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Visitor reviews for Bareges & La Mongie Ski Resort

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• February 20, 2011
  pierre from Afghanistan
  

  salut a tous j'habite a bareges et je peut vous dire que les gens ici sont hiper raciste surtout contre les espagnols , alors que l'hiver la moitier des skieur sont espagnols aller comprendre
  pour vous monsieur les anglais les baregeois sont aussi racistes mais comme certaints habite bareges on vous le montre pas beaucoup d'hypocrisie
  mes amitiers au espagnols et anglais

• Bareges & La Mongie Ratings

  Based on 4 votes. Vote

  Access: 4.5 (1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Bareges & La Mongie.	Public Transport: 4.2 (1) There are no buses or taxis to Bareges & La Mongie, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.
  Scenery: 4.2 (1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.	Accommodation: 4.5 (1) No places to stay in/near Bareges & La Mongie, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.
  Cheap Rooms: 4.0 (1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.	Luxury Hotels: 2.5 (1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Bareges & La Mongie.
  Ski in/Ski out: 3.8 (1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.	Childcare: 3.8 (1) There are no child care facilities at Bareges & La Mongie, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.
  Snowsure: 4.0 (1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Bareges & La Mongie is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.	Snowmaking: 4.5 (1) Bareges & La Mongie relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.
  Snow Grooming: 4.2 (1) There are no snow groomers at Bareges & La Mongie, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Bareges & La Mongie are groomed daily.	Shelter: 3.2 (1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Bareges & La Mongie is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.
  Nearby options: 4.0 (1) If snow conditions are poor at Bareges & La Mongie, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.	Regional rating: 4.2 (1) Bareges & La Mongie usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.
  Lift Staff: 4.0 (1) The staff at Bareges & La Mongie are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Bareges & La Mongie are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.	Crowds/Queues: 3.7 (1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.
  Ski Schools: 4.5 (1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.	Hire and Repairs: 4.2 (1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.
  Variety of pistes: 4.5 (1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Bareges & La Mongie has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.	Beginners: 3.8 (1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.
  Intermediates: 4.2 (1) No intermediate terrain at Bareges & La Mongie, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.	Advanced: 4.5 (1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.
  Snow Park: 2.2 (1) Not even a kicker at Bareges & La Mongie, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.	Off-piste: 4.5 (1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.
  Cross-country: 3.8 (1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Bareges & La Mongie, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.	Luge/Toboggan: 2.0 (1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Bareges & La Mongie has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.
  Mountain Dining: 3.2 (1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.	Eating: 3.8 (1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.
  Apres-Ski: 3.5 (1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.	Other Sports: 3.0 (1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.
  Entertainment: 4.0 (1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.	Winter Walks: 3.8 (1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.
  Ski Pass Value: 4.2 (1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.	Value (National): 3.8 (1) Overall, Bareges & La Mongie is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.
  Value (Global): 4.2 (1) Overall, Bareges & La Mongie is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

  Based on 4 votes. Vote

• January 27, 2010
  Mike Harris from United States
  

  I'm a Brit living and working in the States currently. Decided to try the Pyrenees in 2009 for a family ski holiday to coincide with a business trip I had to make to Toulouse. Decided on La Mongie (Bareges & La Mongie) since it is the biggest resort but rented a nice house/chalet which we found on a site called rent-in-france.co.uk/directory. The property was located just outside the town of Bagneres de Bigorre which proved to be a good location for bars and restaurants. Since we were only there for 6 days and the weather was a bit iffy, we decided to buy day passes - which proved sensible because it allowed us to visit some of the other resorts nearby, including a gem called Peyragudes and Cauterets. Fantastic places with really great ski areas. Can thoroughly recommend this whole area.

• January 14, 2010
  Adur from Spain
  

  When I read a comment about this resort, I got completely dissapointed. I know that it's France but you can't say to foreigners to learn your language if they want to comunicate with you. That's completely racist and if a staff member answers that to the people, maybe he or she will get a punch in his face one day from someone, because it's disgusting to get that type of answers.

  I don't say that everybody has to know how to speak English, Spanish, German....but at least a little bit of English just because it is the worldwide language. When you come to Spain you want people to speak French or at least English too, right?

