few party pieces. One of the hotel guests did a funny but rude parody on a Burns’ poem. It was a good night but the was some food left over from the buffet that the Princessa Parc had laid on for us.

We have very few new arrivals today, so we are wondering how many of us will get a group. There is only one more week after this for British tour companies, although the resort is staying open until 25th April to deal with the Easter Holiday.

Ski Instructors Report 12th March 2011

After Saturday’s snow and rain, we had a fairly sunny Sunday. There was a lot of new snow and at the top of the mountain it was light and of course, untracked. I had a wonderful morning’s off piste skiing until my first lesson at 1 pm. The snow was not exactly “Champagne powder” but definitely worth skiing although it did become quite heavy on the lower slopes. The on piste skiing was fantastic. As it was transfer day, there were very few people on the slopes. Anyone arriving today should have a great week’s skiing.

Ski Instructors Report 12th March 2011

What a glorious week for weather, we have just had. Since last Friday until this Friday we have enjoyed wall to wall sunshine with the vivid deep blue sky that we rarely see back home. We had great spring snow skiing and fairly high temperatures during the afternoons. I was using my factor 50 sun cream. When we stopped for our coffee break the girls in my group were sitting on the sun terrace in their Tee shirts. However, I did meet one holiday maker in the gondola, who was unhappy with this marvellous weather he wanted to know if there was any snow forecast. This was on Monday and at the time, we had stationary high pressure, so snow was not imminent. He finally got the bad weather that he craved for, early on Saturday morning, it started to snow. When I woke up, there was snow on the roofs of the cars in Erts. By the time I had finished breakfast, the snow had turned to rain in the village with wet snow and poor visibility on the mountain. Last week people were asking when would we be having sunshine. It is impossible to please all the people all the time.

My intermediate class mainly consisted of charming ladies who wanted to enjoy the skiing and to stay well within their comfort zone. We all had a very enjoyable week.

I am back to England next week for a few days, so there will not be a report unless I can get another instructor to be a guest writer for that week.

Ski Instructors Report 5th March 2011

This week it snowed every day except Friday and Saturday.Iit was glorious clear blue skies and great snow on both days. I had beginners this week and I had forgotten how much fun you can have on the first day with a jolly group. This group was definitely jolly. We had some great après ski evenings watching the day’s videos. One lady was a bit slower than the others. Fortunately, she had a very sensible boyfriend who booked a couple of private lessons for her. We had a great time and she was able to keep up with the group. Most of my other private lessons were with people whose friends or family had pushed them too far, too fast and too high too soon. I had to restore their confidence and then improve their skiing. One exception was the husband of a lady in my group; he was having difficulty keeping up with his beginners’ class, so she bought him a private lesson. I managed to improve him so much, that the following day he was the fastest in his group’s race and was very proud of his Gold Medal.

I went to the penultimate “Decades”. The boys performing “Y M C A” were very good. They say practice makes perfection; it is a pity that they have only one more performance this season. It was a much more lively audience after last week’s half term. As usual Ben’s tribute to Wagner was magnificent.

I am holding an End of Season Ceildh on the 26th, this is to make up for the fact that I missed the Burns’ night party due to illness. So if any Jocks will be in Arinsal on the 26th bring your kilts and join in the dancing.

Ski Instructors Report 26th February 2011

This week produced a very mixed bag of weather conditions. We had a couple of days of snow and a couple of very warm days, with strong winds. It was the English half term holiday, so most of our clients were here with their families. There were 24 classes of children. Most instructors had a morning and an afternoon group. Next week looks a lot quieter and of course, a lot cheaper. We are expecting more young people and livelier evenings.

I had a very jolly evening at the Palarine this week.. Every Thursday they put on a super Chinese buffet, which is open to non residents. It was so popular this week that the restaurant opened at 7 pm, so that they could fit in a second sitting. They menu was very impressive; soup, prawn crackers, sushi, pickled ginger, spareribs, spring rolls and crispy aromatic duck with pancakes. That was just the starters. I grazed on the starters and did not have any room for the main courses, although I did manage to squeeze in a little teriyaki steak. In the bamboo bar drinks were being serves by Stuart (BBA) our very cheerful barman.(Liverpool scored a lucky late goal to win in Europe earlier that evening)) Mike (Elvis) entertained us after dinner. We enjoyed a some singing and dancing until about midnight.

