Ski Instructors Report 22nd December 2012

At last, I have joined the working class. I have had two glorious weeks skiing on well groomed deserted pistes and generally behaving like a ski bum. Now I was given my first class of the season. They are such a jolly group of beginners that I do not look upon it as work. I could say that it is just an extended holiday for me. We have all been meeting each evening to watch the videos of the ski classes. All have been amazed at the rapid progress from the first few stumbles on Monday morning to the slalom race on Friday. The race was won by the 13 year old girl, well deserved victory; some of the other racers had slight hangovers, the rest had big hangovers. My domestic situation at the Palarine has improved as they now have British guests. This means that I start my day with a full English breakfast. Somehow they are able to source real English back bacon and pork sausages. This is a great start to the day and is so much better than the attempts at an English breakfast that I have seen in some hotels, who cater for British tourists down on the Costas. The breakfast is British as is the Sunday roast. This may be my favourite dinner; excellent roast beef with Yorkshires or roast pork with apple sauce. Last Sunday it was accompanied with a choice of 6 vegetables. I say that the Sunday roast is my favour dinner but I also liked the Chinese buffet on Thursday and the Curry night on Friday. When I come to think about it, I also liked the Italian, the Catalan and the Tex Mex evenings. All these are self service buffet; eat as much or little, as you like. I did suggest to Graham that he weighs the guest when they arrive and leave and make a surcharge for each kilo they have gained. So far he has ignored me. We have had mixed weather for skiing but I think that the guests enjoyed the skiing on very quiet pistes. On Sunday we are expecting many more visitors for the Christmas week. Snow is forecast for Christmas day. But we will have to wait and see. I will report back next week and tell you if it arrived.

Ski Instructors Report 16th December 2012

NO SMOKING. That is now the rule in Andorra for all bars and restaurant in Andorra. What a difference it has made for the majority of people. Our Irish and English are quite used to going outside to smoke. The bar staff now have a lot more time as they are not constantly emptying ashtrays and sweep up the mess left by smokers. Parents with children will now be prepared to take their children into the bars for a coke and burger if they so wish. I have enjoyed a great week’s skiing on empty slopes but now our guests have arrived, I will have to do some work. On the plus side, it means that I will earn some money to help pay for my après ski actives. Talking about après ski; the Velvet Blues Band was playing in Bogart’s bar last weekend. I enjoy this group’s performances, especially the delightful lady keyboard player, who does some great Amy Winehouse covers. I thought that she looked stunning, with heels slightly longer than the length of her miniskirt. I like her; in fact, all the lads like her, even some of the gay snowboarders like her. The group play a good mix of blues, early rock and modern pop. They told me that they hope to be playing most weekends in Bogart’s. I am looking forward to their next performance.