  Bareges & La Mongie is a place that needs tourists so it can mearn money, so you can't expect to be working with them if you have no idea how to communicate. The resort isn't internal and only for French people so please adapt yourselves and don't be so selfish.

• February 23, 2009
  Erwan from France
  

  I've skied the Bareges/La Mongie resort for many years and I still enjoy it. We just took a one week break starting Feb 14th and had the chance to ski fresh snow (it snowed one meter of fresh snow the week before we arrived) and had plenty of sunshine.
  The resort is one of the largest in the Pyrenees and the pistes at Bareges/La Mongie can accommodate all levels of skiers.
  I strongly recommend it to anyone, especially families.

• February 16, 2009
  Juan from Spain
  

  I have skied in La Mongie (Bareges/La Mongie) for the last 8 years and I am proud to say that La Mongie is one of the best resorts in the Pyrenees.
  Lots of friends of mine have had accidents there and there is always the same story.
  All the pisters, by default, thinks that you are trying to lie to them. My friend with accident insurance have to prove it to the pister but these one have no way to check if it is true or false.
  To sum up, La Mongie (Bareges/La Mongie) is excellent except for the staff.
  Thanks.

• February 04, 2009
  XSatiram from Afghanistan
  

  В очередной раз спасибо, хорошие что есть такие люди как вы, которые дают на самом деле дельные советы:)

• February 03, 2009
  Максим from Afghanistan
  

  Хм... Достаточно спорно, поспорил бы с автором...

• February 02, 2009
  Даниил from Afghanistan
  

  Прикольная тема, продолжайте. Иногда нахожу ответы, которые получить самому просто не хватает времени. Спасибочки!

• February 01, 2009
  karr from Afghanistan
  

  Вообще, когда видишь такое, посещает мысль, а ведь это ж так просто, ну почему я это не смог придумать Респект :)

• February 01, 2009
  Becham from Afghanistan
  

  Да, таких интересных блогов я еще не видел! Этот блог даст фору многим сайтам ( по содержанию и не только)! Шесть баллов!

• April 30, 2008
  Tristan Hay from United Kingdom
  

  We have skied the Tourmalet for about six weeks over the past two seasons. The conditions in general have been really good, with some excellent powder days and when the white stuff is a bit scarce the resort has really used what they have well.
  It’s an excellent resort to learn; the beginner area at la Mongie being right by the village and there are loads of greens which stretch around the ski area. As resorts go it's really family friendly especially as the travelator, beginners area and sledging area are only about 50m from the centre of the resort. For intermediates there is a good range of blues, try from the Quatre Termes chair lift. There are also some challenging reds. Try the laquette moguls which are always quiet to name a couple. There are plenty of off-piste short cuts to practice on and for experts the Pic du Midi is the pinnacle of many challenging off-piste routes. We stay in the Campan valley on the La Mongie side and always drive to a couple of other nearby resorts on each visit, Gavarnie and Cauteretts being our favorites.
  
  The pistes are quiet especially in the week. The lift passes, ski lessons and ski hire are much cheaper than the Alps but best of all th food and drink is much more reasonably priced and fantastic in quality; 'La Planche Pyrenee' at La Mammas restaurant does it for me every time!
  
  We also visit the spa in Bagneres-de-Biggore, the Aquensis, to relax our aching muscles and as we holiday with some non skiers this is one of many non skiing things to do locally, though most seem to favor sitting in front of the log fire drinking red wine!!

  We rent out a lovely renovated 4 bed mountain grange with log fire and south facing garden etc. which is only 10 minutes from La Mongie by car. See our website chalethay.co.uk, worth a look even just to get a bit more info on the area.

• March 29, 2008
  Elinor Morton from United Kingdom
  

  A response to Gaizka and Rob's comments
  This year, between us and friends that have been to Bareges, we have had to call upon the rescue services 3 times: once for my son who had a bad fall on the slopes, and had to be taken to Lourdes for a Cat scan, one broken leg and a badly shattered elbow. In all cases, the treatment received was superb, efficient, kind and very supportive. The assurance that you pay on the forfait is insignificant but the peace of mind it gives you is immense.