The Palarine has themed dinners on five evenings during the week. These dinners are open to non residents. I especially like the Indian Curry evening. Again there are a wide range of dishes. The hotel is aware that not everyone likes hot curries, so the dishes are fairly mild but they do provide a weapons grade sauce on the side. This is for those who think that a curry should burn the mouth and burn the bum. Personally, I mix only a little of this lethal sauce into my curry. The option is there for you to decide how hot you like your curry.

They also have Italian and Tex-Mex evenings but their best is on a Sunday when they produce an English Roast Beef Dinner with Yorkshire Puddings and a large selection of perfectly prepared vegetables. Also there is as an alternative; roast pork with stuffing and crackling, which some have as an alternative, however others have it in addition to the beef. This evening is very popular with expats and Tour Company Reps. They usually book a large table for late evening when they have finished their welcome talks.

It takes a lot of will power not to put on weight staying in the Palarine. Sadly, I lack the will power.

Ski Instructors Report 20th February 2011

After last week’s report someone accused me of knocking the Decades. On the contrary, I was praising the event but I still think that the venue lacks charm. You enter the build by way of a long corridor lined on both sides by beer kegs. But when inside the atmosphere is terrific, this may be due to the fact that a pint of beer costs €1 before 10 pm. Perhaps that is why they need so many spare kegs.

Now to the skiing; we had a couple of days of light snow fall, otherwise the weather was excellent for skiing. I had a great group of Dry slope/advanced beginners. Most of them had only skied on a dry slope or in a Snow Dome. After the first lesson, one lady asked me an intelligent question. Can you ski anywhere or are there rules? Yes, there are a set of guidelines set out by the F.I.S. I do not have a copy in front of me but I will try to explain what I can remember.

1. The skier further down the mountain has right of way. The skier above must take avoiding action and when overtaking a slower skier they should pass behind the slower skier and not in front of them

2. Do not stop on a narrow path. When stopping on a wide piste always stop at the side. You may often see a great gaggle of snowboarders cooling their anal passages in the centre of the piste. This is particularly dangerous, should a out of control skier or snow boarder collide with their backs.

3. Before starting after a stop, always look up the hill to check that the way is clear and someone is not about to pass you.

4. Choose a slope suitable for your ability

5. Ski at a speed that will allow you to avoid any slower skiers.

I am a little late in writing this report, as I normally do this on Saturday; however I went to a marvellous BBQ instead. It was held at a barbeque site just below the top car park. It was the birthday of Liz our beautiful Directski rep. The invitation was for 12 noon. I arrived a little late as I have been to Andorran barbeques before. This was a good decision as the first meat was severed at twenty five minutes to three. This did leave us with plenty of time for a prelunch drink. The chef and organiser, had enjoyed a very hectic night at Decades on Friday night and went over to a quiet corner, was sick then fell asleep on the grass. Several volunteers took over the cooking but I felt that some had not done the Health and Hygiene in the Kitchen Course. The guest list included the Crème de la Crème of Arinsal society. Had we all been struck done with illness, there would have been no one to pull pints, put clients on coaches or teach skiing in Arinsal. It was a lovely day. The sun shown briefly and I saw two whole sides of lamb being butchered then thrown onto the fire. There were very tasty pieces of chicken that the chef had marinated and dusted with herbs, before passing out. I enjoyed the food, drink and company. Shortly after we left the mountain it started to snow. The timing was perfect.