Ski Instructors Report 8th December 2012

The resort has been open for one week and it has been a great week for snow. Although on the days that it snowed the visibility was poor. Wednesday was fantastic with a clear blue sky and a lot of untracked powder. The Spanish arrived on Friday for the long weekend (The Immaculate Conception, for those of you who had not been to Sunday school for a long time) There were more people on the pistes but still not crowded. It just seemed slightly more congested as I have been spoiled by the having the whole run to myself. The amount of snow we have bodes well for the first Crystal clients who are arriving on the 16th. I understand that there will only be a lucky few on the first flightI have often been asked what one should wear on a skiing holiday, here are a few of my thoughts on the subject, others may disagree; Let’s start at the top; Safety helmet or not? I do not have one but always encourage anyone who asks me, to get one. Some people wait until AFTER they have taken a knock, it is better to buy one before the accident rather than after. In cold weather, I will wear a woolly hat, it is important that it covers the ears. On sunny days, on the beginners’ slopes, I will sometimes wear a peaked cap to keep the sun out off my eyes. Caps tend to be blow off when skiing at speed. If any of the male readers are a bit thin on top, please wear something on your head, anything will do. If you fail to do so, you will get burned. Glasses or goggles? I always wear sunglasses with a high UV protection factor. Most goggles have a lens suitable for days with poor visibility and are not really suitable for sunny days. A dark lens is usually available for those racing on sunny days. Thermal underwear or base layers? I usually prefer base layers with a wicking facility, even on very hot days, as I do not like the feel of my ski trousers on my skin. Most people recommend several layers of clothing. The number of shirts or jerseys depends on your needs and the weather. And of course, a good ski jacket. You can spend between £40 and £600. The choice is yours Gloves: Many claim to be waterproof but I have found that the weatherproof membrane gets broken with wear and your gloves will cease to be waterproof. An Australian friend of mine turned up with something that looked like a huge pair of “Marigolds”. They came with liners that should soak up your sweat. I have seen his liners looking very damp indeed. My solution is to have a spare pair. Trousers: they should have a very high back, to prevent snow getting onto your back. Jeans are not really suitable as you may well get snow down your back, should you fall over. Socks: Some people recommend that you wear two pair, however most skiers will wear specialist ski socks with reinforced areas in the foot. I had a pressure point on one foot and found the wearing a thin sock on that foot helped. My advice is, do not listen to advice; do whatever suits YOU. Apres ski wear: Although , it will be cold in the evenings, most bars, restaurants and hotels will be very warm inside. So cool casual should be good enough. Ladies, a piece of advice, bring a skirt or dress. Instructors and workers do not see legs for four months. I realise that a pretty dress needs suitable shoes and such shoes may not be ideal for trudging through snow. So, you may have to carry them in a bag to your destination. A question on clothing that I have never understood; why are knickers plural and bra is singular? I would have thought that it would be the other way round. Answers please, to the webmaster, please.

Ski Instructors Report 1st December 2012

This is my first report of the season and the resort has been open for only one day (Dec. 1) It was very cold but bright sunshine and the snow cannons were going at full blast. The snow was great and there were very few people on the slopes, A really nice day. It seems a long time since my last report in April, so I started to think about Time. Instructors are paid by the hour, so there is no advantage charging up and down the mountain during a lesson descending so many vertical metres (or feet for those born before 1950). I believe that it is better to travel at a pace where the slowest client is within their comfort zone and at a speed that the more advanced skier can improve their skills. It is more important to give value for the lesson time. Now to take a deeper look at TIME; I can just about accept time without end (some chairlifts remind me of this).But time without beginning, is beyond my comprehension. Some religions believe that God created heaven and earth in six days and on the seventh, He went skiing. More secular persons believe that the big bang theory started the universe and so time would have started then. I often rewind a tape on my Betamax VCR. Some younger readers may have Sky plus or DVD’s where they can do the same. Now let us consider, what if there was a DVD of the creation of the universe, and we could rewind it for several zillion years, until the time of the big bang - this must have been very loud and you would have heard it for miles. But what if we rewound the tape for a few more frames, to before the time of the big bang, what would we see? Answers please, to the webmaster of whichever site you are reading this. Let us now consider, the past, present and future. Most modern languages use these three tenses. Let us assume that you are skiing down a slope. All the run that you have covered will of course is in the past. You want to make a turn; this will be in the future. But the moment that you initiate the turn that will already be in the past. The final phases of your turn will be in the future until you have completed them, then they too will be in the past. All this leads me to believe that the gap between past and future is so infinitely short that the present does not exist. Only our thoughts are in the future, any actions we make are immediately in the past. So, if mankind ceased to exist and there was no one to think about a future action, then the future would not exist. So the only tense in existence is the past. I recall a line from the theme tune of “Whatever happened to the likely lads?” From memory it was something like “the only thing that we have to look forward to, is the past.” Now back to skiing. If any of you are coming to visit us in Arinsal in the future, I hope that you have a really jolly TIME. .

