Formigal eases the biggest pain in skiing!

The Biggest Pain in Skiing?
Is in your.........WALLET!!
Formigal Review:
A large part of that pain is the lift-pass price.
The Aragon independent company ARAMON (Aragon Montanas),in conjunction with Urbanization de Formigal, is re-introducing this Resort to the UK market. Their latest promotion is to offer FREE lift passes. This money-saver follows the 300 Million Euro investment in the latest Doppelmayr lifts and resort facilities. Passes are obtainable when booking via J2.com, Crystal, Thomson, Iglu, Neilson and others. (www.aramon.co.uk)

I’ve just returned from assessing the facilities, benefits and short-comings on offer.

For a large skier-group the Organisers and Leader must get the basics right. It’s the only way that the members of the group can get value for money. In the current financial misery everyone is counting the costs and cutting-back.

My group has become tired of long transfer times and difficult access to slopes. The group is multi-level ability, consisting of babies/ children and young-to-old adults. Transfers, slope access, pistes spread ‘miles’ apart and clean toilets are ‘Hi-Key’ issues. Other items in any resort choice are ratings for experts, lower-upper intermediates and novices, as well as ‘first-timer’ pack offers. Crèches, qualified supervision, hours open and collections, kindergartens, ski schools, lockers, snow reliability, geographical slope aspects and skills needed to reach and enjoy them are critical to satisfying individuals and client-families. Not to mention restaurants/cafes and adequate seating, (including some for that packed lunch) and of course hot ‘chocolatiers’ or vin chaud, in abundance.

We travelled with Crystal AND got an e-mail in advance from the excellent Rep there. We flew into the new airport Huesca from Gatwick, 2nd week of February, on a Monarch Airbus 1410hrs flight. No 0400hrs starts or over-nighting at Gatwick there, then! Monarch has been contracted for the season by Pyrenair, a new airline based at the new airport, Huesca. The transfer is just 1hr and 20mins sedate coach travel. No 4hrs from Toulouse, anymore?

We found a good snow-base laid down pre-Christmas and again in January. Mid-week we received a 23 hour ‘dump’ of 40 cms on top of 180 cms existing, and skied throughout the day it snowed. Great for trying some basic ’bouncy’ off-piste skiing technique, while still on a firm piste under-base. Can’t see? “....when you lose your sense of sight......develop your sense of feel......through the soles of your feet and soft knees...."!

That huge dump gave the pisteurs/avalanche control one heck of a problem. They worked all-night through. Delaying lift opening time (0900 hrs) did cause queues, but with a 4 of 5 avalanche risk, as in most of Europe, no one could expect anything else. Two sets of 4-piste bashers, echelon-fashion, plus single machines soon cleared the way to safe skiing and we were off!

The resort lay-out comprises 3 base Stations: Sextas, Anayet and Portalet. These effectively access 4-valleys. Then, 8, 6 and 4-man lifts spread-out like a fan to mid-mountain elevation.

Sextas Zone appears the more difficult. Particularly up towards Tres Hombres-Huegas. 20 blacks and reds and not a blue in sight. Closed during our visit due to avalanche precautions. There are several good blues linking all 4-valleys at mid mountain level, prior to these lifts gaining height. The full spread is interspersed with the higher lifts providing extra height to drop blues (some), reds and blacks (single & double diamond) into the valleys and public facilities. This means novice/ lower intermediates are not ‘shangheied’. For example, when trying to meet-up with the group at lunch-times.

Anayet Zone; is reached by the “Anayet” run, a great wide blue ‘motorway’. Plus a couple of reds and moderate blacks striking off parallel with some easy mid-mountain runs. This provides good skiers/boarders with off-piste opportunities where they can ‘see’, well in front of them, what they are getting into! Boarders were killing the blacks in great powder.

The Spanish love their food! There are 17 eateries on the mountain. They love taking a couple of hours socialising as well. This means the one-week a year, skiing-starved Brits can ski right through lunch on un-crowded pistes. Don’t even THINK about lunch before 1400hrs!! Eat a good breakfast. Then, hit the extensive Anayet Lodge. This consists of two cafes, two chocolatiers, two self-services, a burger-bar, an ice cream point, and two more formal restaurants both reasonable: 10-15 Euros for a 2- course ‘Plato’ of the day and small bottle of wine/beer ..(hic!). Other options if you want them. The second ski-school, ski hire/lockers and immaculate toilets are also here. As is a massive sun-terrace with huge seating including some picnic tables (I kid you not!).

Take the kids (and yourself) for the longest moving carpet ride I’ve ever seen. There’s another at Sextas for the kids, by the way, great while you slope-off to the short 'Furco' 4-man chair run, to warm-up at the start of the day. Then it’s the 8-man up from Sextas and head for Anayet. Or, a good lunch can be had at Sextas at c.9.50 Euros, anyway.

