Snow Bathing

SNOWBOARD EXPERIENCE in Valentine’s Day… 🙂

Today, I would like to talk about my first snow experience. I went to Andorra for snowboarding. I can tell that was the first time for me to do real snowboard. 4 years ago, I went to Erciyes Mountain and did snowboard for only 2 hours and most of the time I spent was only falling…

However, this time, in addition to fall many times, I was able to snowboard at the end of the two days. Let me explain how I participated in this snow experience at Andorra.

As I mentioned in my bio, in 2019 I started to work in a research institute as a business developer in Barcelona. To encourage social interactions between researchers, the institute event team organizes some activities during the year. For example, barbeque parties, social talks, new year parties, cycling, hiking, soccer and also snow experience… 🙂

Before receiving the snow event e-mail, I was already planning a trip with the appropriate cost to learn snowboarding even alone…Luckily, I received that e-mail. It just changed all my plans because it was much more professional than my plans and also cheaper… 🙂

Here let’s look at the packages:

FEES:

SKIERS FEE: 160€

• 2 nights of accommodation (2 breakfasts & 1 dinner included) at the ***Hotel located in Andorra La Vella.
• 2 days ski pass at Pal-Arinsal.
• Transfers: BCN> Andorra La Vella > BCN
• Hotel > Ski Slope > Hotel (both days)

OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT RENTAL & SERVICES

I paid for the below points:

SKI FEE:

• Skier (2 hotel nights with 2 breakfast and 1 dinner + Ski pass x 2 days + bus): 160 euro
• Snow Equip (Snowboard + boots + helmet): 35+6
• Class :10 euro

In total, I paid 211 euros, everything included for two days trip.

TRAVEL TO ANDORRA

Before going to Andorra, of course first I went to Decathlon to buy snow socks, pants, and waterproof snow gloves… I didn’t buy jacket or snow glasses. Since I checked the weather conditions, it seemed sunny without wind and just brought my old Decathlon polarized sunglasses… In the end, I paid 64 euros for my personal equipment…

In Andorra, I met with a lady in the mountain. She approximately paid the same amount and found her tour from one Facebook group. So, next time if you are really willing to go it, you can check the groups and tours… 🙂

We were 60 people from the institute and traveled from Barcelona to Andorra. It took approximately 4 hours including 30 minutes dinner break… When we came to the Andorra border, we stopped for 5 mins. As you know, Andorra is not part of the EU so it would be safe to bring your passport if you are a non-EU citizen. I heard that in previous years they checked all the passports of the passengers.

EQUIPMENT

After arriving at the hotel in the center of Andorra at midnight, the next day at 8 am we went to Andorra La Vella, it took less than 30 minutes by bus. And, we passed the shop to get our rental equipment. The name of the shop is Picnegre.

There were two Picnegre shops in the same street just next to the teleferic (2 mins). The staff were very friendly and professional. What is more interesting is if you check their website, you can book a date for the equipment and you won’t need to wait for the queue. The prices also can be seen in the website and it can help to plan your trip. They have appropriate prices…

After having all the types of equipment, we passed to the teleferic station and in 7-8 mins we arrived at the parkur.

LEARNING SNOWBOARD

In my opinion, two days are enough for learning snowboarding. For ski, it takes shorter to fall less… Snowboarding is more interesting for me although it is more difficult to learn and a bit more dangerous in terms of falling style.. 🙂 We were on the platform between 10.00-16.00.

However, if you are a beginner like me, I strongly recommend you watch some videos from Youtube before being in the mountain.

I would tell you not to expect to learn the basics from 2 hours in person classes. Half of the lecture was theoretical information which you can access on the internet. Moreover, at the end of the first day, I realized that there is a correlation between the rate of learning and the number of falling… It is very important to learn how to fall down. Falling on your back is safer than falling on your face…

To get the platform map and understanding it is very useful because even though it would be a bit hard to be aware that you developed your skills, you can pass the next platform to enjoy more. Also, in the new platform, the learning rate will be faster. You will figure out how to figure out to pass the obstacles and control your body in balance and speed. Each level has several paths.

Suggestions for beginners for ski/snowboard

I would suggest you look at all the maps and choose the parkur that you can spend less time on teleferic for a longer path… Some teleferics are faster than others. Sometimes, some paths have fewer people which is an important factor for the beginner level not to hit people. Since I hit two people accidentally and it would be dangerous to hit children. Let’s be careful…

Also, it is better to have a partner to ski or snowboard together. Yes, somebody should take your pictures or videos when you act like a professional skier or snowboarder.. 😀 Don’t worry if you are alone, there is a very social environment. You can meet new people in the cafe, teleferic queues :))

In conclusion, the summary list can be helpful for my next trip and maybe for you 🙂 These are not only my experience but also my findings from the internet and observation from the new beginners from our group…

Before

During the snowboard

After