Laurent Vaucher, CEO of Verbier’s Téléverbier lift company has given an update on the way the season is going at the famous Swiss resort.
Things started well, Mr Vaucher says, with the resort opening early on October 31st, 2020,but,
“Despite this early opening, the current season has proved to be very complicated.”
Those complications, of course, have included higher costs to meet pandemic operating, fewer international guests and no income from closed mountain restaurants. This, Mr Vaucher says, has had a severe impact on the company’s bottom line and cost savings have now to be made, but on the upside capital improvements for 21-22 are going ahead.
“We need to take some cost-saving measures. We had planned to operate the Bruson sector daily until the evening of Monday, April 5, 2021 but after analysing the situation, this sector will be closed for the rest of the season from Sunday evening, March 7, 2021. This decision was not an easy one. However, this is an exceptional measure for an exceptional situation.”
The good news though is that Téléverbier’s board of directors have decided, despite the current challenges, to stick to its investment roadmap.
Projects to be completed for next winter include:
Replacement of the Médran 1 lift with a new 10-seater gondola that will double the flow between Médran and Les Ruinettes
Upgrade of the snowmaking between Lac des Vaux and Les Ruinettes enabling better use of early season cold weather periods to increase the guarantee of skiing from the beginning of December.
If all the necessary authorizations are obtained in time, significant investment is also on the cards including an upgrade of the Pasay chairlift in Brusson in 2022 as well as the construction of the Chargerat lift.
Image top © Valais Wallis Promotion – David Carlier