After taking the 'rays' at Anayet, have a poke at the off-piste mound in front of you. Never mind all those watching and laughing. AND, if your 'hard (good) enuf', remember where to branch-off that blue-motorway, next time down. Then cross-over the black (flat bit) and zoom up and over the mound down towards the Lodge, again. That ought to stop’em laughing?

Do NOT arrive in a heap, until the next time you do it, having arranged for someone to wait down there to photograph you! Seriously, there are loads of places just off the mid mountain reds/blacks to ‘
"get some mileage in", off-piste. Only if fully insured, of course.

Portalet Zone: The piste map shows this is a difficult part. Only one red, the rest blacks, single and double diamonds. We couldn’t test all of it due to avalanche precautions. I am assured reasonably competent intermediate skiers, in good conditions, can get-down ok?

Apart from the Panorama viewing point at the top towards France THE Portalet attraction is the chance to go ‘Ratrack’ skiing! Up the 6-man to be pulled along a gentle red, behind the Ratrack with c.40 skiers. This is the ONLY way to reach to the Fine-Dining restaurant Cabana Glera for lunch. Reservations essential at night and you are then collected by cabin-Ratrack, no skis needed. From the menu I sighted it’s expensive. Have at least 50 Ackers to spare (evening) methinks. But, it’s a one-off apparently and it’s only money!

From there you can ski down black or red (into blue) back into the Anayet Zone. I suspect that last bit of the red may be ‘interesting’. The whole concept of skiing 4-valleys needs close attention to abilities, if the group is to get the most out of it. We know the route-march it seems to flog across wide expanses of valleys to justify the higher lift pass expenditure? Hopeless for kids. The 137 kms of Formigal allows skiing all 4-valleys in a day together with sampling some of the facilities en-route, at a steady skiing/drinking pace.

Further access by car is open to the Sarrios Zone at mid mountan level, between Sextas and Anayet. There is a sizeable car park and an excellent restaurant there, the ‘Gemsbock’. Also, this opens out to the free-ride areas, snow park, huskies, skidoos, timed slalom and the Collado 4-man to either Anayet, again, or down the great fast red ‘Collado’. This is my favourite run as the black there proved just too much snow for me.

Best run for ‘cruisers’? Hang on! ‘Blue’, up the Sarrios 2-man, on up the Lanuza then down the blue through to Izas, drink some 'shampoo' in El-Iglu' then on to the husky-sleds (drive one of those!). Up the 6-man ‘Cantel’, then down the blue Rio (river) as fast as conditions and safety allow i.e. “Quindío en Roma!” Then down Furco (also night skiing) onto Sextas. Have a large Carlos Uno Brandy.....go for a Heli-trip...... see/photo where you’ve been skiing....and tell the Brits when you get home!

Overall, there’s a free 10 minute bus-service between the village and the Base Stations (5 minutes or an easy walk down, minus skis). Additionally, the village-run is serviced by two 'Thomas-the-Tank- Engine’ trains, by road, great fun for kids (or adults). Downside? Well, one day soon the Elders will have to make the village traffic-free. The ski school will no doubt increase English speaking Instructors as the critical mass (no pun intended!) of Brits is achieved. We could do with a weather-shield on the 8-man, I think.

Well done “Formidable” Formigal. Masterly skiing, with ‘Distinction’!

As the Aussie girl said in their Tourist Office advert.
”....come on you Brits....where the b....y hell are you?...”

Stay safe,

Dave Williams

How much mileage is there on the pistes, and what did you pay for a week if you dont mind me asking?

Cool review, this year has really made me want to get back down there.. seems like a once in a life time type season..

Tony_H wrote:How much mileage is there on the pistes, and what did you pay for a week if you dont mind me asking?

Hi Tony,

First things first, old boy!

You'll be delighted to learn that we did the Mayrhofen £149 B&B deal, with Crystal, on Dec 6th.
It was excellent AND plenty of pow.

In Formigal,there is 137Km available pisted. With heaps more available, safely, just off. That is a feature that struck me as of great potential for intermediate improvement 'on the run'.
They're all better than me anyway!

For Formigal, we paid £425 H/B. This was Feb 8th. Crowds were winding-up prior to leaving. Obviously for the W/E into the Hols. Nothing like that Photo of yours in front of the Penken though! We were there just before that week and it was empty.

Keep ploughing on,



DaveW

More than I'd pay for a weeks HB but not BAD value I guess. Certainly sounds like somewhere worth giving more thought to. I looked at resorts in Spain last year, as I love Spain, the lifestyle, the food, the san miguel.....etc. I looked at Sierra Nevada but it just looks too inconsistent weather-wise.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Mayrhofen. That queue for the penkenbahn was the biggest I have ever seen there, and reminded me why I will never go skiing again during peak holiday time.

Quid for a bottle of San Mig in Wetherspoons.

Dont stand still in there, you'll stick to the carpet.
£3.49 for 4 bottles in Tescos, or 8 for £7. And you dont have to share the room with half of Albania or the local gypsys.

Tony_H wrote:More than I'd pay for a weeks HB

Seemed reasonable to me?

Still bloody cheap for a pub!