A cacophony.
A few weeks before the Christmas holidays, Europe appears well divided on what to do with the opening date of ski lifts in ski resorts for these end-of-year celebrations, against the backdrop of Covid-19.
After having sought a common position for a while under the leadership of France and Germany, the main countries concerned by winter sports have each taken specific measures, some of which continue to evolve.
Read also: Where can the French travel at Christmas and the next few weeks?
Our map, country by country
In France, resorts open but without ski lifts
The village of Val-d'Isère around the bell tower of the baroque Saint-Bernard de Menthon church.
tho - stock.adobe.com
In France, after the deconfinement of December 15, you can go to the resorts of the territory - from today if you live less than 20 km -, but it will be for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, sledding or hike.
Alpine skiing is absent from the program, since the ski lifts will be at a standstill, until a date in January which should be announced before mid-December.
The executive's decision remains strongly criticized by mountain professionals.
Bars and restaurants will also be closed at altitude, as everywhere in the metropolitan area.
Their reopening is scheduled for January 20, at the earliest.
Read also: Without downhill skiing, what you can do in the resort at Christmas
As for those who would have in mind to go down the slopes in another country during the holidays, Emmanuel Macron warned Tuesday:
"restrictive and dissuasive measures"
will be taken against them.
Prime Minister Jean Castex followed suit Wednesday considering a seven-day period of isolation for those who ski holiday would return abroad, with random border controls of
Spain or
of
Switzerland
if the prefects decide it.
Read also: How Val-d'Isère is preparing for a Christmas without classic alpine skiing
Asked about this possibility, a spokesperson for the Swiss Ministry of Health replied to AFP that
"it was not for the Swiss authorities to comment on the decisions of the French authorities"
.
After an interview with Emmanuel Macron, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo took a line similar to that of France, deeming necessary
“solidarity between
European
countries”
on this issue and warning that checks would be made to borders for Belgians going on holiday abroad.
Read also: Ban on skiing outside the borders: a measure that arouses misunderstanding and gibes
In Germany, no skiing
The
Germany
that provides to the end of the year the European Council presidency, sought the prohibition of ski stays until January, but failed to convince its European neighbors.
But Bavaria has decided and will not open its ski areas for the end of the year.
"The problem is obviously not to go down a slope"
but
"everything that goes around, in the lifts, in the evenings after skiing"
, underlined the Bavarian manager Markus Söder.
He envisages reinforced road controls at the borders at Christmas for those who would like to ski on the slopes close to Austria, because
"it is not very complicated to recognize who returns from skiing"
.
The closure of German stations is "
catastrophic
" from an economic point of view, lamented Matthias Stauch, president of the German ski lift federation.
SEE ALSO -
Covid-19: ski resorts are closed in Germany
In Switzerland, the exception
Some ski areas like Verbier, Gstaad or Saas-Fee have already opened in
Switzerland
Aletsch Arena plans to do so on December 12, announces its website.
The country, which is not part of the European Union, intends to combine health protocols and economic imperatives to open its stations during the holidays.
“
Closure is not an option.
We will eat and ski in the resorts at Christmas
”, assured Christophe Darbellay, president of the Valais Council of State at the end of November.
The latter says he is ready for the season, with studied health protocols: wearing a mask, distance to respect in queues, gauge applied to ski lifts ... In Valais, the reopening of the bistros is scheduled for mid-December, except health disaster.
"
It is essential that restaurants be able to reopen and that people can warm up between two runs,
" underlines Bruno Huggler, director of Crans-Montana Tourism, excluding take-away as a sustainable solution.
Read also: Skiing at Christmas: Switzerland, the European exception?
SEE ALSO -
Covid-19: in Switzerland, ski resorts redouble their efforts to save the winter season
Austria cuts pear in half and effectively reserves skiing for its inhabitants
Last season, the Ischgl station was a hotbed of contamination.
vitma - stock.adobe.com
Ischgl, St Anton ...
Austria, the
world's leading ski destination in terms of number of skier-days (ahead of the United States and France, in the 2019-2020 ranking) and one of the most dependent on winter tourism, plans to re-allow individual outdoor sports, including skiing, effective December 24.
Tourism infrastructure, including hotels, will however remain closed until January 7, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced on Wednesday.
The country must begin its deconfinement on December 7.
