Sestola (Modena), 16 December. (askanews) – Seventy centimeters of snow that fall from the sky twenty days before Christmas are there real perfect snowfall for any ski resort. And after years in which the snow was desired beyond measure, for the winter resort of Cimonthe main destination for skiers in the Apennines, is a real godsend.
«All the slopes open, all the lifts functioning: we haven’t opened in these conditions for five years. This is truly a good sign for the holidays but also for the continuation of the season” recalls the president of the Monte Cimone Consortium, Luciano Magnani.
These are the days when holidays are planned, families decide where to go for Christmas and New Year, and then the jubilation for the army of avid skiersadds the large mass who wants to spend a few days of vacation on the white blanket. As he explains Giuliano Granientrepreneur who owns various ski resorts in the area: «We’re off to a great start, we thank God for giving us this meter of snow. However, with our new snowmaking systems thanks to investments started three years ago, we had already made a good base of the slopes. And by mixing programmed snow with this snow, fantastic slopes were created, so we are able to open all the lifts to create beautiful conditions for all the users who come to Cimone.”
The Mount Cimonethe only two thousand meters of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, is the epicenter of white desire of all the surrounding regions, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany first and foremost, but also Marche, Abruzzo, Umbria and Lazio. Here ski pass prices are lower than in the Dolomites. «We have increased very little compared to the famous Alpine resorts where the cost of the ski pass is exaggerated – explains Magnani -. We increased it slightly only to contain prices due to the cost of energy and the cost of diesel. Cimone is increasingly suited as a vocation to families and this is reciprocating: thanks to this snowfall, hotels have also started receiving calls for reservations for the Christmas holidays.”
The Christmas period is what makes the budgets of ski companies. In Sestola there is optimism for the next few months. «During the Christmas period we make a good portion of turnover – adds Grani -. Then in the following weekends we do a lot more. Our season lasts one hundred days. Starting well is important, there are all the conditions to do so. I hope that people can have fun and feel good because our area is becoming truly very important, with beautiful and well-maintained slopes. A theme fundamental to which we have been dedicating ourselves in recent years is that of safety: it is very important that people come to ski, have fun and risk getting hurt as little as possible, because it must be a sport that is fun.”
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