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.”