Read also: Free skiing and panorama in St. Anton, in the Austrian Alps
Andorra procrastinates
Grandvalira, one of the three ski resorts in Andorra.
arenysam - stock.adobe.com
Will
Andorra's
three ski resorts
(Grandvalira, Ordino-Arcalis, Pal-Arinsal) be open during the Christmas holidays?
The government of the Principality, nestled between France and Spain, will decide these days.
But the stations had already announced that the opening scheduled for December 4 was postponed to December 19.
A date which, since, awaits confirmation.
Hotels, bars, restaurants ... have never closed.
"We are postponing the opening date, pending the decisions that the authorities will take next week"
, the resorts of the Principality warned on their website last week, where the winter sports season weighs 30 to 40% of annual GDP.
Theoretically, nothing prevents the Pyrenean confetti from opening its ski resorts.
But France has a great influence in this country of 70,000 inhabitants, since the French president is co-head of state there.
And this "competition" would be frowned upon for the hexagonal stations located not far from there ...
"All possibilities are on the table,"
proclaimed the head of government, Xavier Espot, last Friday, after a meeting with various leaders, politicians and executives from all ski resorts to assess the start of the season.
“
We have to see what is the best decision for the interests of our country,”
he added.
Read also: Grandvalira, princess of the slopes in Andorra
Italy and Spain wait-and-see
The Italian resort of Val Gardena, in the Dolomites.
otman - stock.adobe.com
In
Italy
, the head of government Giuseppe Conte once mentioned the idea of coordination with France and Germany with a view to a
“common European protocol”
on the ski season, without succeeding in bringing it to fruition.
A government decree on anti-Covid rules for the holidays is expected shortly.
According to information from the transalpine press, it should endorse the closure of ski slopes and ski lifts.
Italian Minister of Health Roberto Speranza said Thursday before the Senate that it was necessary
"to avoid potential trips to tourist places linked to skiing".
This was without counting the region of Valle d'Aosta, which is resisting, claiming its autonomy from the public authorities in the management of the health emergency and in particular its desire to reopen its ski lifts.
Related articles: Skiing in Italy: The 10 Best Holiday Hotels in South Tyrol and the Dolomites
The
Spain
plans to turn to open its ski resorts, but conditions remain to be defined between the central government and the regions, according to the Minister of Health Salvador Illa.
“We are still planning to reopen on December 11 for now.
It has started to snow so everything is ready, but we have no certainty, ”
according to a spokesperson for the Baqueira-Beret resort in Catalonia.
A situation which could evolve: the country decided on the evening of December 2 to put itself under the bell for the end of year celebrations.
Extensive curfew and strict restrictions on travel between autonomous communities could effectively wipe out any inclinations to go down the Spanish slopes of the Pyrenees or Sierra Nevada, in Andalusia.
Read also: Baqueira Beret, the luxury of the Spanish Pyrenees
Finland, Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria ... do not give up alpine skiing
The small ski area of Ruka, Finland.
The country remains closed to foreign tourists.
photojanski - stock.adobe.com
These distant destinations generally attract few French skiers.
In northern Europe,
Finland
remains closed to foreign tourism to this day.
The Franco-German desire to coordinate the opening dates of the alpine ski season is seen as an ukase.
And a non-opening would be
"fatal"
for certain sectors of the Finnish economy, protested on November 27 the Finnish Ministry of the Economy.
“The majority of people who come to our ski resorts are locals. It would be very bizarre to close these stations when the situation in our country with regard to the virus is far from being as bad as in other European countries, ”
ministry spokesman Mika Lintila told AFP. .
Such a move would be
"a death blow"
for the tourism industry in Lapland, where the most popular resorts are located.
“It is quite possible to respect the necessary distances on the slopes and on the ski lifts.
There are many more dangerous places than ski resorts, ”
said head of the Finnish Association of Ski Regions Harri Lindfors.
In
Sweden
, state health services epidemiologist Anders Tegnell also said his country did not need to close its ski resorts.
“You have to remember that there is a big difference between the ski resorts we have in the north and the ones you have in the Alps,
” he said.
In the east of the Old Continent,
Poland
has decided to open its slopes this winter, but only for the local population and during school holidays.
However, Health Ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz said he would take measures to limit movement in the country and that Poles should not rely on the possibility of converging on the mountains.
In
Bulgaria
, the resort of Bansko, European mecca for “low cost” skiing, plans to open as the country faces an outbreak of the epidemic and a saturation of hospital services.