You see, my skiing experience is limited — one day largely horizontal at Thredbo to be exact. My strongest memory — a troupe of five-year-olds laughing hysterically as I careered out of control into a group of trees, a la Sonny Bono — still causes me spasms of embarrassment.

I’d been booked on a week-long trip with Top Deck — great, I got the opportunity to make a total fool of myself in front of a group of Antipodeans as well as strangers. I was filled with grief — thanks Mister Editor. How wrong I was.

Much to my surprise, the anticipated mind-numbing bus trip never eventuated. Instead, there was a pleasant 90 minute jaunt by air to Toulouse where I was greeted by a couple of smiling Top Deck reps before a three-hour trip to the tiny country of Andorra, nestled between the French and Spanish borders. And what a strange but pleasant little mixture of both it is. Depending on where you go, both countries currencies are accepted. But I digress, it’s the skiing I was sent to report on.

I soon discovered I was far from the only beginner on the slopes — and with good cause. Andorra is a haven for beginners and according to Top Deck ski guide Jason Shugg, everything is geared towards the novice.

“The impression that you get from going to resorts like Switzerland is a snobby one. Here it’s much more casual, you go out, fall over and everyone laughs, it doesn’t matter what you look like on the ski slope,” he said.

That’s not to say that Soldeu is not suitable for the experienced skier. Of the 60km of available skiing, there are 14 intermediate runs and five that are considered difficult. On top of that, Soldeu features a state-of-the-art eight-person gondola (the first of its type in Europe) which is capable of shuttling some 3000 people up the mountain every hour.

And when it comes to learning not to fall over, Andorra has it well and truly covered. The instructor burdened with the unenviable task of teaching me the fine art of skiing, Englishman Joe Beer, gave me the low-down.

“As far as I’m concerned, Andorra’s the place for skiing or snowboarding, especially since it’s all English speaking. The instructors are all very helpful, not the usual European instructors who just scream at you and then head off and leave you alone. It’s the biggest English-speaking ski school in Europe. There’s about 180 instructors and at least 45 to 50 per cent of them are English-speaking,” he said.

And I can vouch for his patience — I had all the co-ordination of a man who’d been involved in an all-night drinking session with Sir Les Patterson. To Joe’s credit, by the end of the week I’d progressed beyond the snow-plough stage, and whilst I wasn’t about to be mistaken for Alberta Tomba, I could actually hold my head up high amongst the five-year-olds.

But, let’s face it, you can only spend so much time on the piste.

The tiny town of Soldeu has a surprisingly lively nightlife, as we discovered from the outset. Once again the Top Deck crew had it covered with plenty of apres ski activities. The week kicked off with a pub crawl — a wonderful introduction to the town’s leading watering holes and a brilliant way to meet people.

The next few days included a visit to a traditional Catalan restaurant, an evening of toboggan madness at the nearby resort of Pas de la Casa and a Sangria lunch party up on the slopes.

Gillian Olive, the bundle of energy in charge of organising the fun off the mountain, said the parties are an essential part of any ski trip.

“The nightlife is an important part, it is the impression that people are left with. Probably, in all the reports that have come back, the highlights have been the fun they’ve had in the night-time as well as in the day, particularly because they’re all learners.” But perhaps the most important factor for the budget conscious skier is Andorra’s relative value for money.

The former French Principality is a tax haven, and as such, is outrageously cheap. You’ll discover that everything is cheaper here than other resorts, from the cost of your lift pass and lessons to the food and drink.

Top Deck’s Evan Pardington, who spent last season working in Switzerland, said: “Andorra’s lower than any of the others, lift passes are cheap, ski hire’s cheap and there’s enough skiing to keep you interested for a week.”

“And then the off-the-piste prices are cheap as well. You can come here for a week with about £100 in your pocket. If you go to places like Switzerland you can’t afford to do anything, you come here and you can afford to go skiing and go out at night as well.” And then there’s the shopping. Just a 20 minutes bus ride down the road from Soldeu is the capital city, Andorra la Vella — and believe me, this is as close to shopping heaven that you’re likely to get. Take my word for it — I was in the company of a couple of credit card-toting shopaholics of the female variety.

Fashion accessories like shoes and handbags, I was assured, are about a third of the London retail price. And, shock horror, I found myself caught up in the frenzy, scoring some shoes, a new watch, camera and tape player — all for a fraction of what you’d pay anywhere else. Hey, there’s a lot to be said for heading down to Andorra just to shop!

As one happy punter said: “The skiing’s one thing, but with the food, the grog, the duty-free shopping, you can’t lose.” Enough said really. If you’re looking for a spot of skiing and don’t want to pay the price of the caviar set and still have a hoot, look no further — you’ve been told.

l Top Deck operate weekly skiing trips to Andorra starting at £219, which includes flights, transfers and accomodation with half-board. Ski hire is a further £36 and lift passes will set you back £59.