  I would also like to point out that three years ago my skis were stolen. Although there was no need, the people in the cafe and the pisteurs (who do an amazing job on the pistes when you consider the number of people who use them) were incredible, contacting the police for me, helping me down the mountain and making the whole experience slightly less unpleasant.

  I disagree with your comment that the locals are obliged to speak English. If a French person came to England, they would be expected to speak our language - it's a matter of common courtesy. Having said that plenty of people in the village do speak English, but we would rather speak French (all be it not terribly well).

• March 26, 2008
  Gaizka Perea from Spain
  

  A comment to Robs observations:
  If you worked in any of the Spanish islands or in many towns of the Spanish east coast, you would know that if 80% of your customers are English or German, you better learn some English AT LEAST!
  In La Mongie there are far more Spaniards than French in the winter season, and we spend far more money in Bareges/La Mongie than the French; so I would expect a little effort from the locals, and resort staff to communicate and ease any problems that we may encounter; AT LEAST you could have ONE guy in the resort that spoke English and Spanish; this way, from any point of the resort the staff could phone him and solve the language problems.
  Apart from this, I love the area and off-piste snowboarding is great and almost endless in Bareges. But the last two years, snow has been scarce and the shortcomings of the staff have been highlighted.
  The pistes have not been cared for enough and it was easy to find mud, rocks....in the middle of the piste, whereas smaller resorts with apparently less resources keep the pistes in great shape till the season ends. And to finish with my criticism (cos I really love the resort, I have been coming for 4 years), the snow park area seemed to be kept by drunken monkeys!!! Bad jumps/rails and too little, terrible boarder-cross. The snow park area is enormous but is totally under utilised. You could fit at least three times more jumps, rails etc... and to top it up, the snow park staff only takes care of it once a week or less.....on a daily basis, the ramps are wrecked in a couple of hours and no one cares about it, when they should be caring and fixing the ramps all day; I think that´s what they get paid for, and what I would expect after paying for my season pass.
  Three years ago the snow park was ok, I don´t know what happened....Luz Ardiden snow park is 10 times better in 4 times less space.

• March 10, 2008
  David Ford from United Kingdom
  

  Have just returned from my third trip to La Mongie ski resort and, as usual, have had a great time. It is a really good resort for all levels of skiers and, despite it being peak time on this trip, we were able to get around with not too much queuing. The restaurants are good value and ski hire from Planete Glisse was excellent. We stayed in a gite in Bagneres de Bigorre which I would really recommend. A perfect spot for going out in the evening and the gite was very well furnished and equipped with extremely helpful hosts. The web site is tyncoed-gites-pyrenees.com.
  All in all, this is a great place to come especially if you don't always want to ski every day as there are plenty of other things to do, such as visit the fabulous spa baths; Aquensis.

• February 15, 2008
  Keith ruby from United Kingdom
  

  Spent 4 days in Bareges in March 07 and had a great time. Well impressed with the resort as it was not busy like most of the French Alps. People are well friendly and even though my French is pretty bad we still managed to communicate with the locals and often had a a good giggle with quite a few of them, especially the guys in the Pizza take away; they are great guys and well worth a visit. Snow dumped down while we were there and they didn't piste bash it so it was great for me snowboarding, but hard work for my daughter and wife, skiing. Plenty of tree line skiing and boarding and I would recommend it for a 3-4 day trip but you may get bored staying any longer. Maybe take in Barritz, like we did, for a day or two.

• February 14, 2008
  Rob from France
  

  In reply to Jesus Alvarez

  We live here in Bareges all year round and know the area very well and how the system works here. So just to clear up a couple of your points that are untrue or just that the language barrier has made it difficult for you to understand.

  1. Bareges – La Mongie is still a very French resort and some of the staff here have very limited English or Spanish. When anyone who may go to another country you have to expect to try to speak a little of their language. The French here that encounter the Spanish and English do find that our mannerisms are very different and this sometimes comes across to them as been rude, ignorant and arrogant, however, this is how our cultures are and what makes us all different. In a situation such as this you have to be calm, speak slowly and clearly and, most importantly of all, to one person at a time.

