Òscar Balsells is a lifelong cyclist with an in-depth knowledge of the province of Lleida, where he is from. Òscar still lives in the provinces, splitting his time between the Val d’Aran region and the area around Tarrés, in the region of Les Garrigues.
Today, Òscar runs a consultancy specialising in active tourism and tourism business management. While his professional background is in snow sports, he has always worked across the hospitality and tourism sectors.
In 2000, he co-created a hiking route in Catalonia’s only National Park. This project laid the foundations for what is now known as mountain hut tourism. It also led to the launch of the world’s first mountain hut reservation centre and was featured in The New York Times. In 2005, he developed a similar model for mountain biking, which went on to win several awards. By 2008, he was managing around 20,000 overnight stays a year across huts and other accommodation.
A lifelong cyclist, he published Spain’s first book of mountain pass altimetry charts in 1991. In 2010, he followed it with the first guide explaining how to design a commercial mountain bike route.
Òscar’s sporting achievements include third place in the 1990 Spanish Winter Triathlon Championship, tenth in the 1998 Mountain Marathon World Championship, and fifth in the same event in 2000. That same year, he set a new Spanish record for the vertical kilometre.
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