A dozen ski stations from a total of 37 in the Pyrénées massif will be able to stay open throughout the Easter holiday period due to exceptional end of season snow.
“This will be the reference season for the decade”, enthused Gérard Boudon, the director of the Pyrénéan Tourist Confederation. Until February visitor numbers were up 13,6 %, with a 7% increase for Christmas and a massive 28% increase over the New Year period. Alpine skiing numbers were up 23% with 5 million ski days. The ski lifts will have taken around 65 million euros by the end of the season, the best figure for 10 years. The season was ideal with cold weather and good snow fall.
Despite of good snow conditions artificial snow was used to the maximum and nearly half the annual budget will be invested in the creation and modernization of snow canons compared to just 15% in 2000/2001.
At Font-Romeu (Pyrénées orientales), the good snow fall meant that the ski domain was open nearly 100% for the season. Christian Sarran, from the Tourist Office confirmed that “We will be open until the 21st of April, no problem”. [AFP Toulouse]
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