  2. If you look at your insurance policy (“global assistance”) this may be found in the small print, most insurance do not cover recovery from a mountain top ski or boarding accident scene, this is covered as an extra payment when buying the forfait/Lift pass. You are asked if you require the extra insurance at the time of purchase of the lift pass and the premium is an extra 2.30 euros per day.

  For accident recovery, the minimum amount you would expect to pay to get you off the mountain here is 350 Euros to get you back to the bottom lift station, then an ambulance ride back to Bareges: further 300 Euros. The people that are in the 1st Aid post can only administer/offer simple 1st Aid and recovery back to the base station, if the accident is deemed bad enough then a doctor is flown in by helicopter directly to the scene to stabilise the injured person and then evacuate directly to hospital. This costs 10,000 and again is sometimes not covered within your insurance policy, but would be covered under the insurance of your forfait/Lift pass at the time of purchase.

  If you have no proof of insurance on your person at the time of the accident then as with all of France you need to pay with cash or a credit card and reclaim the money from your insurance. Some unscrupulous people who do not have insurance expect treatment then leave without paying. This affects us all and our local taxes are raised to compensate for the loss. This has happened in the past and this is why you are asked for insurance details and proof of identification. If all is correct then you should receive the same care if you’re French, English or Spanish.

  3. The doctor here in Bareges covers the 3 other resorts Gavarnie, Luz Ardiden, Bareges – La Mongie, she has a full X-ray and facility and has administered her skills to some of our friends, guests, us and our own family, she speaks very good English although not perfect it is still excellent. English and Spanish here tend to expect treatment and not have to prove who they are and if they are also covered by insurance. This is a legal requirement here in France and you should carry your ID cards.

  The president of your group/club should have given everyone a copy of the global assistance insurance to show proof of being insured which includes recovery from a snow piste. All insurances are null and void if the accident has happened off-piste unless you have that particular insurance.

  Bareges – La Mongie has a good history of low accident statistics and a good history of care in village. I have no hesitation in recommending this area as an excellent area to snowboard or ski. I hope this gives you a more informed view.

• January 27, 2008
  Peter Merrie from United Kingdom
  

  Have had the pleasure of coming here now for the last 3 years and due back in March 2008 (we are very lucky to have friends who live a 30 min ride from Bareges)- it's a fab resort for all ages and styles both for skiers and boarders - when the conditions are good it's the business - loads of runs - lifts etc ( nowhere as busy as other famous resorts but with just as many runs - the resort and people are very helpful and friendly ( when conditions permit loads of off-piste - now that I am at a decent level the off-piste is a major buzz - decent flights and costs from Stanstead to Tarbes ( Tarbes airport is a pleasure - no hustle - friendly staff ) would highly recommend.

• January 21, 2008
  JESUS ALVAREZ from Spain
  

  This is the mail of complaint I had just sent to Bareges-Lamongie.

  "This weekend I was skiing in your ski resort with a trip organized by the municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz victory and the Caja-Vital(Local Bank from Spain). The trip has insurance with Global Assistance. Yesterday morning my girlfriend had a crash and did much damage in the wrist, we went to the post of medical care that is in the Bareges parking, there , the person in charge was not a doctor, the first thing she ask us was if we had insurance, in no time she interested in the state of my girlfriend, we told her that we had insurance, which was an insurance organization, she continued asking for the insurance and asking for the forfait passes, so we realized that she was unable to understand what we were saying, in Spanish, when I show her the forfait the only thing that she said is that we did not have insurance and that we had to go to Bareges , I told her again that we had an insurance, At the end she asked me if we wanted that she called to the doctor, we told her to call to the doctor, she took a telephone that was there, she spoke with nobody, hang the phone and come back saying to go to Bareges that in the ski resort there was no doctor and that we did not have medical insurance, we had to go to the doctor to Bareges by ourselves. In that moment I realised that she hardly understood anything I told her in English. We told her we did not have car, that we had came by bus, and continued to insist that we had to go to the doctor to Bareges, In that moment we asked both in English and in Spanish how to go to the doctor that was in Bareges, and finally she understood us and told us how to reach. At any moment this person tried to solve the health problem we had she was only interested in, if we had insurance or not, and we went to Bareges. The treatment she gave us was awful, especially in this kind of situation, I do not understand that as a ski resort like Bareges-Lamongie where 50% of the users are Spanish, had a staff that have no idea of Spanish nor English, For my part, I will not be back to Bareges-LaMongie anymore, and I will try to advise all the people I know not to go to Bareges-La Mongie ski resort, as well as the Organization Vitoria-Caja Vital, to avoid going stations where the treatment of the staff of the station is so bad, and especially the people in charge of solving health problems"

