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Northern ambience at Beille

Northern immensity

Beille, at an altitude of 1800 metres, is the leading Nordic ski area in the Pyrenees: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tobogganing,Angaka and Petit Plateau activities – all the ingredients are there to make for the most wonderful day!

Garden of Wonders

Here everything is white!

What’s the surprise? Mom smiles, without answering. I blow and it steams up the icy car window. The road from Beille climbs into a large forest. Mom shows me the valley below. It’s so small from up here. Quentin, my little brother, jumps onto the seat: snow! on the side of the road, then on the fir trees.

We arrive on a gigantic plateau. Dad stops the car in a very large parking lot. I’ve never seen so much snow. It’s awe-inspiring: the peaks, the fir trees, the mountain– everything is white, everywhere you look.

Dog sledding

Like a musher

Here’s my present! I’ve never seen so many dogs at once. Sled dogs, with beautiful hair and sparkling blue eyes. My favorite fur ball is “Inut”, the leader of the pack.

Samuel introduces himself: he’s a musher, a dog-sled driver. First, he shows me how to prepare the sled. Then he takes us up to the sled for a ride in the Great North!

The cold tickles my nose, I sneeze, and Samuel and I burst out laughing – what a great job he does!

Tobogganing made easy

Even Mum loves it

“Where’s my present,” asks Quentin? While Dad does his Nordic ski loop, Mom takes us there. What’s this? A mountain escalator? A mountain treadmill? You go down in a toboggan and come back up in a transparent tube, which makes you feel like you’re floating on snow.

Mom’s happy, because she doesn’t have to pull the sled up to the top of the slopes anymore. We’ve made as many banked turns as we can! Our sled looks like a Formula 1 car – even Mum’s tried it! I’ve never seen her laugh so much.

Gourmet break

I’m terribly hungry. Around the high-altitude restaurant, Le Croustet 1800, which serves good local produce, we all put down our coats because it was so nice in the sun. Dad tells us about his cross-country ski tour of the crests at Finestre. He really enjoyed it; he hadn’t skated in a while. He had the whole mountain to himself, while overlooking the surrounding peaks.

To each his own

Biathlon for kids, snowshoes for mom!

Dad takes us with him to the biathlon initiation offered by the ski school. Ski, stop, aim. We all think we’re Martin Fourcade at the Olympics, so let’s go!

Mom seems to be enjoying her own moment on snowshoes, and we’ve been waiting 30 minutes for her! Then we went to the Nordic village, where they were building igloos, just like at the North Pole! Mom told me it’s a yurt, a Scandinavian house.

Memories and sweet dreams

Thanks Dad, thanks Mum

Before we leave, we enjoy a nice hot chocolate and as we pass the store, Mum brings us back a souvenir of this unforgettable day, a stuffed sled dog. We named him petit-inut. Thanks Dad, thanks Mom, I’ve never laughed so much in the snow. Mom told me I’d be sure to sleep well on the way home, and that this Nordic day would live on in my dreams!

Ariège's little extras
The Ariege Pyrenees, your oxygen bubble!

Looking for unspoilt nature, the great outdoors and white water?
In winter, ski, snowboard, skating, snowshoeing, sledging and dog sledding at Ax 3 Domaines, Beille, Ascou and le Chioula, Mijanés and Goulier...

In summer, hiking, mountain biking, paragliding or canyoning...

And all year round, enjoy the benefits of the thermal waters at Ax-les-Thermes, Ussat-les-Bains or the Bains du Couloubret.
And don't miss the Grotte de Niaux and the Parc de la Préhistoire.

Not forgetting the history of our mountains and their heritage, pastoralism and local produce!

Book your next mountain vacation!

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