ABOUT US

HISTORY

In 1956, businessman and ski champion Francesc Viladomat installed the first ski lift at the summit of Coll Blanc in Pas de la Casa. It ran using a lorry engine and could transport 450 skiers every hour. From then on, the resort grew at an average of one new lift per year. The first ski lift in Soldeu was installed seven years later, and a project began using private capital from the Baró, Salvans and Torrallardona families. In the 1980s, Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig added the first automatic snow cannons, while the Riba Escorxada sector was opened in the neighbouring resort, with access from El Tarter. In 1993, the Comú de Canillo became the majority shareholder in ENSISA (the operating company for Soldeu-El Tarter) and the financial institution Crèdit Andorrà became the second biggest shareholder. The first eight-seater cable car in the Pyrenees went into operation in Soldeu in 1996, and the new Canillo sector was launched in 2000. In addition, Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig, operated by SAETDE, installed the Pyrenees’ first six-seater detachable chairlift in 1997.

By October 2003, the two resorts were already connected physically, and at this point the general management of SAETDE and ENSISA, the operating companies of Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig and Soldeu-El Tarter, respectively, announced an expected business merger. The two Andorran resorts would come to form the largest skiable domain in southern Europe. And it was called Grandvalira.