First trip of the season, albeit a short one, so plenty of excitement as I packed my case and ski boots. I decided against taking the new skis due to snow conditions in the Pyrenees, which are reported as not being great, so I will take advantage of the ski rental that is included in my tour.
Headed off to Heathrow for 9.30am but as usual the M25 ruined the start to the trip and I didn't get to check in until 10.45am. Thankfully, BA allow online check in the night before, so it was fast bag drop and head off to get through security and meet the others in my group.
Finally met up with Jules, the trip organiser and a skier, and Timm - an Ozzy who rides his own boards - at the gate just before boarding the flight to Barcelona. Plenty of time to chat on the place though, as BA had not arranged to offload the cargo on the inbound flight so we sat on the tarmac for an extra hour.....
A nice smooth flight into Barca, where it was a warm 18c. Mind you, plenty of snow on the mountains as we flew over. Met up with Hfu, another boarder who had flown in from Bristol and headed up to the mountains on our private transfer. 3 and a half hours later and we arrived in Andorra La Vella to sort out the rental gear. Jules and Hfu had to get the full set: Jules got some short Volkl skis as she was going in for a lesson in the morning, Hfu got a Dynastar board and some soft boots, whilst I selected a nice shiny red pair of Stockli Spirit ski's in 165's.
Enough time to meet some of the guys from the Tourist Board over a couple of beers and some Tapas before a reasonably early night (11.30pm) in readiness for the skiing the next morning, although there was some doubt as to where we would go if at all because conditions were so poor due to the warm weather the past week or so.
were in good condition with no stones or icy pathces, except right at the bottom of the resort.