• December 23, 2007
  Luc Kienen from France
  

  Just skied at Bareges/La Mongie..........great snow - great resort........lots of snow and sun!

• November 26, 2007
  John Stone from France
  

  Try the Pyrenees.....stayed just outside Bagneres de Bigorre - lovely French town with bars, restaurants, great spa. Went skiing at Bareges/La Mongie - lots of runs for all abilities - skiing half the price of the Alps.
  Stayed at www.leparede.com - gites in the top of an old stone barn..........heaven!

• February 08, 2007
  Barry from Norway
  

  Stayed at Les Cailloux (www.mountainbug.com) for the last weekend in January this year, arriving the day after a LONG overdue snowfall. Bareges is a quaint village which is relatively undeveloped. The accommodation is excellent.Food; brilliant! The skiing is somewhat limited if you are used to the Alps, but there's plenty there for a short week for experienced skiers or a full week for beginners of early intermediates. There's lots of info, links (also to webcams etc)on the mountainbug website. A day trip to Lourdes is worth thinking about (it's a half hour drive from Bareges). Note that you do not necessarily need a car - Rob will collect you from the airport if you stay with them. There are ski buses every 15 minutes from 50m from the front door of the chalet for the 5 minute drive to the lifts.

• October 13, 2006
  Hugo Oliveira from Portugal
  

  Olá a todos.
  Tive a experiência de esquiar nesta estância durante um fim de semana...devo dizer que tem coisas boas e más...
  Gostei da beleza natural que nos proporciona, dá prazer esquiar aqui. Não gostei do tratamento das pistas, estas não foram batidas durante a noite, criando algumas dificuldades a quem não conhecia as pistas, cmo a agravante de em algumas zonas, como Bareges, ser uma estancia com um grau de dificuldade acima da media.Acredito que tenha tido azar, visto que, amigos que esquiaram aqui dizem muito bem dela...logo, aconselho a que a visitem já que tem paisagens dignas de serem visitadas.

  Boas descidas

• November 30, 2005
  SUSAN BOGAN from United Kingdom
  

  The sunday times called BAREGES " FRANCES WELL KEPT SECRET" and that sums it up well. Not exactly now to the outside world, yet can easily hold its owns against the alpine resorts. The speldour of Bareges is that its a tradional Pyrenees village with a vast ski area linking to La Mongie. It has virtually no queues and is refreshingly cheap compared to the Alsp and the States.
  We have skied here for years and never been disapointed with the snow. We have a house we rent outwhich is close to the first stop on the ski bus so you always get a seat !! Or you can drive up and park by the ski lifts.
  www.bareges-maison.com
  The village has an array of hotels and bars. Eating is relatively cheap and the food traditional pyrenees. La Coquelles restaurant is our favourite, log fires and lovely setting. The thermes in Bareges are worth a visit after a days skiing.

• November 24, 2005
  Dick Donovan from United Kingdom
  

  I've skied in Bareges on and off for 15 years and for the last 3 seasons, the Pyrenees has had the best snow in Europe. Skiing knee deep powder down through the trees off the Ayre is just a blast. Skiing the South face off the Pic du Midi on my 50th birthday in full sun was sublime and will be one of my cherished ski memories - and this is from a die hard Chamonix fan!! And that was after a morning of off-piste over the back of Quatre Termes that I'd never done before - even one of the established Ecoloski instructors had never been there - what a gem.