Ski Instructors Report 12th February 2011

The guests this week have enjoyed great spring skiing. The only problem is that it is only the second week of February. Every day has been bright and sunny, the nights have been cold enough for the snow cannons to operate and the piste machines did a great job grooming the ski runs overnight, so we were able to ski on smooth firm snow from nine o’clock. When the sun warmed up, the snow became perfect until about three o’clock when the lower slopes got very slushy. I had a difficult intermediate group, as there soon developed a split in abilities. The faster ones wanted to stay together and I was unable to find another instructor with room for all of them. Two of the slower ladies went to a slightly more suitable group. I pointed out to the class, that they had booked group lessons and someone is always the fastest in that group and of course someone has to be the slowest. Life is like that; look at Formula one racing. The only way that the lesson will be entirely suitable for your pace, is to book a private lesson. Two ladies did just that and greatly improved their skiing. I have discussed this point many times before, so some of you will have read this already. “Group lessons for the social side but private lessons to improve your skiing



I went out on Friday to the Princessa Parc Hotel to meet some of my class for a drink. The lounge bar is very tranquil, with Ian West playing the piano in the background. This bar is one of the very few in Andorra to ban smoking. Next to the lounge is Bogart’s bar, which is very attractively decorated with livelier background music and has an efficient extraction system, this is very important as Andorra still permits smoking in bars. After a very comfortable hour in fairly luxurious surroundings, I decided to move on to the Decades Evening. This is held above El Cau in what is actually the village hall, a large barn of a room with no ascetic appeal whatsoever. The floor was awash with spilt beer, the music was loud and raucous but did this place rock. I met several fellow instructors, some local residents, a couple from my class and quite a few new friends that I had met earlier in the week at various bars. I had a few hugs and dances with some of our very pretty girl reps. I had a very enjoyable time there. When the show finished about midnight I started my usual walk home. As I passed the Derby (the Irish Bar) I heard the sound of live music, so I popped in for a small Guinness to sustain me on my long walk home. The Ragamuffins’ were in full swing, playing to a crowed dance floor. It was a very lively and jolly atmosphere.

I do not know why I was reminded of the old quotation, by someone whose name I have forgotten but I think that it was the sort of thing that Oscar Wilde may have said,



“GO TO HEAVEN FOR THE CLIMATE BUT HELL FOR THE COMPANY.”

Ski Instructors Report 4th February 2011

I cannot give you a report on Arinsal this week as I have been in the U.K. What I can report is that during my visit to Britain the weather was grey, damp and cold, and at the weekend very windy. This made me realise how lucky I am to be able to work in the mountains where the winter weather is frequently bright and clear with vivid blue skies. Yes, we can have bad weather in the mountains but a lot less often than back home. I am not one of those expats who constantly run down Britain. I love being at home during the spring and summer. I enjoy the freshness of spring and find that the temperatures in summer, in the south of England hot enough for me. I have no desire to go abroad when it is so hot than one spends the day looking for an air conditioned café or bar. I cannot remember the last time that I took a summer holiday abroad. I much prefer the sun and the snow; this may sound contradictory to someone who has never skied but I can assure you that it is possible to have snow and very strong sunshine. Like most other instructors, I have known clients to lose a day’s skiing due to severe sunburn. Sometimes they say that they put sun cream on in the hotel and thought that would be enough. NO! From February onwards you must top up again at least once at lunch time. It is very sad when the victim of sunburn is a child, who was relying on the parents’ judgement.



I hope to be able to write a proper report on Arinsal next week. So if you want to escape the awful British weather come and visit us but DO REMEMBER TO BRING THE SUN CREAM.

Ski Instructors Report 28th January 2011

IS LIVE MUSIC DEAD?

The bar managers in Arinsal appear to disagree on this. Due to the falling number of guest some bars have done away with live music, whilst others have increased the number of sessions. In past years, the Princesa Parc Hotel had “Ian West” playing in the piano bar, most evenings“Sounds r us” played light pop rock, in Bogart’s bar, with guest appearances at weekends from “Dr Freeman” from Barcelona. The front man “Lenni”, of this pop reggae band, was a master at working the audience, he soon had the guests bopping and dancing to the band’s infectious rhythm. When the hotel was very busy they occasionally had a musician in another bar. This year they only have Ian playing piano in the lounge. On the other hand, The Derby (The Irish bar) now has more sessions by live musicians. They have a very popular Irish singer, “Matt McGinnan” playing during the après ski session. I heard this very talented singer the other night. He had a great voice and was excellent at sensing the mood of the audience and playing suitable music. The “Ragamuffins play on Friday and Sunday evenings. This has proved to be very popular, as Sunday nights are very quiet, because the guests who have just arrived are usually tired after a very early start. Another bar with live music is the Quo Vadis, where “Mike (Elvis) Jones” entertains at après ski and on Friday nights. Scott the popular ski instructor plays guitar when requested. The Palarine often has “Mike” or “Trevor & Eileen” playing in the Bambu bar. El Cau hosts the Decades party mentioned in my last report and frequently has a musician in the lower bar.

