After 10 years of lying dormant, the San Bernardino resort in the mountains has reopened its doors to the public. The ski resort is now back up and running thanks to a massive investment from a Swiss entrepreneur.

San Bernadino ski resort opens to the public

As people across the country were working off their food and drink coma from Christmas, the San Bernardino resort hosted its grand reopening. From Wednesday, December 27, one gondola lift, one chair lift and one ski lift will be in operation, with 45 kilometres of pistes to choose from. 

The vast majority of ski lifts in the resort south of the San Bernardino tunnel had been left dormant since 2012, as the area lacked the funds to carry out vital repairs and the weather had started to shorten the ski season in the region. The area's fortunes changed with the arrival of Ticinese investor Stefano Artioli, who announced back in June that he would be bringing the resort back to life.

Luxury hotel and spa to be built in resurrected Swiss resort

So far, he has invested 300 million Swiss francs into repairing and renovating the resorts’ facilities. By the end of 2024, two more ski lifts are expected to be opened, with other renovations set to continue long into the future. Two hotels in the village centre are also being renovated; the newly revamped Brocco & Posta hotel is set to open during the current ski season.

However, this is just the beginning, with the resort telling Swissinfo that the older lifts will only be kept running until newer facilities are built. The master plan will also see a new five-star hotel, public spa and wellness area built. The brand-new resort should be fully open by 2033.

San Bernadino labelled the "Little Andermatt"

Already, commentators are calling the project “Little Andermatt” due to its similarity to the transformation of the Uri resort done by Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris. The magnate built six hotels, 500 apartments, conference facilities and a golf course, and connected the runs of Andermatt to the ski resort of Sedrun to create the resort we know today.

However, while the concept is the same, the costs are still quite different. Sawiris invested 2 billion francs into Andermatt, far more than what is planned in San Bernardino.