Sierra Nevada Ends 22/23 Season With More Than 1 Mil Visitors
Sierra Nevada ski and mountain resort closed the 2022/23 winter season this Sunday with a total of 1,061,798 users, of whom 810,576 were skiers and the rest, 251,222, non-skiers, representing a historical record for the station in the use of recreational activities in the snow. Hotel occupancy for the season was around 65%, with periods in January and February above 80%.
In the absence of closing the balance sheets, the station has exceeded 40 million euros in turnover and has generated a result (Ebitda) of more than 9 million euros, which allows it to maintain the investment flow, with its own resources, foreseen in your financial planning.
In a meteorologically difficult season, both at the beginning (with temperatures that were too mild) and at the end (low rainfall), the station has maintained a wide range of skiable areas in the central months of the winter year, thanks to the enormous use of the winter windows. cold due to the renewed system of snow produced.
The station has operated for 135 days of winter season, offering for almost two months all the open areas and between 60 and 70 skiable kilometers, with average thicknesses throughout the season of 20 and 60 centimeters.
Thus, the complicated start of the campaign -with slopes only in the Borreguiles area- changed between December 18 and 20 with the opening of the Veleta, Río and Loma de Dílar areas, which transformed the resort, ski expectations , the influx and occupation in the Christmas period. The incorporation of the Laguna and Parador areas triggered the season until the arrival of spring. February and March 2023 have been among the busiest in the historical series, equaling, as of March 31, the turnover obtained in the past season.
The constant increase registered in recent campaigns in non-skiing visitors has reached the highest historical record this season with 251,146 users of the gondola lift and of the snow activities at Pradollano (Mirlo Blanco complex) and the Borreguiles snow slides.
New ski lifts
Another of the most relevant aspects of this winter has been the premiere of the two new Borreguiles ski lifts. The new Emile Allais and Alhambra chairlifts have met expectations by increasing their transport capacity by 60% compared to the old chairlifts they replaced.
In addition, the new location of the Alhambra chairlift (with respect to the dismantled Veleta II) giving continuity to the Emile Allais has improved the occupation and distribution of skiers on the Borreguiles beginner slopes, increasing ski time and taking advantage of initiation classes in said area.
In restoration, the opening of the new restaurant El Chalé Suizo has meant a significant leap in quality in the gastronomic offer of Sierra Nevada, not only because of the attractive menu based on the cheese tradition of the Alpine country, which has been widely accepted in its first season, but also due to the aesthetic renovation of the space, the interior and the solarium terrace, with a privileged location and excellent views of the El Río slope and the Sierra Nevada peaks.
Sports and music
The station proved to be especially versatile during the season in carrying out, not without difficulty, the sports program hand in hand with FADI and FAM. Thus, throughout the campaign a total of 24 sporting events of all winter sports disciplines (alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle and ski mountaineering) have been held, which have generated 30 days of official competition with the participation of more than 3,000 athletes of all ages.
Events such as the Snow Running Championship or the Ultra Sierra Nevada, with more than a thousand runners each, have underlined the versatility of Sierra Nevada to accommodate its facilities to the new sports disciplines in snow. All in all, the most important sporting event was the double Snowboard Cross World Cup held in March with a stellar performance by Spanish rider Lucas Eguibar.
Along with the Snowboard Cross World Cup, the other major event of the season has been the Sun and Snow electronic music festival. The contest, in its new location in the Los Peñones car park (upper area of Pradollano), has reached its maturity in its fifth edition with 2,000 attendees in each of the three days of concerts, becoming a musical reference among the stations of European ski.
Digital and social environment
By channel, most of the purchases have been online with close to 40% of the passes sold, followed by automatic ski pass dispensers with 20% and in-person ticket offices with 12.6%.
Thus, the website sierranevada.es registered, from November 1 to April 15, a total of 11,974,371 page views, 20% more than in winter 2021-2022.
The number of sessions has been 3,781,484, with an average duration of the session of 00:03:06. The webcams are the most viewed section, followed by the snow report, the ski pass section and the station information.
The station's mobile application has been used by more than 69,445 people (out of a total of 114,962 registered users), which means a 13.6% increase compared to the previous season. The App has been opened in 937,196 sessions, with 13.5 openings per person.
Sierra Nevada's profiles on the five leading social networks (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter) reached 394,572 followers this season, an increase of more than 41,600 new followers from the station's online community compared to the winter campaign. 21/22. The network experiencing the greatest growth has been Instagram (+17.1% more), while TikTok, in its first winter in the Sierra Nevada, has started with more than 10,000 followers.
On the other hand, the WhatsApp Business account of Sierra Nevada has answered 2,553 user queries until this Sunday, an increase of 34% compared to the previous season.
Advance news
Meanwhile, the station is already preparing one of the main novelties for the 23/24 season with the renewal of the mythical Al-Andalus gondola which, after 33 years of service, gives way to a new D-Line DDD (Doppelmayr) gondola. The old cabins have already been dismantled and in the next few days the cable will be unmounted, after which the dismantling of the towers will begin.
THE 2022/23 SEASON IN DATA
• Skiers: 810,576
• Visitors + activities: 251,222 the TOTAL: 1,061,798
• Ski days: 135
• Average occupancy: 65%
• Sports competitions: 24
• Web: 11,974,371 page views
• App: 69,445 active users
• Networks: 394,572 followers
