All activities / Skiing & Snowsports / Grandvalira
Skiing & Snowsports in Grandvalira
The largest ski domain in the Pyrenees, linking the Andorran sectors of Canillo, El Tarter, Soldeu, Encamp, Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa across the eastern mountains, with around 210 kilometres of piste and a season that runs from December into April.
Why here
Grandvalira is the largest ski domain in the Pyrenees, and the main reason to point your skis at Andorra. Six linked sectors, Canillo, El Tarter, Soldeu, Encamp, Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa, spread around 210 kilometres of piste across the eastern mountains, enough terrain to ski a different valley each day. Soldeu and El Tarter hold the tree-lined cruising and the resort's teaching heart, while Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa, up near the French border at Port d'Envalira, catch the snow and the sun-baked spring laps. It sits high, tops out above 2,600 metres, and prices come in well below the Alps, which is why it fills with British, French and Spanish skiers through the season. The resort's own school, more than 500 instructors across six centres, teaches most of them.
Best months
The season runs December to April, best from January to March when the high sectors hold cold snow and a large snowmaking system underwrites the pistes. Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig are the higher, snow-sure ends, while the Soldeu side softens in spring sun. Port d'Envalira is exposed, so the top lifts and the sector crossings can close in wind and storm.
Getting there & around
Grandvalira is a two to three hour drive from Barcelona or Toulouse airports, with no train into Andorra, so most people arrive by car or airport transfer. Soldeu, El Tarter, Encamp and Pas de la Casa all have lodging at the lifts, and a gondola from Encamp reaches the slopes without a car. Buy lift passes and lessons online or on the mountain; a car helps for moving between the base villages.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Grandvalira Ski & Snowboard School
SchoolThe Grandvalira Ski and Snowboard School is the resort's own teaching operation, the largest in the Pyrenees, with more than 500 instructors spread across six centres in the Canillo, El Tarter, Soldeu, Encamp, Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa sectors. It teaches alpine skiing, snowboard, freeride, freestyle and ski mountaineering, taking adults and children from first turns to off-piste, with a nursery from age one and instruction in Catalan, Spanish, French and English.