Tag: start of the ski season

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Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalis have opened thanks to the latest snowstorm.

A chairlift in Grandvalira full of snow. Photo Grandvalira. Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalis have opened thanks to the latest snowstorm.

Thanks to the last snowfalls, Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalis are now opened. The snowfall of 100 cm in parts has been celebrated by locals while more snow is expected. The descent of the temperatures allows to produce more man-made snow to touch the more tracked areas.

Grandvalira has started the 2024-25 ski season with partial opening in the sectors of Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig, and then it opened the sectors of Encamp, Soldeu, El Tarter and Canillo.

In numbers, the Andorran ski domain of Grandvalira Resorts look like this:

Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalis have opened thanks to the latest snowstorm. Photo: Grandvalira Resorts.
Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalis have opened thanks to the latest snowstorm. Photo: Grandvalira Resorts.

*308 skiable km, the biggest area of the Pyrenees mountains and the south of Europe.

*217 pistes of all different levels

*123 ski lifts with a transportation capacity of 180.115 skiers/hour

*3,135 hectares

*66% of terrain with snowmaking, to guarantee skiing conditions

*79.8 km of snow shoeing circuits

*81.3 km of circuits for ski mountaineering

*+25 activities of adventure

*87 restaurants/bars on the mountain.

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Pila has postponed its opening of the ski season to Saturday 6th December.

Pila has postponed its opening of the ski season to Saturday 6th December. Photo: Webcam Pila.it

Pila has postponed its opening of the ski season to Saturday 6th December. It was supposed to open this weekend, but they don’t have enough snow for it. Even though when you see at the webcams, it does not look so bad. Actually, it looks pretty good!

Pila, as it is mostly on grassy fields, do not need as much snow to open as, for example, Courmayeur does (as its terrain is more on high mountain which is rockier! You need snow to cover those rocks!). You can read a more detailed explanation of how much snow ski resorts need to open on this past post of mine.

The new ski map of Pila with its cable car replacing the old double Couis 1 on the top, and the skiweg connection from the top of Couis 1 to Couis 2. Courtesy: Pila Spa.
The new ski map of Pila with its cable car replacing the old double Couis 1 on the top, and the skiweg connection from the top of Couis 1 to Couis 2. Courtesy: Pila Spa.

The latest snowstorms have hit Pila, but not as much snow has fallen there, as it has on the Mont Blanc area and on the Cervino. Cervnia is opening more terrain this weekend, as well as Courmayeur.

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Val d’Isère starting the ski season with clear protocols.

Val d'Isère starting the ski season with clear protocols.Photo: Val d'Isère TO.

Val d’Isère starting the ski season with clear protocols.

 
I receive many emails from the different ski resorts and how things will take shape this season. I liked particularly the one I’ve received this morning of Val d’Isère that is starting its ski season with clear protocols.
 
Only a few days to go till the opening, Val d’Isère is striving to offer optimum health and travel conditions for its visitors. Val d’Isère is offering its guests to get an equivalence to the EU covid certificate for non EU nationals. It will also place a dedicated covid testing centre.
France Montagnes Protocols for Skiing. Val d'Isère starting the ski season with clear protocols.
France Montagnes Protocols for Skiing. Val d’Isère starting the ski season with clear protocols.
 
Starting from November 27th, an online scheduling platform will go live. Both French and foreign nationals will be able to create an account. Then they will be able to book an appointment with healthcare professionals go get tested. This service will be in both French and English. This centre will be open for asymptomatic people only. If you have symptoms, guests have to contact one of Val d’Isère’s medical centres. Val d’Isère pharmacy can deliver EU Covid certificates of equivalence.

 

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A Day Trip to Valle Nevado from Santiago City

A Day Trip to Valle Nevado from Santiago City. Photo: Valle Nevado on a beautiful night.

A Day Trip to Valle Nevado from Santiago City

HURRAY!!!!! Finally the wait for winter has finished. Valle Nevado is OPEN!

Report by Chino Martinez – Professional Skier

Saturday 29th June, 2019

After weeks of waiting for our best part of the year  – YES! ‘WINTER” has arrived!

As a ski fanatic living during the winter in Santiago City, what I do all day is look up at the mountains and check how much snow accumulation there is on top!

From Santiago you can see the top of all the ski areas, and at this time of the season, we all get nervous about when we are going to start skiing and where, first!.

From the city to the ski areas you can drive up early morning in one hour or less, if you do so before hitting traffic jams. You will need a 4WD car with winter tyres and/or chains onboard.

I received a phone call from Pablo on Friday evening telling me to get ready as we were going to go up the next morning and were all set, 4WD truck, chains, cameras, drone, filmaker- we were ready to go!

6:45 am on the Saturday and we were ready to go.

Ready to depart from Santiago - a ski adventure awaits! Photo: Chino Martinez. A Day Trip to Valle Nevado from Santiago City.
Ready to depart from Santiago – a ski adventure awaits! Photo: Chino Martinez. A Day Trip to Valle Nevado from Santiago City.

We’ve started our trip to Valle Nevado with Pablo, the driver, Xavier, the film-maker, Roberta the TV show presenter and myself – the skier.

The road up was not in good shape as we had a storm the night before during all night and lots of rain came down the city. It was at 1.500 m of altitude that we started to see some snow.

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