Grandvalira is one of the largest ski resorts in Europe and the biggest in the Pyrenees. It is located in Andorra, a small principality nestled between France and Spain. Grandvalira is renowned for its extensive ski terrain, modern facilities, and variety of winter sports activities.

Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal, and Ordino Arcalís work every year to improve their digital ecosystem to make the visit easier for users, with a clear commitment to constant innovation and the use of new technologies. In this sense, Grandvalira Resorts is launching this season a new revolutionary application in the ski resorts that incorporates practical and innovative functionalities previously non-existent in the Pyrenees, making it an essential tool to make the most of the experience in the snow.

In fact, in the first month of the season, nearly 40,000 skiers have already used the new application and its new functionalities. Access is granted using the same username and password as My GrandSki, which includes the most valued functionalities by users:

• Access instant mobile connectivity with the Grandvalira Resorts eSIM without changing your physical SIM.
• With the location service, see the real-time location of your family and friends through the app.
• Real-time information on the state of slopes and lifts.
• The ability to reserve various station services.
• Purchase of day and season passes.
• My GrandSki: recording of skiing days and statistics.
• Access to station maps.

Grandvalira Resorts app with eSIM to navigate throughout the Principality

One of the main features of the new application is the possibility of downloading an eSIM directly from the app, which will allow you to browse throughout Andorra at the most competitive prices on the market. Once again, Grandvalira Resorts puts itself in the shoes of its customers and thus responds to one of the most frequently mentioned concerns of visitors from outside Andorra. With this measure, you can enjoy a stable and continuous connection to the principality’s mobile network without having to worry about possible extra costs caused by roaming or having to search for free Wi-Fi in different locations. In addition, the data packages offered in the application are very competitive within the market. There are four rates available: Slalom (2 GB for €7.50), Giant (5 GB for €12.5), Super-G (10 GB for €21) and Downhill (20 GB for €35). All of them have a duration of 30 days, except the Slalom rate, which allows you to browse throughout Andorra for 15 days.

It is worth remembering that the Grandvalira Resorts resorts also have free Wi-Fi in all sectors, a service to which the domains dedicate efforts every year to improve its quality and browsing speed. In addition, since last season, they have had a global service that allows you to connect to the Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal, and Ordino Arcalís networks with a single registration so that it is not necessary to worry about connecting to different networks every time you change sector or even station.

Real-time geolocation

The application includes another innovative new feature: the possibility of geolocating the other members of the group who are skiing on the slopes in real-time. In this way, if they get separated, each companion can be quickly located so they can easily find each other among the 308 kilometers of slopes that make up Ordino Arcalís, Pal Arinsal and Grandvalira, the largest snow domain in the Pyrenees. This feature is designed to continue offering more convenience to families and groups of friends who come to ski in Andorra.

To use this feature, you need to add friends within the app using the My Grand Ski account nickname or email and share your location with your companions. Once these two simple steps have been completed, you can see the location of each member via the map included in the app. The location-sharing process must be done every day you want to use the feature, as for privacy reasons, sharing automatically stops at the end of the day.

New design and functionalities that are maintained

The new Grandvalira Resorts app has been completely redesigned and, intending to improve the user experience always in mind, offers a new look with a more intuitive interface that facilitates navigation to access the different functionalities quickly and efficiently.

However, the app maintains the features of the previous versions that were most popular with users, such as real-time information about the resorts: the status of the slopes and lifts, snow reports, or access to webcams. The interactive maps are also maintained, allowing skiers to quickly find their bearings and locate all the points of interest and restaurants easily. In this sense, the tool also allows you to book the different services and activities at the resorts, a great feature for planning your stay more efficiently.

Moving on to a more recreational level, the application offers to record the skiing done during the days and extract different statistics, such as the number of slopes descended and kilometers traveled or the average speed, and to be able to carry out an advanced analysis with graphics and in a 3D environment that, in addition, and if desired, can be shared with the Grandvalira Resorts community and on social networks to participate in challenges and contests.

QR identification for better prices

Another new feature of the application is that it has a personal identifier in the form of a QR code that allows you to enjoy certain advantages, including the possibility of purchasing day passes with the dynamic pricing system, the day passes sales system that Grandvalira Resorts implemented three seasons ago, being a pioneer in the Peninsula. This strategy for selling passes is based on a fluctuation in the price depending on the time of year and the day of the week and is only available on the digital channels of Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalís. In addition, this system rewards customers who reserve their passes in advance with cheaper prices, which can be up to 15% cheaper than at the ticket office.

Future integration of the ski pass into mobile devices

The new tool, Grandvalira Resorts app with eSIM, is the result of collaboration with the O2O consultancy and has been developed from scratch and exclusively for Grandvalira Resorts to incorporate the ski pass into mobile phones shortly. This will offer great advantages to customers and will allow physical media to be progressively eliminated, an initiative that, beyond the convenience for skiers, also offers clear advances in the environmental field.

After being in the development phase for the last few weeks, the new app is now available on the main download platforms for iOS and Android. Once installed, it can be accessed with the same user and log-in as My GrandSki.

The development of the app has been the first step towards Grandvalira Resorts’ goal of integrating ski passes into mobile phones so that people can go through the ski lift turnstiles directly with their mobile phone and without having to use the traditional physical device. The aim is for this functionality to be available from next season and will make Grandvalira Resorts a pioneer in the snow sector once again.