Ski Instructors Report 1st April 2012

My season is now over. I finished at noon on Friday. I had a class of good intermediates, with a wide spread of ages. Their ages ranged from a 10 year old to a glamorous grandmother of indeterminate years. Surprisingly, the standard of skiing was very similar and I had a very enjoyable week. In the Friday race the Grandmother was beaten by a deputy headmaster (I think that I could phrase that better. In my schooldays “beaten by a deputy headmaster” had an entirely different meaning. To put things straight In the Race, the Deputy Head won, the grandmother was just under a second behind him and the children were just a little slower. During the week, I had two private lessons with a lovely 12 year old girl from Malta. Within 15minutes of putting her skis on for the first time, she was skiing from the top of the Magic Carpet. We had a smashing time on the slopes and après ski. Some of the group came to Bogart’s bar for the last performance of the season of Velvet blues. There was a wonderful atmosphere and everyone enjoyed the evening. The following day, I look her to the top of the six seat lift and we skied this twice during the one hour lesson. When I take someone on that lift for the first time, I usually book out for the next hour as it normally takes just over to hour to reach the bottom. She is a remarkable young girl, who will soon be a great skier. Te weather has been glorious all week and there is plenty of snow for those arriving on Sunday. The resort will close on 9th April. It has not been a good year for snow nor for the number of clients. Therefore I did not get a lot of work meaning not a lot of pay. I HAVE HAD A GREAT TIME AND AM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT SEAASON.

Ski Instructors Report 24 March 2012

What a week for contrasts in weather! We had little flurries of snow at the start of the week, then a pleasant day. On Thursday we had continuous snow, the visibility was poor and it was cold and damp. The snow continued through the night and very few people ventured out, most staying in their hotels. But Friday morning was glorious, bright blue skies and snow everywhere. There was a short delay while the lift workers dug out the top of the chair lift. I took my class of intermediates down the Marrades run, to the Crest Hotel and the high speed chair lift back to the resort. The conditions were perfect, with very few other skiers on this run. All my group of ladies thoroughly enjoyed the run. When arrived back at the resort we joined the others on the Les Fonts chair lift (the higher lifts were still being dug out). The snow was perfect on the piste and we found some very deep untracked snow to play in. We had a few fallers and they discovered how tiring it is to get up in deep snow. I had to demonstrate how to look for a lost ski in deep snow. Some of my ladies put their new skill to good use and found their lost skis. For those who do not know the correct way, the recognised method is to remove your remaining ski and go slightly above the point of your fall and use the tail of your ski in a scything action moving slowly down the hill until you hit the lost ski. It can be very tiring doing this in deep snow. One sometimes sees skiers prodding the snow with their poles. This method rarely works as you can only cover a very small area. A long sweeping scything motion will cover a much wider field of search. I had a very good week of Apres Ski. My class consisted of ten very charming ladies, plus two young lads, who I promoted to faster classes. We met each evening and had a great time watching the ski videos. We had a good laugh and some found the video very helpful in correcting bad posture. The class mixed well and I thoroughly enjoyed my week. Thank you ladies. I have only one more week of work before returning to England. So my next report may be my last of the season.

