Enjoying the empty slopes of the friendly Spanish ski resort of Cerler.
Mid-March rolls on and still no sign of the snow at Cerler melting so this image caught my eye today.
I’ll leave it to better skiers than I to say why Cerler is such a good resort for the variety of pistes, accessibility of safe off-piste, vertical drops and altitude (it’s the highest ski resort in the Pyrenees) . I’m a useless skier, Bambi meets the snow, but I do enjoy it. It’s best for everyone involved if I can be given lots of elbow room as I careen down the piste.
I also prefer it if there aren’t too many people at the bottom judging my style and skill, or lack thereof. Or just openly laughing.
Cerler and actually Spanish resorts in general (with the exception of Baqueira-Beret which I don’t like) are wonderfully unpretentious. There are all sorts up there, all on the snow for the love of being out there. That means there’s a home for me on the slopes, which I appreciate.
It helps that the place feels Spanish, in terms of the people, the quality of the food and the prices. I remember a few years ago being up on the slopes, having a coffee and a rest. As I was chatting with some of our clients, someone on the next table looked up, confused. He was a Brit. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
Turns out he was living in Barcelona and came up to Cerler most weekends in the season to ski. This was the first time he had ever met other Brits. He was visibly relieved when we said that we were staying just a week, he obviously wanted to protect his hidden gem.
Find out more about our skiing holidays in the Pyreenes or read our guide to skiing in Cerler