End of Season Snow

We have just over two weeks here until the end of the season and just like last year the snow is pouring out of the sky. Again March is proving the snowiest part of the winter (well spring now) and the next two weeks are again expected to be quiet. This week is actually surprisingly busy, due to an early Easter, but from Saturday until close the slopes will probably be deserted. I can never understand why more people don not ski in April. The slopes are quiet, the snow is usually good and the weather is warmer in between snow storms. People tend to assume I think that the resort closes when the snow melts, so the last couple of weeks before close day they might expect the snow cover to be patchy. In fact this resort closes in mid-April because there are not enough visitors by then to make it viable to open longer. Apparently people go to the beach instead - which is another thing I have never understood; why go to a beach when you could ski instead?

There are a string of other reasons why the end of season is a good time to ski. I think I mentioned a few this time last year. Some examples are end of season sales in the shops, cheap packages and accommodation and staff who know their jobs well after a few months in post (unlike at the start of the season where many staff are new).

With all this snow I think another post on how to ski powder could be in order, as a follow up to the last powder ski lesson I posted back in January.

Thoughts on spring skiing

Following on from my last post where I mused about the advantages of booking a skiing holiday later rather than earlier in the season, another advantage recently occured to me. Skiing later in the season, after the clocks have gone forward, doesn't just mean that the sun goes down an hour later at night. It also means that the snow warms up an hour later as well. Meaning that you have an extra hour of good snow before it turns to slush in the mid afternoon, and also meaning that you don't have to be quite such an early bird to catch the best conditions.


The picture was taken from the Portella de Rialb near the Ordino-Arcalis Valley in Andorra the week after all the Andorran resorts had shut. As you can see, there is plenty of snow around still, and we enjoyed a fine day out ski touring with good spring conditions. I guess my main point is that April skiing can be just as good as February, so don't write off the end of the season and head for a cold wet beach. Looking at the weather reports its snowing in Andorra even as I write...