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This past Sunday Piau-Engaly ended its ski season. Not far behind are those skied until well into April. In 2014 they even stayed open until the 27th of that month, narrowly skimming May.
But the ski resort on the other side of the Bielsa tunnel is in a process of change, especially in its ski area that requires starting as soon as possible the works that already began last summer. The heavy snowfalls this March will prevent a rapid resumption, but the temperatures expected in the coming days are sure to help.
The arrival of the snowfall in March made it possible to see epic images in Piau Engaly.
A meteorological roller co aster that has been the usual tonic this season, with a first part with little snowfall, to, at the gates of the meteorological spring, begin to snow, allowing to open the total of its slopes already in the month of March.
Despite this complicated winter, the ski resort was able to close with a turnover of 5.7 million euros (+8% compared to last year) and a figure of almost 222,000 ski days sold, 3% more than last season. Emilie Mothes, general manager of SEML Piau-Aragnouet, says that these positive figures are due to the fact that
"despite unusual weather phenomena that have caused us to close even due to strong winds, we have been able to diversify. The renovation of the heart of the resort, which this winter has given shape to the new face of Piau-Engaly, more modern and more comfortable. And the big tourism brands such as Lagrange and Huttopia, which have taken over the management of the hotel units."
And indeed, the occupancy rate has increased by +4.7%. Specifically, during the period from December 6, 2023 to March 31, 2024, it reached 60% in Piau-Engaly, compared to an average of 46% for the entire Pyrenees chain.
This was one of the bottlenecks at Piau Engaly, which despite having a good number of beds directly on the slopes, most were owned by individuals who no longer went skiing and who did not rent them either, among other things because many were quite outdated which made it difficult to attract long-stay skiers and therefore to sell more days of skiing.
The arrival of the Spanish public has also been greatly boosted, with specific hotel offers for skiers from Aragón, from Zaragoza to Aínsa, as Emilie Mothes explains,
"Specific products were offered for the Spanish customer, for families during the Immaculate Conception season and for schools during the rest of the season. Advertising hotel offers were supported through the Comarca, the community of municipalities of Ainsa, thus reinforcing the cross-border characteristic of Piau-Engaly that distinguishes it from its sisters.
Spaniards already represent 20% of our customerele. Piau-Engaly is a territory that offers two atmospheres, that of France and that of Spain".
Piau Engaly is closing early this year so that it can resume its work on the slopes.
To support this hotel offer, 10% of its workers came from the other side of the border, i.e. from Spain.
In June, work on the heart of the winter resort will be completed. The second construction work started last summer is nearing completion for the construction, directly on the slopes, of a second Lagrange residence with 57 apartments and 302 beds, a swimming pool and a wellness area. The interior design phase can begin in May. Opening is scheduled for November 2024.
The diversification of activities supported by this requalification will also continue. This summer it will equipment ize through an investment of 40,000€ aimed at improving mountain biking in the area.
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