CLOSE (BUT UNCONNECTED TO) TO PIAU ENGALY, the family ski station of Saint Lary Soulan is situated in the Aure valley of the French Pyrénées. Its balanced selection of groomed pistes will appeal to a wide variety of skiers, making it suitable for mixed-ability groups, as long as no-one is looking for anything too demanding. There is also a steadily expanding snow-park for snowboarders and freestylers. Access is relatively simple from Pau and Toulouse airports (or Tarbes TGV for rail travellers) and the village is a popular four-season destination for both French and Spanish visitors.

Accommodation is a little limited around the ski area, most visitors opting to stay in the more traditional setting of the old village down the valley. Either way, the mood is distinctly relaxed.

For the first-time visitor, the approach to Saint-Lary Soulan sends a clear message: this is serious mountain country. It’s also clear that the multitude of villages and hamlets located down in the valleys retain all their traditional charm, and everything (apart from the mountains) is on a reassuringly human scale. Welcome to the Haute-Pyrénées.

The village of Saint-Lary looks unlike any ski station we’ve seen in the Alps, an impression often underlined by the relatively few British voices to be overheard on the café terraces. Traditional Pyrenean timber and stone architecture, combined with a sheltered, sunny location, make this an attractive place to be, a fact well-known to generations of loyal French visitors plus those who regularly come from across the nearby border with Spain.

Meanwhile, up on the mountain...

But in the village itself there's no front-de-neige, and few signs of ski activity apart from a large cable-car station. Until it’s finally replaced with the planned high-speed gondola lift, this venerable lift shares the duty of getting skiers up to the ski area with a shuttle bus service. Either way, at times when when there’s little sign of snow down in the village, the vast white landscape which is suddenly revealed as you crest the ridge at the Pla d'Adet produces quite a sigh of relief.

The definitive family ski station, Saint-Lary caters for all ages and abilities.

A brief uphill trudge brings us to the point where we can finally snap into our skis and glide past the debutant meeting points to the Soume de Matte chairlift, which deposits us onto the blue-graded Corniche 2 piste. It’s a blast, sampling some of Saint-Lary 1900’s rewarding intermediate terrain all the way down to the Tortes chair. The onward haul up to 2320m provides the gateway to a wealth of possibilities, in a vast, sheltered bowl above the Vallon du Portet, whose terrain tops off at a respectable 2515m.

The Perfect Spot

While longer hauls are handled by efficient chairlifts, there still appear to be too many drag-lifts in this sector, which is a pity as it must curb some visitors’ inclination to explore the area’s full potential. And it’s well worth getting to the high points, not least to feel yourself on top of a sizeable chunk of the Parc National des Pyrénées.

“there still appear to be too many drag-lifts in this sector...”

Not that any of the terrain here is exactly low, as a drop down through pine forest to the Lac d’Oule (1820m) proves. This worthwhile aside emerges beside the sunny terrace of the Chalet de l’Oule, whose location overlooking the lake makes this the perfect spot for a lunchtime refuelling break.

We emerge sated, an ideal mood in which to contemplate the wooded scenery on the relaxed ride back up to the Vallon du Portet.

The safe, wide cruise down to the Vallon du Portet, Laint-Lary 2400.

Once there we schusse onward to the Merlans chairlift, for the ride up over the ridge of the Balcon Mouscades. The red-graded Mirabelle 2 run provides plenty of entertainment as we drop from around 2320m all the way down to the Espiaube area (1900m), terminus for the shuttle link back to the village, via the Pla d’Adet.

We, on the other hand, opt for a ride on the Lita chair back up to the Rhodos red piste; no contest, in our eyes. This run turns out to be a quite exhillarating, climaxing with a swoop through the tree-line. We wind our way down on the wooded tracks with smiles on our faces, reminded of times skiing similar terrain in far away British Columbia.

It’s an appealing image, and one of the high spots of Saint-Lary. Others include the vast mountain views which ramp up the entertainment value of even the most benign the blue connector runs. Overall Saint-Lary is a fun place - but we can’t help thinking it would be even more so with the option of a lift-pass which takes in high-altitude Piau-Engaly, which lies just a short drive further up the valley...

© Roger Moss