Chasing Powder in the Pyrenees with Intersport

Andorra?

• Check.

Baqueira Beret, Spain?

• Check.

French Pyrenees?

• Er, Yes please!

I have long been an advocate of renting skis.

The freedom and flexibility to travel relatively light, with no excess baggage or sports equipment charges (with the notable and laudable exception of Swiss of course) is a massive plus.

And frankly the depth, breadth and quality of equipment on offer means you must be a real gear geek to want to your schlep your own skis all the way to the Alps, or even the Pyrenees.

Intersport are the leading European aggregator rental provider, and it helps that PlanetSKI readers get the top partner discounts available.

We were planning a freeride trip, so I booked the gold all mountain pack.

With PlanetSKI’s discount, and the extra 5% loyalty discount direct from Intersport, my top of the range all-mountain skis cost a mere €43 for three days.

That’s just over €14 per day and a 55% discount on the list price.

I always take my own boots, but I could have added boots for €14 and a helmet for €9.

By contrast, British Airways were charging £150 to add a ski bag onto our flight from Heathrow to Toulouse.

That’s four times the price.

Rental prices are however dependent on the resort, and it’s clear from some comparison checking that the Pyrenees offers incredible value in not just ski passes and accommodation, but also ski hire.

The same gold all mountain pack would cost €56 in a satellite village of La Plagne, but €100 in the centre of Meribel.

The booking process could not have been easier, you can either go direct to the website – and type PlanetSKI in the discount code box – or click on the link from the PlanetSKI page and it will take you straight into the website.

You then select your resort from there.

You cannot choose a specific ski or size through the main website, however once you have made your booking you can contact the store to discuss your exact requirements.

I did just this, principally to check whether they had touring skis available (they did).

Ski packs are colour-coded blue, red, black, gold and gold all-mountain– with a platinum upgrade in a few select stores – so it’s easy to choose the level of ski you would like.

Despite the reassurances I had received from the store, I must admit that I was still a little concerned as to what selection they would have.

You don’t ever need to worry about piste skis, but us freeriders can be fussy folk – and this of course is the main reason why some skiers choose to take their own – but I needn’t have worried.

The Intersport in La Mongie is one of their best rental shops I have seen anywhere, with dozens and dozens of freeride skis, plus an excellent selection of touring gear.

I chose a pair of Atomic Bent Chetlers that had 110mm underfoot – they absolutely creamed it through the Pyrenean pow.

They were as good a pair of skis as I have ever had the pleasure to ski on.

As it turns out we lucked out with conditions, so I was more than happy to stay on all-mountain skis.

But of course the added benefit of rental skis is you can always switch to a pair of carving skis for a day on-piste if off-piste conditions do not pass muster.

After a morning cruising the pretty pistes that span from La Mongie across to the Grand Tourmalet area – so named after the Tourmalet pass that is the most iconic climb on the Tour de France, we rode the cable car up to Pic Du Midi, the most iconic summit in the Pyrenees.

At 2,877m the Pic is the world’s oldest high-mountain astronomical observatory, in use since the late 18th century.

Today it remains the largest dark sky reserve in Europe.

Research and NASA collaborations boomed after the observatory opened a private cable car in 1952, but it was not until the turn of the millennium that a starry new cable car open to the public was launched.

Today skiers ride up with pedestrians and stargazers, and there is both a fascinating museum and excellent restaurant at the top station.

All the ingredients are locally sourced and producers proudly displayed on the menu.

Even tastier however is the off-piste only skiing from the summit.

There’s the classic descent that most confident freeriders can manage, plus a few gnarly couloirs that will push you to your limit.

We stuck to the classic and it was a sensational descent.

La Mongie is the main village in the Grand Tourmalet area and this and St Lary are the two biggest resorts in the French Pyrenees, but there are also a handful of smaller resorts also worth checking out.

The next day we ventured over to Peyragudes, and were rewarded with a huge dump of snow that kept falling throughout the day, perfect for me to put the Bent Chetlers to the test.

We escaped the storm for a fine lunch at L’Etape du Rider (€23 for a tartiflette / €25 for a burger).

Our last day dawned bright and clear and we headed over to St Lary for a freeride day with Olympic boardercross medallist, Polo de la Rue.

Snowsports runs in the family blood, Polo and Xavier are two of five siblings who have podiumed in either the Olympics or world championship events, and they all grew up in these mountains.

Emmanuel Macron is another notable devotee; he grew up holidaying here and opened the new astronomy exhibition space at the Pic du Midi in 2018.

Whereas La Mongie is a purpose built high altitude resort a little reminiscent of La Plagne, St Lary is a charming cobbled street French town, steeped in local culture.

The area is famed for the black pig and the weekend we visited coincided with its very own festival, cue lots of grown men in pig suits and live music throughout the town.

We were staying in the satellite village of Bordères 15 minutes drive away, great value at €85 per night for a double room.

Admittedly we were seeing it at its very best but I was completely blown away by both the resort and wider area.

For me skiing here in the Pyrenees was like going back to the Alps of my childhood.

Most voices you hear here are French and us Brits are welcomed rather than tolerated, outside of French school holidays the slopes are wonderfully quiet and there’s a wonderful balance of local and quirky ski culture that feels a long way away from the “ski factories” of the Savoie.

Skiing down through the trees to the dam of the Lac de l’Oule was one of those lines that will live with me forever.

Further Details: 

For more information about Intersport visit: www.intersportrent.com

Ski Hire

Intersport have over 700 ski hire shops across the alps, renting award-winning skis and snowboards.

Why rent in resort?

Because you can save money on the airline baggage fee, have less to carry to resort, have up-to-date equipment that’s serviced every rental by qualified professionals.

Swap and change your skis and equipment as conditions demand, and get your feet accurately measured with the Boot Doctor scanning machine – guaranteed comfy, new boots.

Average rental is €8 per day including skis, helmet, poles and boots.

Book via www.intersportrent.com

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