This week, I had a lovely class of timid ladies. The all completed the slalom race and used the six seat chair lift, although one lady did need a lot of comforting. Well done ladies it was a pleasure. We have enjoyed great skiing conditions this week, cold, good snow and sunshine. However it started snowing on Friday afternoon and as I write this on Friday night it is still snowing. Let us all hope that it continues.

I return to the U.K. on Monday so there may not be a report next week.

Ski Instructors Report 21st January 2011

I had a fantastic night at the “Decades” party. It was the first one that I had attended this season and it would appear that it is still “a work in progress.” During the performance of “Make your mind up” by Buck’s Fizz one of the men was unable to whip off the girl’s skirt and had to bend over and use both hands before tugging it away. It was possible to recognise those who had attended dance classes when younger. In the chorus line there was a little bit of looking along the line to see what they should be doing next. Well done all of you, I thoroughly enjoyed your efforts. It was great fun. As usual, Liza looked magnificent in her blue and white mini dress and white boots. The lovely Adina moved like a hyperactive snake. She looked so sensual. The Five Pussy Cat Dolls gave a wonderful performance of “Buttons”. (OK I know there should be seven but the stage is quite small) What the girls lacked in quantity they made up with quality. However, I thought the best act was the tribute to X factor’s Wagner. This was performed by Ben the ever cheerful barman from El Cau. He received well deserved, thunderous applause. Sorry pussy cat dolls, he even out performed your great act, although you were all much more pleasing to the eye than Wagner.

Now to the skiing; we have been enjoying spring like weather for most of the week. But on Thursday the temperature dropped and we had some wind and it started snowing in the evening. It was still snowing on Friday. There was not a great depth and the visibility was poor. I decide to take my class down Marrades, the recently widened run down to the Crest Hotel. Snow cannons had been installed two seasons ago, so the snow was good all the way to the bottom, especially with the new snow. The scenery through the woods was very pleasant from the high speed six seat chairlift back to the ski station. I think that they all enjoyed the run, in spite of the last 40 metres of this “blue” run being more purple than blue. Again there were few clients in the resort this week. This of course, makes it great for those who enjoy skiing on fairly clear pistes.

Ps Continuation of Ski Instructor Report for the 15 Jan

After reading last week's report, one of the instructors told me this amusing tale: he was taking a class down Marrades last Friday, when a mouse ran across the piste and stopped. The class halted and watched the mouse just sitting there. Marrades is a narrow path and the mouse was sitting on the side with snow and the other half was rather icy. All the girls chose to ski on the ice rather than go near the mouse. One girl fell and lay there screaming until her instructor helped her to ski away. He said that all this time the mouse just sat there laughing at her??

Corinne said that she sympathised with the girl, as she remembers many years ago, her very young son asking her, "What animal are you most afraid of?" When she replied "A mouse." She said that he pulled a most peculiar face, having expected and answer of Lions, tigers or similar.

Ski Instructors Report 15th January 2011

We had some snow on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, which made the slopes look a lot more attractive. Après ski was lively but not as hectic as the previous week. Mike Jones, aka Elvis, was very active appearing at several locations. The Derby has a new band starting this weekend which I must try to see. There is not much more to report this week other than to say that it was another enjoyable week for me.

