Pyrenees Begins Opening Ski Slopes

The first ski areas have opened in the Pyrenees today – a small French resort of Puigmal has opened according to local media reports.

The big names in the region are still holding back but the biggest, Grandvalira, says it will open this Tuesday 6th December.

Having already delayed the planned opening date in late November by a week, the latest statement from the resort says,

"Grandvalira has postponed its opening to guarantee optimum conditions for the start of the season. Grandvalira has postponed the start of the season due to the lack of snowfall."

The lack of snowfall is due to an anticyclone combined with a rising temperatures which, the resort says, "has further hampered snow production."

The current expectation is that temperatures in the Pyrenees as in the Alps will fall over the next few days, with snowfall expected above 1600m.

Temperatures will also be low enough for the snow cannons, which cover close to 60% of the newly extended 205 kilometres of piste at Grandvalira to operate again.

I was in Andorra 3 years ago and Grandvalira was not open then due to poor snow, that was 10th December.
I believe the season turned out to be excellent.

I know, you half wonder why a lot of resorts commit to opening dates in late Nov/early Dec when it's bound to be problematic say one year in four. Suppose it's all down to business and they have to give a date for people to make advance bookings, but even if they said, "We hope to run our lifts by date X but our official opening date will be date X' - somewhere nearer to Christmasm, that would be better. Maybe...