The ski season 2021-2022, which has been officially inaugurated this weekend coinciding with the Constitution Bridge, it will be the last in which the Principality of Andorra snow fans will be presented with two seasons (Grandvalira and Vallnord) After the first stone was laid on Thursday for the merger of both enclaves and with the aim that by the end of the year, coinciding with the 2022-2023 campaign, Andorra will have a single station, which will be called Grandvalira Resorts, and a single ‘forfet’ to ski in the country and thus have the largest domain in the Pyrenees, more than 300 kilometers of track, in the style of the best places in the Alps.
Until the end of the last century, Andorra was introduced to the world of skiing with the Soldeu-El Tarter, Grau Roig-Pas de la Casa, Pal-Arinsal and Ordino-Arcalís resorts. The first two joined in 2003 and created Grandvalira, while Pal-Arinsal and Ordino-Arcalís formed Vallnord a year later to compete with their direct rival, until the SAETDE company, owned by Joan Viladomat, also owner of the Grau Roig and Pas de la Casa sectors, acquired Ordino-Arcalís to incorporate it into Grandvalira in 2019, just before the chaos due to the pandemic.
In between there was a war of powers, in the style of the best scenes from the ‘Succession’ series, which raised concerns about the breakdown of the Grandvalira society after disagreements between the partners and that the station would be fragmented again, as was the case until the beginning of this century.
In the end, it all worked out and Viladomat acquired greater notoriety in the company Grandvalira, where the Comú (city council) of Canillo and the banking entity Crèdit Andorrà are also shareholders. And now a new company has been established, after the pre-agreement reached this Thursday between the shareholders of Soldeu-El Tarter and those of Pal-Arinsal, which supposedly will not create any conflict with the other sector of Grandvalira to achieve a unification of stations that benefits to all.
The new society is called SETAP 365, something that, obviously, does not worry much to snow fans, who will have at their disposal next year 300 kilometers to ski, especially if they decide to visit Andorra for several days and change slopes and mountains to slide with the boards.
The idea of this new company is to exploit, as of 2022, the locations of the stations to keep them open during the 365 days of the year, with the aim of creating a kind of amusement park surrounded by nature. But first, next summer, the skis will take over from the poles of golf and the wheels of the bikes: Soldeu will be the destination of golfers and Pal of mountain bikers, since one of the tests of the world Cup of mountain biking.
Related news
The preliminary agreement takes place in the same week in which Andorra has officially made its candidacy internationally to host the Alpine Skiing World Championship in Soldeu-El Tarter in 2027, whose designation will take place next May during the FIS congress. (International Ski Federation) to be held in the Portuguese town of Vilamoura, very far from the snowy landscapes. Until now, a specialty World Cup has never been held in the Pyrenees.
And it also comes with Andorran authorities very concerned about the new wave of contagions, just in the week in which the mask is mandatory in outdoor spaces, unlike in Spain and France, with the need to show the vaccination certificate to enter restaurants, bars and tourist establishments and after issuing the order to be vaccinated from now on to apply for a job in the country.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com