I did my day trip to Andorra yesterday (21 December). The weather was dry and mainly cloudy but with enough breaks to see some blue sky and an occasional glimpse of the sun. Approaching from an easterly direction, it seemed that the snow level is considerably higher than I was expecting. My estimate would be that there is snow down to about 2000m with just a slight dusting down to 1500m in places. Nevertheless, I decided to enter Andorra via Seu de Urgel, an interesting alternative to my usual route. I have not driven between Puigcerda and la Seu before and it is around 30 years since I last entered Andorra from the Spanish side. Having done what I wanted to in Andorra la Vella, I decided to head towards France and see what conditions were like. Also, as I came in, I had seen a glimpse of the Spanish customs post at la Farga de Moles and they seemed to be checking every car going out. As I had spent fairly freely, the French seemed a better bet. ;-) They let you drive slowly through and just pull over a few cars for random checks - enough to be a deterrent but most times you do not need to stop. There is some snow to be seen from Canillo onwards though not much until near Soldeu. Some of the ski runs seem to have had some attention from the snow cannons; others look to me to be unskiable (but I am not a skier). The higher runs are, no doubt, OK. Grau Roig seems to have enough snow to keep the customers happy. The temperature seems low enough for any snow to stick. It was +4C at Encamp at 1pm so would be colder higher up. The road was clear and dry nearly to the top of the Envalira pass. There had been some snow at the top but the road is kept clear. At the top light snow was falling dampening the road surface but not presenting any problem. Obviously care is needed in the morning if a wet road has frozen but the snow chains don't seem to be needed just yet. A heavy snowfall could, of course, change that overnight so it is best to be prepared. On the northern side the snowfall was a little more persistent. No breaks in the cloud here. Cloud often funnels up the Ari�ge valley and gets bottled up at the head so Pas de la Casa may be in cloud while the rest of Andorra is having sunshine. There is more snow on this side of the pass. Of the places I saw, Pas de la Casa has the best conditions for skiers at the moment. I stopped in Pas de la Casa for a late lunch. There were a fair number of skiers on the slopes. At the moment, it is not very busy but the season is only just getting going. Whatever the season, the streets always seem to be full of parked cars and delivery lorries. Today it is raining steadily here (near Perpignan). If that is falling as snow in the mountains, conditions may already have changed. The best advice is to be prepared for whatever you may find. Felic Nadal i Bon Any Nou to all AndorraWeb readers and contributors. -- E. J. Jewell [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.chy-an-piran.demon.co.uk ........................................ Per donar-se de baixa: http://andorraweb.com/aw/caf/index_ca.php3 To unsubscribe: http://andorraweb.com/aw/caf/index_en.php3 -- AndorraWEB -- http://andorraweb.com ........................................