Ski Instructors Report 17 March 2012

What a scorcher! This week was incredibly hot, with clear blue skies and blazing sunshine. The down side of this glorious weather was the fact that the snow was very heavy by early afternoon. I noticed several cases of sunburnt faces. At this time of year you really must use a high factor sunscreen. Do not mess around with factor 5 or 7. I use factor 25 or even 50, if I am going to be in the sun for a long period. I had an intermediate class this week. I noticed at the classification that the level of skiing was high. There really was not a level one group, so most of my class were level two. So during the week we were able to make a couple of trips to Pal. Some went to Arcalis and Grandvallira. They all enjoyed their visits. This made me think that I should write about the different resorts in Andorra. Firstly there is Arinsal, which is a small old friendly village. It has two lifts to the ski area. One is a Gondola from the village centre. There are several hotels within a minutes’ walk. The other access point is a high speed six seat chair lift from the top of the village. This is situated by the Crest Hotel and the Patagonia apartments. You can ski to this chair lift, snow conditions permitting. Although the run is blue, it is not an easy blue and not really suitable for beginners at the beginning of the week. Arinsal is great for large groups of friends as all the runs take you back to the same starting point. So if you lose your friends or family they will turn up eventually. Pal is prettier than Arinsal and has a lot of runs through the trees and the runs are more varied. You can access Pal from the top of the Arinsal ski area by cable car or from a gondola from La Massana about 5 kilometres away by bus. Arcalis, recon by some to be the best ski area in Andorra, is about 30 minutes drive. During the week it is usually very quiet. It can be very busy at weekends and on public holidays, as it is very popular with the locals. Neither Pal nor Arcalis has the infrastructure of Hotels, restaurants, bars or shop like Arinsal has. Both are purpose built ski stations and all three stations are covered by your Vallnord ski pass. The other ski area in Andorra is Grandvallira. This is a large ski area joining up several villages, namely Encamp, Canillo, El Tarter, Soldeu and Pas de la Casa. Each village has its own character but none are as friendly as Arinsal. It is more expensive, at Granvallira it cost €44 for a day pass.

Ski Instructors Report 10th March 2012

I did not send a report last week as I was back in England for treatment but now I have returned and started work again. But what a week for mixed weather! We had everything. We had overnight snow on Wednesday night, a gloriously hot and sunny day and another bitterly cold with high winds. Fortunately I had a very cheerful group; none were natural born skiers but were very happy with what they had achieved. They enjoyed the après ski and felt that they had enjoyed a great ski holiday. On Friday, they went to Decades and said that they would come to Bogart’s to hear Velvet Blues play. However they did not turn up. They must have enjoyed themselves at Decades. UI returned to the Palarine just before two and found that a dinner party was just finishing. This is an annual event, when a dozen Catalan ladies turn up for dinner to celebrate the birthday of one of them. In the past, Graham has arranged for live music to entertain them but was unable to do so this year. As they were all very lively I was able to organise a “Sweet Caroline” to end the party. This was the first since the New Year’s Eve party. Unfortunately, the current band does not have Sweet Caroline in their play list. I believe that the expressing “Ski Holiday” consists of two words; ski and holiday. This means that people should enjoy the skiing part and also the holiday side. Some people will overdo the holiday side, especially on the Monday night bar crawl. This often means that, they will miss the Tuesday lesson. If they are beginners, they will find that their class will have improved so much that they are unable to rejoin the group without holding everyone else up. Sometimes, we find that someone will be so keen on the skiing side that they never go out in the evening and always have early nights. This is also a pity, as the resort is such a friendly place they are missing something of the holiday. The answer is a happy balance between skiing and après ski. Some of my group want to come back here next season. But as they had very mixed conditions they were asking, “When is the best time to go skiing?” It is an impossible question to answer correctly. If I wanted to go sailing in Weymouth and I asked you what is the best week to go there for good wind and sunshine. I am sure you would be unable to give me a positive answer, other than to say avoid winter months. I am now going to describe the conditions that can expect throughout the season; December can be very cold with short daylight hours, but with good snow conditions and if you can avoid the Christmas and New Year holidays, it is usually very quiet on the slopes. The Spanish celebrate the Three Kings on January 6th, so the resort is crowded until that date. I think the remainder of January is my favourite time for skiing. It is usually still cold and the snow is in good condition and the days are getting a little longer. During February the resort is usually busy. Avoid the British schools’ half term holidays at all cost. Everything is crowded and overpriced. The conditions in March can be very different; the sun is stronger and is shining for longer. If we have the usual high pressure, the nights will be cold and the snow in the mornings, very hard. The sun will quickly soften it and by late afternoon it will become slushy. I think the best way to enjoy March is to start a little latter, then ski until about 3 o’clock then go down to the village and have a late lunch outdoors in the sunshine. At this time off year you will often see ladies wearing bikini tops sunbathing on the terraces on the mountain restaurants. April is usually very quiet and the snow can be very heavy, however it always snows in April in Arinsal. That has been true for over 30 years, except for last season. The late snow can be either great or the warm weather will make it very heavy. So, my answer to the question, “When is the best time to go skiing?” Is “Anytime! Because it is better than working.”

