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Resort Guide

Suitability	Resort height: 390m
Families:		[Yes]
Glacier:		[No]
Beginners:		[4]
Intermediates:		[5]
Advanced:		[4]
Snowboarding:		[4]

Sweden’s leading resort is also one of the oldest, with skiing since the 1890s enhanced by a funicular railway up the slopes since 1910. The resort spreads out for ten kilometres (six miles) along the side of a frozen lake and is in reality made up of several different village bases. The main place to stay for ease of access to the slopes and the heart of the resort is Are Fjallby or Are village. Although accommodation complexes are spread around the valley, the village centre is quite compact with a pedestrian square surrounded by inviting cafes, shops and restaurants. Outlying centres Are Tegefjall, Are Bjornen and Duved are linked by a ski bus service (each 15 – 20 minutes away) and have smaller ski areas of their own included on the lift ticket. All three are much quieter than central Are and have limited facilities, but nice for an intimate and peaceful ski holiday away from the crowds. Duved is another old village like central Are.

Are (pronounced “oar-er”) hit the ski racing world headlines in 2007 when it hosted the Alpine Skiing World Championships during the difficult season in which many World Cup races in the Alps were cancelled due to lack of snow. Are’s northerly latitude helps the resort to stay open from November to May and to offer a money-back snow guarantee for much of that period (mid-December to May). The northerly latitude does however mean it can be cold and dark in mid-winter, with average temperatures -8.7 Celcius in January and sunrise at 9.45am, sunset at 2.30pm. However the runs do have extensive floodlighting and the daylight hours rapidly increase in from February on moving to 8.40am to 4pm in that month and by April it is much lighter than the Alps (6.30am – 7.45pm).

Beginners

Are’s snow-certain slopes, and friendly, professional English speaking ski school make it a good choice for beginners. There are easy slopes at each of the areas but the main ski school location is at Rodkullen, a 15 minute ski bus ride from the main village centre. It is normally possible to purchase beginners pack including lift ticket, lessons and equipment rental. Lessons in Are are quite short at 90 minutes per day.

Intermediates

Intermediates will enjoy Are’s ski area the most as nearly 80% of the terrain is made up of blue and red category terrain. Most of the skiing is above the main village and includes a mixture of winding tree-lined runs on the lower half of the mountain, with open bowl skiing on the powder slopes above the treeline. It can be worth an excursion for a day each at the smaller areas of Tegefjall above Duved, which contains a good mix of terrain and is accessed by what was Sweden’s first high speed six seater chairlift, or the runs at Bjornen, which are the easiest in the area.

Advanced

Are has quite a strong reputation for advanced skiers thanks to its off piste, heliskiing and international competition pistes. These runs include the World Championships Downhill and the infamous Hummelbranten mogul run. There are several famous off-piste routes include an eight kilometre (five mile) run down to the nearby village of Husä (bus back).

Snowboarding

The Åre Dreampark, designed for intermediate and advanced skiers, is located at the "Bräcke" area. Thanks to Are’s northerly latitude, the park is usually in top shape well before Christmas and remains open through the season (in some resorts the parks may only open for limited periods when temperatures are cold enough to create enough snow and keep features in shape). The park contains a red and a black line of jumps and other features. There’s also a rail line and a half pipe in the Dreampark. There is also an easier ‘green’ line located in the "Rödkullen" area.

Other Activities and Facilities

Most of Area’s alternative activities are outdoor based and include snowmobile safaris, ice driving, ice karting, ice climbing, ice fishing and ice caving! Trips to the frozen Tannforsen waterfall and ice caves are organised. You can also take an Icelandic pony trek through the snow or go paragliding above. Cross country skiing is also big here, as it is across Scandinavia, with extensive trails, many kilometres of which are floodlit for night use.

The Holiday Club Resort has a large tropical swimming pool complex with water slides, a spa, mini golf and eight lane bowling alley. Many of the accommodations throughout Are have private saunas.

A toboggan run descends from the top of the funicular "Bergbanan" and ends up by the square in the resort centre. The toboggan run is open every Wednesday through the main season and operates free of charge.

Après Ski and Dining Out

Are has a lively après ski scene in the main village centre, where the Swedes enjoy what they prefer to call ‘after ski.’ Excessive rowdiness is rarely a problem however as alcohol prices are high as they are across Scandinavia, although with costs across the Alps rising more rapidly, the price gap is perhaps not as great as it used to be. The hotels Diplomat and Sunwing are usually the most popular, the latter’s Country Club nightclub one of several in the resort. Are has about 50 restaurants to choose from serving everything from pizza sand fast food through to reindeer and moose.

Families

Are tries hard for families with a number of special children’s zones on the mountain and excellent special children’s ski kindergarten classes for kids aged three to seven in ski school. For younger children there is a nursery for kids aged two and up but it is in the family-oriented Are Bjornen village so you are likely to face bus rides (unless you have a hire car), to get to and from there, or to and from the main ski area if you are staying there. There is another childcare facility in the main Are village itself that accepts babies from birth but it is part of the large Holiday Club accommodation complex so you need to be a guest there. For older children there are other specially tailored classes. For example there are freeride camps for children from 12 years and up where they can learn all about twin-tips, fakies, 360s, 720s, 1080s, d-spins, flips, spines and quarters.

Are also has one of the most generous lift ticket pricing schemes in the world for children, as kids don’t pay until they’re age eight, providing they’re wearing a helmet (normally available for free when rented as part of an equipment hire package).

Accommodation in Are

• Are Apartments - 3 star,
• Arebjornen Apartments - 3 star, self catering
• Aregarden Apartments - 4 star, self catering
• Brunkulla Apartments - 3 star, self catering
• Chalet Snow Villa - 4 star, self catering
• Holiday Club - 4 star, half board
• Hotel Aregarden - 4 star, half board
• Renen Apartments - 3 star, self catering
• Renen Hotel - 3 star, bed & breakfast

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