At a time when climate change and visitor expectations are driving a transition towards ‘mountain’ resorts, Altiservice – which manages the Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000 and Saint-Lary resorts in the Pyrenees – is demonstrating this summer dynamism with significant investments in summer 2025. The stated objective is to enrich the customer experience all year round and anchor tourist activity in the region even outside the winter season. The figures speak for themselves: out of approximately 1.1 million overnight stays in Font-Romeu each year, 587,000 are skier days, meaning that one in two visitors comes for something other than skiing. Against this backdrop, Altiservice is rolling out a proactive summer diversification strategy that will benefit both the general public (B2C) and local businesses (B2B). Here is a guided tour of the new features, key figures and sustainable approach that will make summer 2025 a turning point for Font-Romeu and Saint-Lary.
Altiservice: structural investments for new experiences
Altiservice is investing in flagship infrastructure to transform the summer offering at its two resorts. At Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000, summer 2025 will see a historic first with the continuous opening of the Belvédère chairlift throughout the summer season. This ski lift, usually reserved for winter, will become a new gateway to the wide open spaces of the resort. It will now connect the Pyrénées 2000 sector to the Coll de Pam, offering hikers and mountain bikers easy access to the panoramic ridges and iconic high-altitude lakes of the massif (Bouillouses, Pradeilles, etc.).
Equipped with bike racks, the Belvédère chairlift effortlessly transports mountain bikers and walkers to an altitude of 2,200 metres, opening up a whole new adventure playground. This gentle connection to the summit allows everyone – sports enthusiasts, families and those seeking contemplation – to discover the mountains in a different way, between pine forests and breathtaking views of the Pyrenees. It’s worth noting that even dogs can accompany their owners on the chairlift, thanks to dedicated boxes (€2 per trip).
Also in Font-Romeu, two new attractions are set to cause a sensation this summer. The first is a state-of-the-art railway sledge called Draco’Snow, located in the Pyrénées 2000 area. This alpine sledge, with a length of 820 m downhill (410 m uphill), offers tight turns and exhilarating slopes over a 96 m drop. Designed by specialist Wiegand at a cost of £3.5 million, it combines fun and safety for the whole family, with a themed world inspired by Draco, the legendary snow dragon.
The second major new feature is a giant zip line installed in the Calme sector. This 678-metre-long aerial lifeline offers a dizzying flight from the summit (at an altitude of 2,203 metres) to the bottom, with a 155-metre drop and speeds of up to 70 km/h. Thrills are guaranteed for enthusiasts, who can launch themselves solo or in pairs, suspended 45 metres above the ground to enjoy breathtaking views during the descent. This XXL zip line provides a new dose of adrenaline that is accessible in both summer and winter. This £1 million investment completes Font-Romeu’s range of high-altitude activities. These structural investments are part of Altiservice’s desire to enhance the resort’s appeal in summer, seeing it as a way of retaining seasonal staff and supporting the local economy all year round.
In Saint-Lary, the focus is also on fun mountain activities. The Hautes-Pyrénées resort is expanding its range of Mountain Kart, motorless all-terrain karts. With 20 karts now available, Saint-Lary offers a crazy 4 km descent from the top of the Bouleaux chairlift (at 2,213 m) to Pla d’Adet, with a 600 m drop between mountain pastures and woodland. Independent brakes and a low chassis ensure controlled drifts in every turn, offering a fun and safe ride. Accessible from around 10 years of age, this thrilling activity is growing in popularity and fits perfectly into the mountain landscape (no engines, so peace and quiet is guaranteed). Mountain Karting, which was launched quietly a few years ago, is gaining momentum this summer with an increased fleet of karts to meet demand. The existing infrastructure – the chairlift equipped with bike racks – is thus put to good use in summer by transporting the karts and drivers to the start. Saint-Lary has also invested in other leisure facilities on the sunny Pla d’Adet plateau, such as a splash park, disc golf and a tree-top adventure course, transforming the summit into a real outdoor family leisure centre.
Altiservice: an enhanced customer experience and activities for all
Thanks to these new features, the customer experience is greatly enhanced in Font-Romeu and Saint-Lary, which can now satisfy both thrill seekers and families looking for accessible leisure activities. At Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000, the combination of the summer chairlift, giant zip line and rail sled offers a winning trio for a variety of fun activities. To prolong the fun, the Font-Romeu resort also offers suntubing (sliding on inflatable tubes on a track) and bungee trampolines for trying out acrobatic jumps in complete safety. There is something for everyone, and every member of the family will find something to enjoy, from toddlers to seasoned riders.