Ski Instructors Report 26th February 2012

I am now back in England, having travelled home on Saturday. I had a brilliant week, great weather and a really super bunch of dry slope/advanced beginners. Not only did they all ski very well they were great fun on and off the slopes. When we stopped for coffee someone would start gathering tables together so that we all sat as one group. This contrasts with some classes, who all split up into couples and family groups, when this happens I feel that I have failed to gel the group into a team. Om Friday I went to hear "Velvet Blues" play in Bogart's bar. They are a great blues band consisting of: a very raunchy keyboard player, who does a smashing cover of Amy Winehouse songs, a brilliant harmonica players, who gives the group a really bluesy feel, a lead and bass guitars and in the engine room, a great drummer. It is not all blues they played a wide range, including soft rock and even some numbers from my teenage years. A guest singer did a tremendous version of Johnny B Goode. I try to be positive with these reports but I must mention a down side to Bogart's. As you enter you are met by a wall of smoke. However if you have the courage to walk past this and turn right at the end of the L shaped bar you are into quite clean air, as they have an efficient extractor system. They reason for the wall of smoke is that the adjacent Piano Bar is non smoking, so the addicts come into to Bogart's and sit at the first two tables to pacify their addiction. This lead me to mention other bars with a non smoking policy.( Andorran has not yet caught up with the civlise world. They will eventually, after all they gave women the vote in 1970). El Moli allows smoking in the bar but NOT in the upstairs restaurant. Cisco's allows smoking in the bar but not in the restaurant until 9 pm. Smoking is allowed then as this is when the Hispanics go out to eat. They are afraid to lose this custom as some Hispanics will smoke before, during and after dinner. Strange people. The Derby has an innovative policy; they discourage smoking in the bar until 8 pm, whilst there are children present. Dean and Darren have provided a sitting area outside with tables , T.V and a heater. This is a great public facility, as smokers can meet other smokers (If a leper wants to meet a partner the best place is a leper colony) I think that it is nice that smokers can meet other smokers, fall in love and breed baby smokers. After all, the country needs their taxes, which more than covers the extra hospital care that they will need. I think that the Department of Works and Pensions should give a badge to everyone smoking 40 a day, as a thank you, for volunteering to die younger, so easing the Country's pension burden. Finally, the Palarine's dining room is strictly non smoking but it is permitted in the bar/Bambu restaurant. There are tables where non smokers can escape to if there are too many Catalans smoking in the Bambu. The Chinese banquet is very popular with the Catalans. I will declare am interest, as some of my readers will have worked out already, I am a non smoker myself. As a footnote,I would like to mention the following: In the Autumn, I invited 43 people back to my house, after a very successful performance of my daughter, as Anna in the "King and I" at the local theatre. These were mostly from the 50+ badminton club and they were all non smokers. It would have taken just one smoker to ruin the atmosphere for the other 42. Bring on the Ban.

