Snow and Saunas

MountainBug Director, Martin, ended last week by skiing over to La Mongie for a complimentary trip up the Pic du Midi. He had a tour of the observatory and found out how our guests can visit this amazing place. We're doing a new trip this summer which includes visiting the Pic du Midi observatory and having lunch in their restaurant while surveying the Pyrenees and beyond.

This week our guests were treated to huge dumps of snow over the last 2 days. Yesterday the pistes were beautiful with clear blue skies and fresh powder. Today the sky is clouding over, ready to give us some more snow.

View from the Pic du Midi, Friday 27 Jan, before our recent big dump of snow.

Some of our guests decided though that being in the snow with full ski gear on was a bit too tame...so they did a Scandinavian-style sauna then roll in the snow, in the chalet's back garden...nippy!

Visit from "Where to Ski and Snowboard"

Last week our snow-shoeing and skiing guests were joined for two nights by Dave Watts, co-founder of the influential book and website, Where to Ski and Snowboard. Dave was on a whistle-stop tour of the Pyrenees. He's written a blog post about his time here http://www.wtss.co.uk/blogs/thin-snow-cover-but-good-piste-skiing-and-friendly-people-in-the-pyrenees.

After the traditional end of January lull for a few days, we're delighted to be welcoming more skiers this weekend. The skiing above 1800m is good, with the snow-cannons working well at night to provide coverage and more snow promised this weekend.

Currently, all hands are on deck at the Hotel du Tourmalet, which is scheduled to open in 2 weeks, ready for the busy February half-term. We'll post photos as soon as we can, as it looks beautiful. We're very excited, especially after new chef, Stefan Vincent, cooked some of us a meal the other night based on the menu he'll be serving at the hotel.

Snow shoeing: a great way to see the winter scenery

This week's and last week's guests have been enjoying the winter views via snow-shoeing. Snow-shoeing is a great way to reach wintry mountain peaks without needing to put skis on or get on a lift.

Led by our experienced, local guides, the groups have been visiting places such as Cauterets and the Pont D'espagne, the Cirque du Gavarnie, Plateau de Saugue, and the valleys and forests near Pic D'Ayre.

Aygur Clus

Making our own trails

Which way now??

Group photo, with guide Julian in the middle

We can run snow-shoeing hoildays all over winter, for groups of 4 or more, so if you are interested, please contact us.

December photos

Snow in Bareges, 19 Dec. Clearing a path to the chalet.

All calm in the Pyrenees

The busy school holidays are over and we've settled into the January routine of quiet week days and bustling weekends. This is a great time of year to hit the slopes as the pistes are virtually deserted midweek and there are no queues on the ski lifts.