Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Vallnord / Pal-Arinsal

Planning a ski trip to Vallnord / Pal-Arinsal? Browse our collection of visitor-generated reviews that rank the mountain and ski town on a scale of one to five stars in the following categories: Overall Rating, All-Mountain Terrain, Nightlife, Terrain Park and Family Friendly. See how Vallnord / Pal-Arinsal stacks up to others in terms of skiing and après, and read up on pros, cons and comments from fellow skiers and snowboarders. Don't forget to submit your own Vallnord / Pal-Arinsal review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your ski area experience.

Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Vallnord / Pal-Arinsal

Total (3.9)
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A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
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J Steel
Second trip away and really enjoyed it. Was there on opening week, which meant a lot of lifts were closed and I had to heel-edge down the steeper blues as they were icy. Hated the flats due to the ice and moved over to Arinsal for the middle part of the week, which was great experience. Snow cannons and lifts came on halfway through week and so last 2 days back at Pal, plus a week of improvement, meant everything was better. Prefer the variety at Pal, but if you're a beginner - head to Arinsal first. The food stations vary a lot. Best food we found was at the new venue previously known as Obelix on the Arinsal side. Fantastic week - will go again for sure.
Pal: OK for pure beginners, but as a boarder the blues are challenging (icy/flat) for late beginners. Arinsal: much better all round, but can be repetitive.
3 hour transfer from airport...
David Denton
At the time of visiting the resort was short of snow, so there was no off peak. Much of the time the park was shut due to the snow being too soft. I would visit again and i think I would probably have rated it better if the snow conditions had been there
Nice friendly place slope well groomed
Small area
John Smith
The snow isn't good, it's either frozen solid or slushy mush, and that can change in the space of 5 minutes. You find a favourite run, love it, go back up the chair left ride it again and it's suddenly garbage.
Cheap
Inconsistency
Dave
Great resort and holiday. We had never been skiing before and took a punt of Arinsal. My wife, I and 3 kids enjoyed one of the best holidays ever. The instructors at the ski school were all excellent (we had 4 , 2 ski and 2 snowboarding). We met great people and will be returning next year (already booked).
Great for people that have never been skiing
None
Dave
Great resort and holiday. We had never been skiing before and took a punt of Arinsal. My wife, I and 3 kids enjoyed one of the best holidays ever. The instructors at the ski school were all excellent (we had 4 , 2 ski and 2 snowboarding). We met great people and will be returning next year (already booked).
Great for people that have never been skiing
None
Chris Miller
My wife and I visited Arinsal in January 2007. I choose Arinsal because this was my wifes first ski holiday so I wanted to take her to a trusted beginners resort with a good ski school. My wife wasn’t disappointed with the ski school. The tutor was a young local woman who was extremely friendly and was a great skier who could speak excellent English. As a beginner, she really enjoyed the resort, the ski school was great and she was skiing all the runs in 2 days. For an Intermediate or advance skier, you are going to get bored very quickly. In the first day, I skied all the runs in Arinsal so decided to adventure over to Pal on the second day. Only 50% of the runs were open but the runs were lot more challenging but still pretty tame. Also, the slopes were deserted compared to Arinsal so you can relax and ski without the worry of getting wiped out by a beginner (which happened more than once in Arinsal) The night life was great (but expensive). We normally finished skiing around 5pm and went straight off the gonadial to the bars. You also have many restaurants to choose from with a great selection of food. Summary: For a beginner or a group holiday, I would recommend it but if you’ve been skiing before, I would avoid it. I struggled to get out of bed in the morning and motivate myself because of the lack of Intermediate/Advance runs. the snow was poor for this time of the year with many runs closed.
Great Nightlife
Poor snow, not great skiing, bored quickly
Visted Arinsal last week (04th Feb 2008) for our first skiing trip ever. Two fairly inactive thirtysomethings and two kids aged 9 and 6. What a brilliant place. Monday we were split up into groups of similar ability. Our instructor (Mark aka Uncle Krusty) was excellent. Kept us stretched all week without going to far. By Friday both kids had turned into Franz Klammer with the help of their instructors. There is enough variation on the Arinsal side to keep beginners and improvers well entertained. If it gets too boring, the Pal side offers a bit more of a challenge. The Apres Ski was superb. Plenty of variation other than drinking beer. I would highly recommend Arinsal, and am already in the process of booking a return visit for 2009
I went in 2000 with 5 others. 4 beginners and 2 very good skiers including meself. Il make it plain and simple; the experts found it ok, slightly limited and no off piste. Beginners advanced very very quickly in the excellent ski school and found the whole resort more than enough. You could get to the other resort, but was alittle bit of a task as you had to get the main Gondola to the slopes, then a chair to almost the top, then a chair to the very top, then another gondola to the other resort. Not very easy. Bit i wold look inot this as there is a possibility that they may of changed it recently. The resorts its self is quite good, with a bracking bar for beers after a hard day on the slopes. All in all, fine for beginners to intermediates, would any more than this and they may find it alittle limited.
Until the 2000/01 season, Pal and Arinsal were separate resorts with separate ski areas. They remain physically separate, but a fast gondola joins the two ski areas. For the 2005-6 season the resorts joined with neighbouring Arcalis to form Vallnord as a counter to the Soldeu/Pas de la Casa merger in to Grandvalira on the other side of tiny Andorra. However unlike Soldeu/Pas de la Casa the resorts are not joined. In common with other resorts in Andorra, Pal – Arinsal are both lively and expanding. Be prepared for full on activity on and off the slopes. On the mountain boarders tend towards the Arinsal sector, whilst skiers rave about ‘unspoilt’ Pal. For Beginners the Prat de la Coma Area has been extended and much improved in recent years. Off to the right of the mid station there are three beginners tows with a large nursery area for first timers. Probably more a resort for intermediates and progressing beginners there are some excellent long blue runs - one of the longest runs in Andorra is La Solana which starts at the top of the Pic Negre and takes you all the way down to Cota at the base of the mountain. For high speed cruising check out the long, fast, wide Font Roja piste located in the Seturia area with access via a high speed quad. The resort has two marked freeride areas. In the Pal Sector head for La Comellada which often boasts the best powder in Andorra, skiing through the forest on steep slopes. In Arinsal the north face of la Capa allows freeriders to make big descents with wide turns. In addition, a mogul and permanent slalom are always prepared for visitors looking for some more action.
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