Mountain biking enthusiasts are not to be outdone. Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000 is establishing itself as an exceptional mountain biking playground in summer. The resort benefits from a network of ski lifts, with several chairlifts and gondola lifts equipped with bike racks (Roc de la Calme, Airelles, and now Belvédère) to transport cyclists and their bikes to higher altitudes. Once on the ridges, there is a wide choice of routes: panoramic descents into pine forests and sunny summer pastures, fun singletracks and cross-country trails in the heart of nature. Beginners and experts alike can follow the marked trails, maintained by the Altiservice teams, to vary the levels of difficulty and the landscapes.
Font-Romeu even has its own Olympic cross-country mountain biking stadium at Les Airelles, a 3.5 km course approved by the French Cycling Federation for training like the champions. As proof of this cycling boom, Altiservice has co-founded a specialist shop open all year round, Ski Bike Concept, which rents and maintains mountain bikes to support the growth of active mountain sports throughout the year. With over 500 km of FCC mountain bike trails around Font-Romeu (including the interconnected trails of the Pyrénées Catalanes network), the possibilities for excursions are almost endless, from family rides to technical trails for purists.
Saint-Lary, for its part, has built a solid reputation in the downhill mountain biking segment. Its Bike Park, ranging from 1,700 m to 2,215 m in altitude, has even been ranked among the top 10 bike parks in France since 2020. With 10 marked trails totalling around 40 km of varied routes, the Saint-Lary mountain biking area attracts both novices and experienced riders. The Bouleaux detachable chairlift, equipped with bike racks, allows you to link runs efficiently, while the Bike Patrols team ensures the safety and maintenance of the trails every day. These passionate shapers/rescue workers, who are always on hand, guarantee an optimal riding experience (in fact, the accident rate here is one of the lowest in France thanks to their proactive work). Saint-Lary regularly expands its mountain biking offering, such as the recent addition of the Woodstock trail (4.4 km of flow in the forest) and other enduro-style trails. The Bike Park, combined with other fun activities at Pla d’Adet (all-terrain scooters, disc golf, etc.), makes the resort a hub for summer thrills in the Pyrenees.
Today’s holidaymakers are looking for multiple experiences: enjoying nature on a morning hike, treating themselves to an adrenaline rush in the afternoon, then relaxing on a terrace facing the peaks. Font-Romeu and Saint-Lary have understood this well by developing à la carte products. For example, Saint-Lary offers a Panoramic Pack that includes ski lifts, allowing visitors to easily explore several high-altitude hiking trails. In terms of prices, the resort encourages group visits with family offers and a single price per activity, making things simple for customers.
The visitor experience is also made easier by the new Altiservice marketplace: a web portal launched at the end of 2024 that allows visitors to book accommodation, lift passes and leisure activities all in one place. This digital innovation, designed ‘by mountain dwellers for mountain dwellers’, aims both to improve the service offered to tourists and to compete with the major online booking platforms by reducing commissions for local service providers. In short, everything is done to ensure that the summer stay is smooth, rich and memorable from the customer’s point of view, from the first click to make a booking to the last downhill mountain bike ride.
A sustainable and responsible tourism model
This summer boom is not coming at the expense of the environment, quite the contrary: sustainable development is at the heart of Altiservice’s strategy. Aware of the richness and fragility of mountain environments, the company has implemented an ambitious CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy in its resorts, with concrete actions to preserve and regenerate local ecosystems.
In Saint-Lary, Altiservice launched a vast programme in 2021 to reforest the Pla d’Adet. In partnership with the ONF (French National Forestry Office) and local farmers, more than 3,000 native trees (hook pines and deciduous trees from the neighbouring Néouvielle massif) have already been planted on the slopes and high-altitude lawns. These young plants, which will eventually create shaded areas and natural ‘snow traps’, will contribute to the biodiversity and scenic beauty of the site. It will take a few years to see them grow, but this long-term reforestation effort demonstrates the resort’s commitment to offsetting the environmental impact of its developments. In the same spirit of raising awareness, a themed trail has been created near the Pic de Tourette in Saint-Lary, with information panels to educate walkers about the local flora, fauna and geology, and the importance of protecting them.
Summer 2025 marks the culmination of a concrete action plan to make the Pyrenees more attractive beyond the ski season. From multi-season ski lifts to thrill-seeking attractions, fun activities, mountain restaurants and mountain biking, the two resorts now offer a range of experiences to appeal to a diverse clientele throughout the year. The expected benefits are many: an increase in summer visitor numbers, longer stays, greater loyalty among local and international customers, and the preservation of many seasonal jobs thanks to activity spread over four seasons. This transformation is part of a broader trend: today, the mountains attract as many visitors in summer as they do in winter, if not more, thanks to the diversity of leisure activities on offer and French holidaymakers’ desire to get closer to nature.
