Andorra and Cerdanya snow forecast

Skiing in Andorra and Cerdanya

Andorra and Cerdanya brings together the ski areas of the small Pyrenean principality and Masella, just over the border in the Spanish Cerdanya. Grandvalira is the big one: seven linked sectors (Encamp, Canillo, El Tarter, Soldeu, Peretol, Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa) with more than 210 km of pistes between 1,710 m and 2,640 m. Most of its terrain is blue and red, and there are dedicated learning areas in several sectors, with the Espiolets plateau above Soldeu and the gentle slopes at Canillo the usual places for first-timers. Pas de la Casa is the highest village, set in an open and often windy bowl on the French border.

Vallnord Pal Arinsal, north west of Andorra la Vella, joins its two sectors by cable car and suits families and intermediates, with lifts starting around 1,550 m. Ordino Arcalís, at the head of the Ordino valley above El Serrat, sits wholly above 1,940 m and faces mainly north, which tends to keep its snow in better condition than elsewhere in the country. It is the local reference for freeride.

Masella shares the Alp 2500 lift pass with neighbouring La Molina, giving a linked area of more than 130 km, and backs up natural snow with one of the largest snowmaking networks in Spain. The season usually runs from early December into April. Andorra has no airport: buses run from Barcelona in three to three and a half hours and from Toulouse in just over three hours, and the R3 regional train from Barcelona serves La Molina.