January skiing in the Spanish resort of Formigal
These are the slopes of the ski resort of Formigal (in the Spanish Pyrenees) mid-morning, on a Thursday in late January, I think 2006. Just look at those slopes – nary a soul out there.
Being a rubbish skier, I’m always a big fan of empty slopes – the more elbow room, the better for everyone concerned. On this particular holiday, the lack of people was doubly welcome as we were in the Pyreness to film our short break ski holiday for the BBC Holiday programme. The good looking, empty slopes did us no harm at all.
I must also say that the presenter, Craig Doyle, helped a lot. As with the previous film he had done for us in the Picos de Europa, he really ‘got’ this holiday and enjoyed being out in the Spanish mountains. I think that shows on the final piece which was broadcast. When the film aired we got in excess of 1,200 enquiries.
I have only managed to track down a copy of a shortened version of the original piece – this was broadcast as part of the BBC’s Holiday 10 Best series. As I say, it’s a few years old now – for instance, Formigal has now grown to around 137km of runs – but it is still a wonderful place for a short ski holiday.
See all of our skiing holidays in the Pyrenees.