A medium size station but still cozy
Astún is a ski station situated in the middle of the Aragon Pyrenees, just next to the frontier with France. Actually, the diversion for Astún is on the same old pass (not the tunnel) to Somport, from where you take right turn arriving in a couple of kilometres at the ski station car park.
It’s 4-5 Kilometres from the veteran ski station of Candanchú, with which it has been possible to share the package or access ticket to the pistes for several years. It’s a medium size station, with 40 Km of pistes, and normally, there is usually very good snow since the lowest snow line is at more than 1700 metres of altitude.
Like in all stations, there are pistes for all levels: with a zone for beginners, blue pistes where you can progress and relax letting yourself go and, above all, breakneck red pistes on which you can “prove yourself” and some black and routes off-piste where you can “be adventurous” (mind the avalanches).
In general, the pistes are very wide and very well marked, however as I’m saying, the distribution permits doing some very interesting and amusing improvised “off-piste” skiing since the station is very “cozy” and has a lot of nooks and amusing jumps.
On clear days, the views from any of the highest snow lines in Astún, be it from the La Raca ski lift, that of canal Roya or from that of Truchas, are absolutely impressive, you catch sight of a lot of Pyrenean mountains, such as the mythical Midi D'Ossau, the Picos del Infierno, Aspe, etc.
The views from La Raca towards the zone of Candanchú, with the "Tubo de la Zapatilla" in the foreground, are a real joy. If I have to say a “but”, it tends to be a very busy station, especially during the weekends, and together with the fact that some ski lifts are quite old and ascend quite slowly, queues that can begin to form can be horrible.
The adult package costs €36 with insurance, although if you later return the card, they refund €3, total €33 for a day of skiing. It is a medium size ski station but cozy, one of those that people love, and one that people normally go back to. As I say, it has something special, the valley itself, the good distribution of the pistes and their links, the countryside… even so, I think they should improve the installations as soon as possible.