At the beginning of march FBBB were asked by Dare 2 be and The big snow festival if we would like to go out to Arinsal Andorra for The big snow festival to represent Dare 2 be and provide a freestyle demo for the customers at the festival.
The offer was too good to pass up so Team FBBB , Myself, mikee , aly and resident artist Mr Batlow packed up our board bags and off we went.
Early in the morning on Sunday the 13th of march we all met up a Hemel Hempstead coach station to start the first leg of our journey.
We were all stoked be on our way to Gatwick, from there we had a flight to Toulouse then a 3 and a half hour transfer coach to Arinsal.
As soon as we got on the coach we could tell it was going to be a good week, everyone was buzzing and the staff where really helpful.
A quick half way toilet stop and the driest cheese baguette Ive ever eaten, and we where there in Arinsal and ready to roll.
We got to our place Hotel Sant Andreau , chucked our bags in and went onto town in search of some well needed food.
The Black bull being restaurant of choice and some banging spicy chicken wings and a nice cold beer. From there we popped into the surf club to check out the big dog Tim Westwood dropping bombs and have a few more well deserved beers.
The next day we were up early, eager to check out the mountain and shred the park.
We soon found out our eagerness to get up the lift early was a little bit over eager as the first few hours the snow was absolutely bullet proof, not the greatest for shredding the park but it soon softened up and turned out to be a fun day exploring the resort.
Tuesday, and we met up with the Vallnord park team to discuss and shape the park for the demo scheduled for Wednesday between 2 and 4 in the afternoon.
The Park team where awesome, and they seemed stoked and surprised that 4 English guys could actually shape.
We tried explaining that we actually designed parks in domes in England, but whether it was the language barrier or what, they looked a bit confused.
Wednesday, The scheduled demo had to be postponed as the weather was pretty awful. It was snowing but felt more like rain and was so windy, we new getting anyone to sit around to watch a demo was going to be tough so we carried on with the shaping from the day before and set up all the Dare 2 be branding all around the park.
Despite the weather Mr Batlow managed to start a piece on one of the parks wall rides inspired by the big snow festival logos and yeti.
With all the shaping done and a few good runs through the park under our belt we left the mountain feeling pretty good about the demo the next day.
That evening we had been told we were not to miss the party up the mountain.
The gondola was to be closed at 6pm, we just managed to get up there in the last lift before it closed.
As soon as we got up there we where glad we instantly glad we had made it, Goldie was on stage and the Drum and bass was echoing around the mountain, the atmosphere was electric everyone was dancing and having a good time.
As the eve went on and Devlin and Dj Fresh got on stage the heavens opened and it started absolutely Dumping with snow, It was so surreal, none of us had been Raving in a blizzard before but I think we can safely say anyone there would recommend it.
Thursday, we woke up expecting to be demo day! So off we went all dressed in our Dare 2 be outfits we had kindly been provided with. But once we reached the bottom of the first chair lift we new the demo was to be postponed again, but we all had massive smiles on our faces….
It had absolutely dumped. There was fresh powder everywhere, so much in fact the top section of the mountain had to be shut as there was risk of avalanche.
Not that the closures affected the day there where plenty of fresh tracks to be had.
Friday was The Big Snow festival ski away day. A day where everyone had the option to take a coach over to the next resort about 40 minuets down the road.
Team FBBB/Dare 2 Be were invited to come along. The Sun was shining and we where taken by taxi as we had to make a stop off at an art shop for Mr Batlow to stock up on paint for the day.
With the paint on board we carried on to our stop for the day, Hotel Peretol. Home to Sunset park.
Sunset park reminded us of home straight away, it was just like the domes we are used to back home, with two poma lifts and two slopes full of rails and kickers, Easily the best park riding of the week.
Mr Batlow set up a board and promptly starting painting away, and after finishing an FBBB Bus and mountain scene he was asked to paint the side of the park teams hut with a picture of the hotel Peretol owners dog buster. Whilst he was Painting Myself Aly and Mikee provided the guys who were chowing down on the laid on BBQ with a Riding demo on he rails and kickers until a few decided to join us for a few tips on riding the features.
That night we got back to Arinsol pretty late and feeling tired. Mr Batlow had been painting all day but still managed to negotiate us all a few free drinks and dinner in exchange for him painting the bar mans car. Bit of a result!
Saturday was a pretty chilled day and we had a bit of a lay in after the long day on Friday.
But the sun was still out so we hit the park, after a few warm up runs we got out the Dare 2 Be flags again and branded up the park for the second Demo of the week.
This time we were joined by some of the local riders and park shapers who where throwing down on the jumps while we shred the rails.
All in all The Big Snow Festival was a really good week, Arinsol is definitely suited to any level of boarder or skier. The Ski area isn’t massive but with the option of the ski away day in the next resort means that you would never get board in a week.
Before we left we where all a bit worried after hearing horror stories of bad snow across France and Austria but we where definitely not disappointed in Andorra.
And with the amount of DJs playing and activities on throughout the week there is always something for everyone going on.
Looking forward to next year already.
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