FONT ROMEU - THE SKIING
- This is a guest blog by Amber W an intermediate skier.
On arrival at the Font Romeu ski area we found access from the village via a gondola, with the option to drive up to a number of the stations further up the mountain.
There are 41 pistes with 23 lifts covering 43km of skiing with a number of different restaurant and rest stops located throughout the ski area.
We explored the ski area with Christophe, a guide from the ESF. I was immediately impressed by the quality and quantity of snow on the pistes, Font Romeu has over 550 snow canons covering the ski areas and even this early in a very slow season the pistes were in great condition. Having left behind the icy, rocky slopes of the Alps it was a treat to be skiing on snow rather than bare patches. The pistes were very enjoyable, wide with beautiful surroundings. Font Romeu's comprehensive artificial coverage allows them to open a large proportion of the resort with no snow fall required.
Despite being a fairly small ski resort, Font Romeu has a fantastic snow park rated the second in France only behind Tignes. This incredible accolade has enabled Font Romou to hold the Freestyle World Cup 2017 for which we were lucky enough to see a practice. The jumps are an unbelievable size, it was clear a huge amount of work was going into giving the competitors optimum conditions. All this in a resort waiting for its snow - Font Romeu has it covered.
The pistes are fantastic for beginners, intermediates and wonderfully suited to families. For intermediate skiers there are great opportunities to develop with increasingly difficult slopes available. For families it is a relaxed resort offering many suitable areas where parents won't have to worry about finding themselves at the top of a harder slope than anticipated. In addition there are a few more challenging slopes in the 'Calme' area for more advanced skiers.
The tree cover in the ski area is a real advantage, on a windy day it is a huge benefit to be able to descend into the trees to find the calmer conditions.
The views from Font Romeu are breathtaking, in some areas the mountains you are looking at are those of neighbouring Spain.
We were shown around a superb children's facility offering a safe and fun skiing environment for children from 2 and half years old - watch our video about this here.
Children can be registered here for lessons or for complete day care, giving parents the freedom to hit the slopes for as long as they like.
There are a number of restaurants in the ski area, skiers will never find themselves far from the next opportunity to rest or warm up. The food is impressive, more varied and less basic than the food often offered in Alpine resorts. There is a definite Mediterranean influence in both the food and service here. We felt very welcome and would definitely return.