The 2023/24 ski season, which closed yesterday except in Masella and Boí-Taüll, which will extend the campaign a little longer, will go down in history for having survived the driest and hottest winter since climate records have been recorded.
And as was predicted from the very start of the campaign – Aragón could not open the Constitution bridge and the Catalan stations that did so worked at minimum levels (only Baqueira was saved) in that opening – the balance will not be generally positive. . Not even adding the excellent Easter occupancy. Although the disaster, the snow business insists, “could have been much greater” with this adverse climate.
When the slopes close for most resorts, it's time to settle the score. And the first numbers that emerged yesterday attest to this feared significant loss of skiers. At least in the Catalan public ski resorts, managed by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat.
The 2023/24 season closes in these resorts (La Molina, Vallter, Espot Esquí, Vall de Núria, Port Ainé, and Boí Taüll), with 640,000 ski days sold. They are 200,000 days less than the 838,082 registered in the 22/23 campaign. A substantial loss of skiers, caused by the difficulties that the resorts have had this winter in keeping their slopes operational and in good condition.
Paradoxically, this season the curtain falls, when in those mountains there is more snow (up to thicknesses of two meters) than they have had all winter, thanks to the late and copious rainfall that fell two weeks ago.
Despite these negative figures in skier visits, Ferrocarrils focuses on highlighting the economic reward for the mountain regions, thanks to the effort in this public management of the resorts to keep these slopes open, with more or less skiable kilometers.
“The six public ski and mountain resorts have closed this season with an aggregate business volume of more than 50 million euros for the valleys in which these complexes are located,” reads a press release issued yesterday by Ferrocarrils.
From that office attached to Territori, it is insisted that the objective sought with this management is that the snow business has a return in the territory in which it is developed. And they would not lack reason, because from these mountain regions it is taken for granted that without the intervention of the Generalitat, the majority of these stations – key to these local economies – would be closed today.
The Railways balance sheet highlights the extra work in these complexes to weather the climatic adversity of this season. “Except for the month of March – says the same note – marked by heavy snowfall, this winter has been characterized by the drought that affects all of Catalonia and by abnormally higher temperatures than usual.” Despite everything, the statement adds, it has been possible to attract those 640,000 skiers thanks to the human effort made on those slopes "to reduce the impact of meteorological effects."
The only positive note this season, as far as the influx of skiers is concerned, is expected to be sung by Baqueira-Beret. The Aranese station plans to report its balance sheet today, Monday. But it is already predicted that their numbers, instead of negative, could be favorable. That resort has been luckier than the rest with the little snowfall this winter. And by presenting more favorable conditions for skiing than its competitors, it has attracted many fans who were looking for the best snow on their getaways.
In mid-January it was stated that Baqueira-Beret had received 10% more skiers to that date than in the same period last year. If this trend has continued in recent weeks, it could be the case that the Aranese resort closes the 23/24 season with more skiers than last year.
In the 22/23 campaign, Baqueira sold 990,000 days of skiing. It was the second best season in his history. So if these numbers have been exceeded, this station could boast a record of visits in the driest and hottest winter of all those in memory. We will have to wait to know the official figures.
Masella, the second most important private station in Catalonia after Baqueira, has not yet passed numbers because it intends to extend the season until next April 14. With the adverse conditions this winter, it seems difficult for the Cerdanya resort to have reached 377,686 ski days sold in the 22/23 campaign. The Aragón stations have sold, for their part, 800,000 ski passes, far from the 1.1 million last year