  It's not as gnarly as some of the Alpine resorts but it makes up for this in it's range of skiing for all abilities, it's quiet charm, and outright friendliness. Get to know the local instructors and guides who work for Ecoloski and you won't have a dull day on the slopes - or in the bars! It's also a great place to try ski touring as nothing is too high, or overchallenging.

  Also - try and ski at Gavernie if conditions aren't so good at Bareges. It's generally higher and north facing so holds the snow better.

  I'm giving too many secrets away here!!

• November 24, 2005
  Phil Williamson from United Kingdom
  

  We stayed in Bareges 2005. Fantastic conditions, quite a bit off piste powder as well, can ski accompanied from the observatory at 2887m. Piste to suit all ages and abilties. We stayed www.lessorbiers.co.uk and hospitality and food excellent had a fantastic week. Will be there again this year!!!!!

• November 11, 2005
  Richard Crane from United Kingdom
  

  La Mongie-Bareges is indeed a little gem that the French try to keep very much to themselves ! But hey, why should we let them. I've skied there for the last six seasons and love it - and also now have a house in Bagneres de Bigorre. There's extensive off-piste and many days each season where it's possible to ski fresh powder every day - unlike the Alps where it seems to get skied out in a few hours. The lift passes, food, drink and accommodation are all much cheaper than the Alps and the locals are very kind and accommodating.

  But the best thing is that it's really easy and cheap to get to. EasyJet and BA both do twice-daily flights to Toulouse, where you can hire a car (I use SkyCars.com) and drive to Bagneres in 1hr 20 mins. EasyJet's flights during the winter are under £60 return so it's great for long weekends getaways.

  If you want to try it, we rent our house out to skiers and cyclists. See http://www.skicrazy.co.uk for more info.

• February 20, 2005
  Phil Jones from United Kingdom
  

  (Feb 2005) - Just returned from Bareges, where we stayed at the Hotel Igloo. Accommodation was very friendly if a little basic. The owners like jazz and put on some musical entertainment on some of the evenings. Ski area is great, particularly for intermediates, with lots of varied blue runs. For beginners, I would recommend staying in La Mongie as the easy runs are more extensive and convenient.

  While we were there the area had its biggest snow dump for a decade - about 150cm - and the resort was closed for 2 days. The main problem then was traffic congestion on the main road through the village up to the parking area at Tournaboup. The free buses were caught in the jams which lead to a lot of frustration and delay - some people waited for 2 hours in the cold. Apparently a new gondola is planned, direct from the village to the ski area, in the next couple of years. Until that is built, we would probably stay in La Mongie, which is directly on the slopes, albeit less picturesque.

  PS - try the thermal baths in Bareges - very nice after a day's skiing, if a bit smelly!

• December 27, 2004
  Peter Wilkinson from United Kingdom
  

  We tried the Pyrenees for the first time last March. We decided to stay in a rented chalet near Bagneres de Bigorre which was within easy driving distance of La Mongie-Bareges. This worked out very well - because we were a party of 12 people - not all of whom wanted to ski every day. We were surprised how good and extensive the skiing was ( over 120km of pistes and loads of fantastic powder ). In the evenings we had a great choice of things to do with dozens of restaurants and bars to visit. We'll definitely go back and would recommend the place we stayed at called Villa Tamerza. It's a large modern chalet with 5 bedrooms that sleeps 12. From £675 including linen and all services, which is less than £60 a person for the week. http://www.skicrazy.co.uk has more info.

• November 08, 2004
  Steve Fleming from United Kingdom
  

  Had 1 day skiing in La Mongie in March as a break from house hunting.Loved it so much bought a house just down the road in Gerde.Great variety of runs for all levels of ability.Easy access (1 hour to Pau Airport 1 1/2 hours to Toulouse).Make sure you get up Pic de Midi-views are fantastic.
  I you want to stay at our house see our website at www.house-to-rent-pyrenees.com

• January 05, 2004
  Nell from United Kingdom
  

  We have just got back from a fantastic week's skiing at Bareges - it did not stop snowing the whole time we were there, and we skiied every day on fresh snow - there was great powder as well. The runs are good, plenty of variety, and the village of Bareges is fun and friendly.