Ski Instructor Report 18th February 2012

What a glorious end to the week. Friday and Saturday were brilliant, with clear blue skies and good snow conditions. This contrasts with the rest of the week, when we had a real mix of weather, sometimes cold, sometimes windy sometimes snow. On Friday, in Quo Vadis, I was introduced to the cricketer, Ian Botham. I am Scottish and do not know much about cricket but I am well aware of his successes against Australia in the Ashes series. If you are in Arinsal this week, you may well bump into “Beefy”. Do not do this on the slopes as he is quite a big lad. But if you should meet him in one of the bars, you will find him to be very charming and friendly. We had a lot of children on the slopes this week. The great majority loved the skiing and picked it up very quickly. However, I did notice a significant minority, whit a high BMI. (I would have preferred to use the word “fat” but I am told that it is not politically correct to do so.) Some were so uncoordinated that they could not get off the ground without taking off both skis. I wondered if these are the offspring of the parents who will not park 100 metres away from the school entrance, but would prefer to double bank outside the gate, so that no walking would be involved. I think that my young lifestyle in Edinburgh was so different from those children. I had a half hour walk to school and some of our out-of-school actives included the following: running up three flights of stair in a tenement build, so that we could straddle the banister rail and slide down, using our skill to avoid falling 25 feet into the stair well. Climbing onto the school roof, for no other reason than it was there and it seemed a good idea at the time. It was not all urban activities; we had a large open space next to Holyrood House. This was a huge park with the remains of a volcanic plug in the centre, a wonderful play area. This was a fair distance from where I lived, so we had a long walk down the Royal mile to get there. I would pass the site of the now Scottish Parliament, which in my youth was the site of two breweries. I think, Youngers and McEwans, but cannot be certain. When we had finished playing in the Park, we would run behind the brewers’ dray and hang onto the back of the dray, to get a lift back to the city, this only worked if the dray did not see us. If he did he would crack his whip at us. It was quite easy to catch the dray as the barrels were full and it was uphill, so the horses would trot at a fairly slow pace. We rarely got a lift down to the Park as the beer barrels would be empty, it was downhill and the horses knew that they were going home. this meant that they would be travelling just under a gallop, so only the very fastest runners amongst us could ever catch up with the dray and get a lift. I never was a fast runner and think I only ever got a lift back up the hill. I suppose that all my harmless childish pursuits have been banned by some diktat issued by an unelected Kommisar in Brussels, on some health and safety grounds. Now children are encouraged to write to each other on social websites like twatter, or try to obtain level 7 on Fat Boy 3 on their Xbox console. As the old singer used to croon, “Times, they are a changing” .

Ski Instructor Report 11th February 2012

We had a couple of cold windy days this week, which contrasted with bright sunny ones with great snow conditions. It really was a mixed bag for this week’s guests. Some of my beginners were talking about coming back next season and were asking about the various hotels in Arinsal, (obviously they had not read last week’s report.) We are now ready for the busiest week of the season, half term. Everyone will have children in their party. The only exception will be groups with a school teacher, or someone who has to take their holidays during the half term week. The whole atmosphere is different during that week. I would strongly recommend anyone who does not have to be here that we, to choose any other week of the season. The slopes will be busy, the queues will be longer. The bars and restaurants will be crowded in the early evening’s then quiet later. If you do not have children and do not know when half term is, just look at the hotel prices; some hotels put up there price by over £400 per person that week. Having had my moan, I will probably have a very jolly class and have a great time on the slopes. I am sorry if this report sounds negative but I really do not enjoy half term week. There is a very strong case for Britain (and Ireland) to stager the half term week. I feel that eventually it will happen, some things take time. Consider this; men were walking on the moon over 42 years ago but we have had wheels on suitcases for about 20 years.

