This will be the giant Panticosa slide, one of the longest in the world

Once a rare but successful ski season is over, the Pyrenees is already advancing work to deseasonalize its tourism to attract visitors when spring is already on the calendar . Along these lines, Panticosa is already finalizing the procedures to be able to begin the construction of its new giant slide , which will be one of the longest and steepest in the world, and which they see as key to their goal of not depending solely on snow to survive.

This project, included in the Pirineos Plan designed by the Government of Jorge Azcón and which will be financed solely with the Executive’s own funds, has just received the environmental impact authorization after correcting and responding to the requirements of Inaga , a procedure that has been lasted for almost two and a half years.

In this way, a monorail slide has been designed that will run between the Formigal-Panticosa ski resort to the parking lot of the facilities themselves, almost three kilometers long. It is a mountain slide system that works by gravity in the same way as a conventional roller coaster, with the difference that it is an installation in a natural environment for all audiences and compatible with other alpine activities.

Among the different systems for these infrastructures, the mountain slide with a monorail system has been chosen , in which the sled runs on rails and cannot leave the track. The circuit has been designed taking advantage of the existing lifts (cable cars) and the difficulty of transporting heavier vehicles as in the multirail system. On the route there will be several areas with different attractions, photographic point, curves of different speeds, inclinations, etc.

Thus, the vehicles will operate solely propelled by gravity, without leaving the rail, and will have space for an adult and a child up to eight years old, with separate seat belts and rubber shock absorbers in the front and rear to cushion part of the energy at the moment of impact. An average influx of 5,000 people per month is estimated, with greater influx in the months of July and August .

FIVE BRIDGES ON THE JOURNEY

The departure will take place at the Panticosa Cable Car station and users will reach the upper level with these lifts. The vehicles will descend through the designed route, until they reach the lower station, where users will again be able to take the cable car and begin a new descent.

As indicated in the basic project, the civil works for this installation consist of work to adapt access, auxiliary constructions and electricity intake, as well as supports for stations and descent and ascent lanes. The supports of the line are the excavation of trenches, placed at a separation distance that depends on the trajectory and inclination of the track, and which are subsequently filled with gravel with a grain size of approximately 20 millimeters. In addition, concrete foundations will be built for the departure and braking or arrival stations, having previously carried out a geotechnical examination of the terrain.

With the aim of overcoming the obstacles found on the route, up to five bridges or tunnels have been defined at the beginning of the route, at the intersection of the vehicle circulation track at the height of the Petrosos chairlift motor station, in the existing Bikepark crossing, at the intersection of two vehicle circulation lanes and at the end of the route. The length of the tunnel will be equal to the length of the crossing to be made and, if they are only made to give an impression, they are usually 10 meters long.