Snow Arrives in Andorra

Starting from a low base of surviving machine made snow a few inches deep at the country's leading resort, Grandvalira (formerly Soldeu and Pas de la Casa), the resort got four inches of fresh snow on Monday and more snow is falling now and expected to continue the rest of the week. The number of lifts and runs has increased from around a third to two thirds of capacity as a result – meaning more than 100km (60 miles) of piste is now open in this, now one of the world's 20 largest ski areas. At the other Andorran ski area of Vallnord (Formerly Arinsal, Pal and Arcalis) snowfall measurements are looking better still with the best depth measurement currently 60cm (two feet) in the Arcalis sector. Oddly only four of the resorts 25 runs are currently open ahead of an expanded opening at the weekend. Temperatures across the principality are low, dipping from a max of freezing right down to –15C (about 5F).