The ski season heats up engines. The first pre-winter snowfall has arrived like holy water and just in time to kick off the white campaign. The seasons arrive at the 2022-2023 season with their homework done. All of them finalize the details for an imminent opening.
Ordino Arcalís will probably be the first to raise the blind next Friday, November 25. And with the permission of the weather and waiting for a ruling this Wednesday, the second to open could be Baqueira Beret. In fact, the Aranese station maintains the opening date for November 26, as it had predictably announced.
Many stations have started to install solar panels to save as much energy as possible.
Although this week’s snow disturbances have greatly favored the Pyrenean resorts, the snowfall has not finished making enough thickness in Sierra Nevada. The Granada winter center had set the opening date on Saturday, November 26. But he has preferred to wait until Saturday, December 3. A date on which, although the snow continues to be generous as it has been until now, the bulk of the stations on the Peninsula could open.
The snow business, which will leave four and a half months of white activity this season, has been forced to tighten its belt due to the crisis. Not surprisingly, most stations have begun to install solar panels in many of the buildings in order to save as much energy as possible and be more self-sufficient. Andorra announced this Tuesday that the global forecast of energy savings in all its stations will be around 15%.
Likewise, and with the bulk of the lifts open, the resorts are considering other measures to save on electricity this year. In this way, their speed will be lowered on days with little influx, some could even be closed in the event that several ski lifts take a similar route. The French Pyrenees has even proposed bringing forward the closure to 4:00 p.m. during the week and outside of school holidays.
And if all the measures to save energy are being very well accepted in the sector, the increase in the price of ski passes has been minimal in all winter resorts. A measure that has been very well received by fans of white sports.
The ski resorts arrive at the white appointment with substantial improvements in all of them. Baqueira Beret should be highlighted with an investment of 17.6 million euros, a figure that comes after last year’s historic season. Among the innovations, the new six-seater Dossau en Beret chairlift stands out, and the opening of more slopes in the whole of the Aranese station, which this winter reaches 170 km of descents between the four areas of the center.
FGC’s tourist facilities have not left anything to chance either. La Molina, the oldest station, will inaugurate the Barcelona slope, which will be approved by the FIS for the execution of international alpine tests. The innovative descent is 4.75 km long, and the cost has risen to 3.5 million euros.
Finally, Andorra has unified all its resorts under a single ski pass and the new Grandvalira Resorts brand, which will offer a total of 303 km of slopes. And among the improvements in services, and a global investment of 17.5 million euros, the start-up of the new Snowtubbing by Doots in the Pas de la Casa sector stands out. With 350 meters and night lighting, it becomes the longest tubing track in Europe.
