06 Aug Day Three in Baqueira Beret – Skiing the Pistes
Having skied this fantastic terrain and experienced the luxury of the helicopter pick ups, the firn snow and the vast open ski area the thought of attaching our lift pass (archaic!) and having to get chair lifts around the mountain wasn’t so appealing. Until we got there. We were still with our guide, who was aiming to show us as much of the mountain as possible. WOW. Between Richard and myself we have skied some of the biggest and best ski resorts in the Alps and we can both safely say that Baquiera is easily a match for any of the “big five” Alpine resorts. There is “only 157km of piste”, said our guide, “but it will feel like forever”. Sure enough, we never skied the same run twice. We skied fast and hard and got to see all three of the ski areas that make up the resort. We didn’t stop much and we didn’t ski all there was to ski in a day. There are slopes for every level of skier – long flattering blues, windy slightly steeper reds, a few tracks and maybe only the one or two black runs. In addition there are fun parks, slalom courses, and loads of kids ski school slopes and nursery slopes.
It doesn’t end here. The amount of off-piste and itinerary routes that are accessible from the piste, off the side of the piste and within a short hike from the piste is phenomenal. We were amazed at the varied terrain, the length of the runs, the size of the actual area and the quality of the lifts and the pistes.
This ski area, everything taken into account, has more than enough for any level of skier. As our guide George (a local with over 20 years of high alpine experience) points out: “every day is different, the snow is different and the snow is always good, which means that every day is a new experience if you want it to be.” That’s exactly what this would be, a bloody great experience. Had we had just five inches of fresh snow – it would have been remarkable!
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