Snow everywhere

Snow everywhere, as there is everywhere in Europe.  The ski stations are happy and snow making like mad.  Good base already down and snow conditions now excellent.  Should be good for Xmas even if warmer weather is announced for next week. 

Ski club has started, the first competition at Luz Ardiden is this weekend, there is salt on the ground to stop the roads freezing, the heating is on.  All the signs that winter really has arrived.

If you are coming skiing from the UK check out the ski train options to Lourdes.  It isn't called that but its the same thing.  The night train Paris - Lourdes is called "La Palombe Bleu", on the Lunéa service.  It leaves Paris (Austerlitz) at 23:10 and arrives in Lourdes at 7:46 the next morning.  Then you just catch bus up to Luz and you're here by mid morning.  If you put Paris - Luz St Sauveur into the search you will get the bus times as well.  See www.tgv-europe.com or www.voyages-sncf.fr. 

Sainte Barbe brings the snow

The Week End brings the snow... beautiful white summits. Beautiful visiting young stars from England.. and at last a bit of cold weather in the Pyrénées!! In front of the Hotel on this sunday morning, plenty of people enjoying the start of the winter.

Petite gelée blanche avec la Sainte Barbe, nous félicitions les pompiers, quand le froid a décidé de venir blanchir nos montagnes.. La saison sera donc blanche.

Skiing Winter 2009-10

Forecasters are divided on the outlook for this winter.  There is a weak El Nino developing in the Pacific which may make winter slightly warmer than average.  I don’t think anyone should hope for a repeat of the masses of snow that fell last year, but there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to have a great time skiing this winter.

All the ski stations around have confirmed their ticket prices for Winter 2009-10.  They are as follows:

 

Luz Ardiden: 28€ or 22€ if you stay with a listed accommodation supplier (i.e., Hotel Les Templiers!).

Gavarnie-Gedre: 23€ or 20€ if you stay with us.

Barèges-Tourmalet: 32€ or 41€ including Pic du Midi.  No possibility to buy from us unfortunately.

 

If you want to ski for a week solid and are staying in Luz a good option is to take the “Puissance 3” pass which gives 6 days access to either Tourmalet or Luz Ardiden and one ride up to Pic du Midi.  It is 180€ for adults (30€ per day) and 150€ (25€ per day) for under 18s.  Families of 4 or more are all 150€ per person.

 

We are offering bed and breakfast (27€/33€ pp twin share low/high season) or half board (42€/47€pp twin share low/high season) accommodation in the hotel as usual.  High season prices are for Xmas/NY until the 3rd Jan and from the 13th Feb to the 8th March along with Friday and Saturday nights, unless you are staying more than two nights with the weekend included.

It is possible to access both Luz Ardiden and Gavarnie with the shuttle bus services.  Barèges is possible but less direct because you take the SNCF bus up to Barèges and then the shuttle to the station.  The times are good in the morning but not so convenient in the afternoon - a taxi down is often an easy option.  Hire cars are available from Lourdes train station and all airports.  If you hire a car ask for chains with it, just in case.

 

For the moment temperatures have dropped but we are still enjoying some gorgeous autumn weather.  So we've got a while before winter really hits us.  Hopefully we'll see you when it does.

 

Note: The top picture shows the pine trees around Barèges and the bottom is looking towards the Pic du Viscos from the top of Luz Ardiden.

 

 

Belle journée

Joli photo de nos amis qui sont venu le week-end du 12-13 Déc.

Neige dan Les Pyrénées / Snow in the Pyrenees

Neige dans Les Pyrénées

La saison d’hiver commence tôt dans les Pyrénées.  Depuis cinq semaines nous avons eu de la neige en altitude (en haut de 1500m) chaque semaine.  C’est fabuleux pour les stations de ski au tour de nous (Luz Ardiden, Barèges-La Mongie et Gavarnie-Gedre).  Deux fois la neige a tombé dans Luz village à 700m (aujourd’hui c’est tout blanc au tour).  Alors, bienvenue l’hiver.  Ça va pas dire que le réchauffement du climat est un mythe, juste que chaque année il nous arrive quel que chose de différent est que on va avoir des bonnes et des mauvaise années dans les années à venir.  Alors profitée cette année qui semble d’avoir très bien commencée.  En plus, les Pyrénées français sont une destination bien moins chère que les Alpes  - de quoi réfléchir quand les infos économiques sont de plus en plus instables.

Voir nos offres pour cette hiver ici.

Snow in the Pyrenees

The winter season has started early in the Pyrenees.  For five weeks we’ve had snow above 1500m every week.  It started mid October and has been white ever since.  This is fabulous news for the three ski stations around us (Luz Ardiden, Barèges-La Mongie et Gavarnie-Gedre).    Twice snow has fallen in Luz village at 700m (today it is all white outside).  Welcome to winter!  Of course this doesn’t mean that global warming has disappeared off the radar – just that we’ll have good and not so good seasons in the years to come.  So take advantage of the great snow this year and get to the Pyrenees.  It is a great credit crunch beater as well – skiing in the Pyrenees is about half the price of skiing in the Alps.  For everything (accommodation, ski hire, lift passes, lessons).  Check out our mid-week winter deals which represent great value for money.