Ski Instructor Report 4th February 2012

Like the rest of Europe, Arinsal has been bitterly cold this weekend. It meant that we had excellent snow conditions, if you could wrap up warmly, against the wind and cold. It is very difficult in these conditions to keep children warm. If you examine a child’s glove that due to the size there is very little insulation, therefore a child’s hands get cold much sooner than an adults. Regular readers are aware that I stay in the Palarine hotel and enjoy staying there. . Early last month, this hotel had their first bad review on Tripadvisor. The couple who complained were here during a week when the weather was bad and the ski conditions were not very good, so they blamed everything on the hotel. One complaint was that there was not a kettle in their room. Tea making facilities are commonplace in England but I do not remember having a kettle in any room in a continental European hotel. If this facility is important to you, like me, you will have to bring a travel kettle with you when you visit Arinsal. This misunderstanding had me thinking that I should tell you what I know about the hotels in Arinsal. The Palarine has a good reputation for a friendly service and for its food, many of the expats say that it is the best food in Arinsal and book in for the excellent themed evening meals. rom the village centre, it is 15 minute walk, if you run. I walk down most evenings in 20 minutes. There is a free bus service during the day and a half hourly pay bus (€1-50) running until 10 pm. The St Gothard Hotel is about 10 minutes walk closer to the village centre. It is much larger and is popular with school and group bookings and puts on live entertainment some evenings. In the village centre there is a great selection of hotels all a very short walk from the lift, some only seconds away. They are: the Montane, Coma Pedrosa, Arinsal, Ayma and Micolau. I have not stayed at any of these so it would be unfair to comment on the facilities. The Ayma and Arinsal are traditional Andorran hotels and the others have been recently modernised. There are two apartments both very conveniently situated; St Moniz and Pobtlao Apartments. Clients have praised the standard of accommodation in both. I have not been in either. About three or four minutes walk up the main street is the Princessa Park, thought by some, to be the best hotel in Arinsal and perhaps the most expensive. It has magnificent public rooms, a piano bar and a livelier one in Bogart’s. Some clients have told me that the bedrooms are not as big as they had expected, after seeing the grand entrance and reception area. The Crest and the Patagonia are another ten minutes or so up the hill. Both are situated close to a chairlift and at the end of a ski run that is suitable for intermediates. They are a bit isolated from the other bars in the village. At the very top of the village are the Velvet Apartments they have a magnificent view and are apparently well appointed but only suitable for those with a car. Like they say in Yorkshire “You pays your money and you make your choice.

Ski Instructors Report 29th January 2012

I had no work today (Sunday), so I enjoyed a great morning skiing the new powder snow. It started to snow on Saturday afternoon and had been snowing on and off ever since. Apart from that, all my excitement this week was away from the slopes. I had a splendid dinner on Wednesday at the Palarine for the traditional Burns’ Night Supper; we had excellent Roast Beef and some very tasty Haggis. We had two Scots in the first set of Strip the Willow and six other nationalities. Their dancing was less than perfect but danced with great courage and vigour. We had our annual Burns party at Bogart’s Bar on Saturday. There was a lot of country dancing with a very enthusiastic crowd. We had ten couples dancing the final strip the willow of the evening. When we finished, a rather good rock band started to play. Spanish people arriving to listen to the band must have wondered why I was wearing my kilt. On Friday I had an email from my daughter telling me that she had won the award for Best Actress for her part as Anna in the King and I, production by the Fareham Musical Society. This was presented at The Curtain Call Awards 2011 ceremony hosted by a popular South Coast news paper. Back to the skiing; we had excellent weather all week and great skiing on good quality snow. Most of which had been made at night time by our snow cannons. The quality of the snow was excellent, due to the fact that we were having cold nights. This brings me to the question, what is good snow? The best conditions for skiing is when the snow is cold and dry; the sort of snow that you cannot compress into a snow ball. We rarely experience this type of snow in England. However we often find it at altitude when it is very cold. British holidaymakers seem more interested in the depth of the snow rather than the quality. We ski only on the top three or four inches of snow. (That is about 7 to 10 cms for our younger readers). It does not matter whether you have one metre or twenty metres of snow below that. If the top layer has melted during the day and frozen at night, you will have ice to ski on, irrespective of the depth underneath. Some of you may have experienced this is some of the cheaper East European countries. This is usually due to the fact that they do not have the hard currency to buy the “Piste Bashing” machines that we have. These machines break through the top layer exposing the real snow below. Arinsal’s heavy investment in snow making equipment had really been worthwhile this season. Sadly we are very quiet this season, I think due to many British people seeing that we do not have a great depth of snow so far this season. On the positive side it means that the slopes are not crowded. You can see from my reports that we have been enjoying good skiing with fairly quiet slopes.

