Quality snow for positive ski season in Catalonia

The ski season in Catalonia is going well this year. This weekend, thousands of people took to the slopes in some parts of the Pyrenees mountains, where sunshine, pleasant temperatures, and recent snowfall guaranteed a good run. In ski resorts such as Masella, snow was 2.4 metres thick in some areas, due to the cold snap at the start of the month bringing with it the falling snow.

The resort confirmed a steady flow of visitors over the weekend, with around 9,000 ski passes being sold on Sunday morning. They also stated how people have been flocking to the resort during the weekends in general. According to the marketing director at Masella, Maite Martí, recently the snow has attracted more than 3,000 skiers per week. This shows that people “want to enjoy the snow and good weather,” Martí added. “What more can we ask for on the ski resort’s 50^th anniversary,” she asked.

Good conditions

“The thickness of the snow is increasing, and the quality is very good,” said Martí, adding that he believes the season could well extend into April or even early May this year. Despite some rainfall on Friday, all facilities were open at Masella on Sunday, and skiers were in high spirits.

One keen skier, Guillem Mitjà, commented on the quality of the snow despite Friday’s rainfall. “I knew it was going to rain on Friday, so I skied in the rain but despite that the snow was good,” he said.

Queues could be seen lining up for the ski lifts every morning in Masella, one of eleven ski resorts found in Catalonia. It is also one of the biggest in the country, behind Baqueira, in Val d’Aran, which  is coincidentally also the biggest in Spain as a whole. For first-timers, conditions were good for learning the slopes. For people like skiers as Ana Zuera, it was an ideal “day to come with children and learn to ski.”

Where to ski in Catalonia?

Popular places to ski include Baqueira, the biggest in the country, and Masella, where ski passes cost €51.50 and €46 respectively but there are plenty more places to choose from. Eleven ski resorts are in operation in the country.

Next on the list is Boí Taüll in the Lleida region of the Pyrenees where access to the slopes costs €39. The next two in the top five Catalan ski resorts include Port del Comte, and Port Ainé. Many of the resorts offer special discounts, and deals can be found online at websites such as atrapalo.com.