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Hi,

Friends of our will be travelling with us at the end of Jan and hope to have their first go at skiing.
We are novices ourselves and normally head for Pyrenees2000 where we have previously hired out equipment.
We normally drive up and back to Sorede in one day.

Our friends will need to hire equipment also so there will be 5 of us hiring in total.
My friends will also need an introductory lesson from an instructor and will probably not venture any further than the baby practice slopes at P2000

Can anyone please recommend an instructor and the most economic method for us to hire our equipment.
Any email contacts or websites would be appreciated as our french is not good enough for telephone converstations.

Many thanks

T&B

http://www.pyrenees2000.com/inter/html/ ... x.html#top

For lessons:
Ecole du Ski Français
http://www.esf-pyrenees2000.com
mail : esf@pyrenees2000.com

Ecole de Ski Internationale
http://www.ecoledeski-fontromeu.com/

I can't make any qualitative comment about the ski schools: perhaps someone who has used them can help. Both have their offices close to the main uplift.

I've found ESF instructors a bit better for groups. I think, though not sure, that hiring from Decathlon is cheaper than at the resort, but it obviously requires 2 extra trips from Sorede and I'm not sure it's worth it for 1 day. They do sell all the clothing at good prices too.

I've not found a huge amount of difference in price between hire shops in the mountains. Give yourselves plenty of time before the lesson, which needs to be booked in advance, because fitting 5 pairs of boots and skis is going to take a while, especially if other groups get the same idea.

Skies can be hired online, more cheaply than in resort. Snowheads.com has discount codes and details

I'm planning a short ski trip just after New Year.

I'm planning to stay in La Llagone and see that it has its own mini ski-field. Has anyone been there and used it? Are there any places to eat in La Llagone itself?

A great resort for beginners is Eyne, there are a couple of ski hire shops and an Ecole de Ski, they will speak English so why not book a private group lesson for you all, its a great way to learn all the basics.

We skied at La Llagone for a couple of days twenty years ago, when our boys were learning to ski. Looking at the website today, it doesn't seem to have changed much. It's a good, friendly place for kids or even adult learners to build up confidence, with space on the slopes and minimal queues, and with a cafe and hire shop at the bottom of the 2 or 3 short, easy pistes. However you wouldn't want to be there for more than a few days. We stayed at the Hotel Corrieu in the village, which was fine.

This year our family want to stay for a couple of days in Llivia, as last year. However they want to explore other ski-resorts as a change from Les Angles. They are quite experienced, and capable. What would be a good recommendation near to Llivia? As time is at a premium, they don't want to waste any doing their own on-the-spot research. They will have a Landrover, so can travel a bit, say 20-30 mins, to a good resort.

La Molina/Masella shouldn't be much more than 30 minutes. Nice resort, varied terrain and pistes and on a par with Les Angles. Almost entirely Spanish/Catalan clientele.

The best resort for more challenging skiing is supposed to be Puigmal. Formigueres is the easiest for beginners/kids. Although I've never been to either.

I quite like Font-Romeu as it has a good mix of cruisy blues, fun reds and some pretty long and challenging blacks down the north slopes.

Here's a page with them all listed (although the link to the piste map of F-R doesn't work).

http://www.tourisme-pyreneesorientales. ... rts/page/0

Thanks Santiago. Is Puigmal now closed as a ski-resort? I think I read that in L'Indépendant a few months ago.

Correct, Puigmal will not open this winter, all staff made redundant.