Ski Instructors Report 23 January 2012

Today, I had a great day's skiing. The air was cold the sun was shining, the sky was a mgnigicent blue and the snow was cold and very skiable. I skied down to the village on the marrades run. They had made enough snow to open this run during the past week. I have been back in England for a week and today was my first day back skiing in over a week. I am often asked at what age one should bring children skiing. The answer often depends on the child. As a guide line I would point out that the ski school does not accept children less than six years of age. There is a good reason for this. Under this age very few children have the physical strength to ski properly and even fewer have the mental memory to remember the lesson or have the concentration to get value from a three hour lesson. Indeed, my personal opinion is that nine is a better age to teach children skiing. Young children compensate their lack of strength by leaning on the back of their boots for support. When they are old enough to ski properly we have to change this habit, which may be deeply engrained in their minds. I think that parents should also consider the safety aspect of allowing their very young children onto a crowded slope. Collisions do occur. A collision between a five year old and a fourteen stone adult could have very serious consequences. In Arinsal we have an enclosed ski area for four and five year olds. The gentle slope is served by a small rope tow. Any collision in this area will be at a slow speed between two children of fairly equal weight. I am always amazed at the lack of concern for the safety of their children that some parents show. We had two children this week with not crash helmet OR sunglasses. Andorran children under 12, must wear a safety helmet when skiing. The Andorran authorities do not enforce this law on foreigners. Perhaps they think, if the parents are not concerned about safety, why should they? So please look after your children, skiing can be a dangerous sport, if all the rules are not followe.

Ski Instructor Report 10th January 2012

The guests this week have had very bad weather. I really felt sorry for them, as I had a very friendly group from Ireland, in fact there was only on English lady in my group. I had a successful private lesson with a girl whose friends and taken her up mountain, to teach her to ski. Their method of teaching was to shout “Turn” at the poor lass. She was almost in tears and said that she hated skiing. Her boyfriend paid for a one hour private lesson and in that time I had her smiling and turning left and right down the beginners slope and using the lift on her own. One of our readers, Geoff, asked which instructors specialise in different fields. My own speciality seems to be instilling confidence into mature ladies with a nervous disposition. This requires no special qualification, only patience and common sense. On the other hand some instructors have attended courses on different areas of skiing. Marcus has qualified an adaptive ski instructor.. That is dealing with disabled skiers. This can range from teaching paraplegics in a specially designed chair with a mono ski under it, to deaf dumb, blind or even with learning difficulties. He is also a race coach. Ian is qualified in Snow Park techniques and off piste touring. Scott is another enthusiast on the jumps and rails. Both have great admiration for Ismael, who was once Chilean Aerial Champion. Although not a native English speaker, he speaks it well. Deane and Darren are happy to teach snow bade skiing Scott would love to teach mono skiing but thinks that only French gays from the Seventies would like a lesson. Sadly we have no native English speaker teaching Telemark skiing. But Pablo from South America is happy to oblige. Corinne and Maryanne are very good with young children. This brings me onto my topic for next week’s report; what age should you take a child skiing?

Ski Instructors Report 2nd January 2012

I had a really jolly class of beginners this week. Some made rapid progress and I was able to move them into a faster class. class. The others were a bit slower and we stayed on the “magic carpet”, they were all pleased with the progress that they made. I had some I has a few very good après ski with this group. I hope that some will return to Arinsal in the future. One of our readers, Alistair, asked, “what do instructors look for when classifying the groups2. So I thought I should explain the different classes that we offer at Arinsal. First, the BEGINNERS class: This is for people who have never put skis on before and for those who have had a dry slope taster but did not manage to make a snowplough turn. Next group is what we called DRY SLOPE or ADVANCED BEGINNERS. This is for skiers who have skied on a dry slope or have skied before but do not feel confident enough to join an intermediate class. All would be expected to make a snow plough turn to the left and to the right on an easy slope. We would normally grade this group according to how steep a slope the client would be comfortable on. Then there are the intermediate classes (which I think Alistair is asking about). We watch the clients ski on a blue run. Level 1, is for those who do not make parallel turn but make a snow plough turn Level 2 is for those who make basic parallel turns. Level 3. is for skiers who make refined parallel turns make use of the edges and showing signs or carving. We offer more advance classes; bumps off piste and gates , if there is sufficient demand. I hope this will be of some use to anyone coming to Arinsal.