Company: Martin, Marek, Artur

Planned route: Tallinn-Prague-Barcelona-Andorra la Vella-Barcelona-Prague-Tallinn

The purpose of this trip was to discover the most famous ski resort in Andorra called Grandvalira which is located just next to town called Andorra la Vella. It was our second snowboard trip in 2008 which started on the morning of the 20^th February in Tallinn Airport. Czech Airlines took us straight to Prague from there and after waiting for few hours we got our transfer to Barcelona. The weather in Barcelona felt like spring with its 15 degree warmth and the sun shining in the sky. The thought that you could still find snow somewhere felt unbelievable to us.

From there it took us 3 hours by minibus with a small stop to get to the Pyrenees. In the end, we finally made it to our hotel that was very close to the Andorra La Vellas Caldea water park. The hotel was apartment like which meant that we had a kitchen and two bedrooms. As we made it there really late that night we just prepared all of our gear for the next morning and then called in an early night.

In the morning we woke up very early and at 8 am we were already at the main gate waiting for the bus. It was a ski-bus that would take everyone who wanted to the beginning of the hanging railroad of Grandvalira Encamp. The Encamp village is about 1300 meters above sea level and the hanging railroad took us to the mountain top almost 2500 meters high. The ride with the railroad lasted about 25 minutes and the view was amazing. I also must add that up to that point the sun was still shining and we still had not seen any snow. On half way up we finally started to see few snowy tops and we were beginning to be hopeful that it is really the real thing. Snow was waiting for us when we finally got to the top and so we started our first day and one by one started conquered different centers. The Grandvalira ski center is actually formed from different mountains and villages that are connected to each other, like Encamp, Canillo, El Tarter, Soldeu, Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa. The difference in altitude is not that different when you compare it to Austrian and French Alps, but the slopes were very well maintained and all covered with snow. Although we as snowboarders did not see powder snow as much as we would have liked, but still the whole center left a very positive impression. But on the first day we still went looking for some untouched snow and after walking up a cliff, we were able to ride through and leave our mark in untouched snow. Actually, most of our time was spent in the Pas de la Casa snowboard park where we were studying new jumps and riding the rails.

In the evening we decided to try out the infamous Caldea water center that was very close to our hotel. It was a very colossal building with tens of different saunas, baths and both indoor as well as outdoor pools, ice chambers and so on. At every full hour there was a light and water show which meant that lights and water was playing above all the pools. It was a spectacular sight. Then we moved on to the local pub where we spent time chatting until late night.

In the morning as the first thing we were on the bus again and another snowboarding day could start. Again the weather was very nice with +15 degrees and sun shining. The whole time we were wondering how they prevented the snow from melting there. Most of our time was again spent in the snowboard park where Marek injured himself pretty severely after a heavy fall on his back. After a very tiring and emotional day we went back to the hotel. After changing our clothes we spent the rest of the night on the town shopping. As Andorra is tax free than a lot of products were much cheaper than in Estonia.  

At 7 am the next morning we were picked up by the microbus again and after 3 hours we found ourselves in the Barcelona airport. We had to wait for few hours and then the Czech Airport took us again thorough Prague back to cold Tallinn.  

Although our trip to Andorra was very fast and short, but we were all very happy that we had spent a nice weekend snowboarding in one of the most popular ski resorts in Europe. We, as the lovers of powder snow, will not probably go back there as the snow conditions are not the best as well as the difference in altitudes was not enough for us. But as far as the experience than the trip was a hit straight in the bulls-eye.