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Good Friday in Formigal

2nd April 2010, by Wendy King

Getting away from the crowds. Wendy starts the Pipos run

Brrrr – it was really cold on the mountain on Good Friday. My final day in Formigal had dawned deceptively sunny, but once on the slopes there was a biting wind blowing across the area. The sun soon became a weak glow, though it remained fairly bright throughout the day. Thankfully, the skies did clear at 2pm again (is this a habit!?) for a much warmer afternoon in my lighter spring layers.

The cold had preserved excellent on-piste conditions, best above 1800m where the snow was crisp, grippy and well groomed. Even better than Thursday’s great run away from the lifts was our fabulous descent in a freeride area that can only be reached by ‘ratrack’ (piste basher to us!). The ‘ratrack’ pulls 40 or so skiers and boarders up the mountain at a time, so the slopes there are very quiet. Much of the area is for off-piste descents on the back of the Anayet and Sarrios sectors, but there are also marked red and black runs too. On Friday the red, Pipos, was groomed and in pristine condition – it felt like early season up there.

Finding wilderness with the ‘ratrack’ ride

Once the rest of our batch had set off, the slope was deserted long enough for fast carving through squeaky soft snow. There was a little soft powder to play in too, although much of the off-piste had firmed up overnight and was lumpy and bumpy to ski – not great. Also the avalanche warning had risen to level 3, so we kept to the marked areas. What a contrast to the rest of the slopes, which seemed to have been invaded by French and Spanish day trippers.

Part way down the Pipos run, you pass a tiny hut (La Glera) which is incredibly cute and offers drinks and snacks. It is often booked up by small groups for evening adventures by snowmobile. Soon afterwards the run joins the main slopes again. We paused briefly to enjoy the peace before skiing back into the main sector and returning to Anayet for lunch. [The pic of me is later on, dunkin’ doughnuts Spanish style (ie in hot choc!)]

We spent the afternoon in what had become my favourite area above Valle Izas-Sarrios (the second nearest of the four main valleys that make up Formigal’s slopes). The top slopes here were in excellent shape and I absolutely loved bombing down the reds – from the high point of the middle drag there are splendid views across to a craggy ridge, and to an empty valley of virgin snow.

Below 1800m the slopes were sugary and becoming slushy in the sunshine. The runs to the valley were hard work at the end of the day, proving difficult for the novices using them, though there is ample snow cover for the time of year. We finished our day cruising down the wide, gentle blue runs above the main Sextas base.

Formigal has three dedicated freeride zones

We then had a two-hour drive back over the pass and into France for our last night. Thankfully, the several mile tailback of day-trip traffic was heading in the other direction through Spain and we enjoyed a scenic, pleasant journey. Actually, the scenery here rather reminded me of the high Lakeland or Scottish passes.

We spent Saturday morning in Cauterets, a spa town with a small ski area reached by access gondola. The weather on the mountain was poor when we arrived, with low cloud and light snowfall above 1700m – below here there is no snow now. Most of the slopes are in a bleak open bowl, though, so still had good snow cover for April.

From the resort it is a straightforward return journey to Toulouse, taking us about two and a half hours.

Above Cauterets

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