On Thursday, whilst waiting for my lift from Corinne, I saw a Landover with a trailer on which was a dead wild boar. This had me thinking, what other wild life visitors could see in Arinsal. Like most other ski resorts, there is so much human activity that all but the most human friendly creatures are rarely seen. I have seen red fox on my first trip of the day on the chair lift some years ago. I also W saw three deer in a field close to the road, whilst walking to La Massana. I have no idea of the species. Corinne often reports seeing Cabriole, whilst walking her dog in the morning. These are smaller than an Izzard and graze lower down the mountain. I spoke to her only yesterday, after she and a friend had visited the Palarine for the excellent Friday night Indian buffet. When I told her what my report was going to be about, she told me that she had seen three Cabriole from her kitchen window, whilst making her early morning cup of tea that morning. She lives in La Massana which is the next big village down the valley from here.

The skiing in Pal is mainly below the tree line which means there is much more cover for wild life. We often see small birds, usually coal tits there. In Arinsal, we frequently see small flocks of Rock Bunting. My bird book says that they are shy of humans but perhaps, the leftovers from the restaurant terraces are too tempting for the birds. There are occasion sightings of Eagles or Griffin Vultures high above the Alta Capa. This is usually at a distance so I am never sure what bird I am seeing, this could be due to my poor eyesight. As a rule I guess that if it is a solitary bird, it may be an Eagle but if there are several, it is almost certain that they are Vultures. This season two people have told me that they have seen an otter in the river in Arinsal. No one has reported this previously. You may be aware that the French and Spanish governments have released brown bear in the Pyrenees. I have not heard of a sighting in Andorra yet.

I apologise if this report is of no interest to you, as I know that most of you come to Arinsal for the skiing and excellent Après ski. There are times when I find it difficult to write something original about those two very important subjects so I thought that this would be slightly different.

Ski Instructor Report 8th January

The New Year’s Eve Party in the Palarine was a great success. Everyone made a huge effort. I think the best costume was definitely, Steve and Karen, who came as the characters from Avatar. Karen admitted that her hair alone took over an hour. I would have awarded a prize to the French maid, for the costume that used the least material. I had a couple of Bulgarians in my group who were staying in the Palarine, who wanted to take an active part but had not brought a costume. They made a good attempt with what they found in the local shops. The French maid was inspirational to them. They realised that all they had to do was bring their best underwear and a couple of paper doilies then you are a French Maid. I liked the costume. Someone suggested that my Angel costume was most inappropriate for the wearer. Stuart (BBA) always tries hard but never really succeeds. In the past he came as Freddy Mercury but people thought that he was Sergeant Pepper. Then he dressed as Clint Eastwood but people thought that he was the tall one in Brokeback Mountain. This year he was Robin Hood, again we got it wrong, we thought he was a pixie.

It really was a great party, with lots of dancing and one of the biggest Sweet Caroline, ever. In fact, at one point I thought that people would be trampled underfoot like those terrible tragedies that happen at the Hajj in Saudi. I think that we had seven different nationalities in the Sweet Caroline circle. The party finished late and I was glad that I was day off on Saturday. I was down in time for a late breakfast. Well done and many thanks to all the staff at the Palarine for a great night/morning.

Now something about the skiing; my group this week was very well balanced. No one was particularly fast and no one was exceptionally slow. In fact, they seemed to take it in turns to be very good or very bad, in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol that had been consumed the previous evening. The phrase “Skiing Holiday” consists of two words and I believe that it is important to enjoy not only the skiing but also the holiday. However overindulgence during the “Holiday” can serious spoil the enjoyment of the “Skiing”. You do not ski well with a hangover. (I should know). My class were all good intermediates, so I took them to the top of the Pic Negre and skied them down to the Crest Hotel in the village. A vertical drop of about 1,000 metres and with a length of approximately 7 kilometres. This run did produce a lot of tired legs. So remember to start your pre-skiing exercise programme well in advance of your holiday.

This week, I was frequently asked “Any snow due?” We have plenty of snow on the piste, due to the many snow cannons that Arinsal has. But to be honest, there is not much off the piste and this makes the resort look unattractive. Many people want to ski and also enjoy our marvellous scenery, so it would be nice if we had a fresh fall soon