Skiing resumes its rights in Europe this winter.
And sometimes from this weekend as in Tignes.
After a last season disrupted by the pandemic with restrictions in Austria or Switzerland, and lifts remained frozen in France and Germany, the great white circus is finding its tracks in a relative consensus.
However, the instructions for use are not all completely adopted by our neighbors.
Overview.
To read also In France, ski resorts open without a health pass, at first
In Austria, the compulsory health pass for skiing
On the glaciers of Tyrol and the Salzburg region, the first skiers hit the slopes last weekend, on a thin carpet of fresh powder. Last year, Austria, traumatized by the Ischgl precedent, tried to “reserve” skiing for its inhabitants by keeping accommodation and restaurants closed. This season, the second ski tourist destination in Europe behind France is reopening its ski lifts to everyone, with a well-defined health protocol. Wearing an FFP2 mask is compulsory in the stations. And can only use chairlifts and gondolas for people with a health pass, either proof of complete vaccination, recent negative test (antigen less than 48 hours or PCR less than 72 hours) or a Covid recovery certificate.Children under 12 are exempt from this obligation.
The pass also conditions access to bars and restaurants.
The device is even more restrictive for visiting Christmas markets, the validity period of the tests being reduced to 48 hours for a PCR and 24 hours for an antigen.
Children under 12 do not need to be tested.
Stricter measures will be applied during the season if the bed occupancy rate in intensive care units exceeds certain thresholds.
Read alsoSkiing in freedom and panorama in St. Anton, in the Austrian Alps
In Spain, no health pass planned to date in stations
Sierra Nevada resort, Andalusia.
The majority of Spanish resorts plan to open the slopes at the end of November or the beginning of December.
bimserd
In Spain, we can hope to ski this winter as before… or almost! While awaiting the details of the measures that each region, responsible for public health, or even each ski resort, can still determine, winter sports enthusiasts expect, except for a very bad surprise, a season that looks more like the time of pre-covid only in the winter of 2020 - 2021, strongly disrupted by an epidemic wave.
The data is very different this season. For starters, all mobility restrictions have been lifted in the country. There is no longer any need to wonder, as last year, if we can move from one region to another, or even from one municipality to its neighbor. Second, in most areas, masks are now only mandatory indoors or, outdoors, only when the distance of 1.50 m cannot be respected. "
Everything seems to indicate that the mask will have to be worn in the cable
cars
", specifies
the Atudem association
in
Figaro
, which brings together the main stations.
The two border regions with important ski areas, Catalonia and Aragon, removed most of the other restrictions in October.
In Catalonia, gauges remain in places of nightlife as well as the obligation of the health pass to access discotheques.
This sesame is also required at border crossings.
However, it is not planned to require it at the foot of the slopes.
The stations will announce their opening dates, generally scheduled for the end of November or the beginning of December.
According to Atudem, reservations have returned to their pre-pandemic level.
Read alsoBaqueira Beret, the mini-Courchevel of the Spanish Pyrenees
In Italy,
pass and mask at altitude
The Italo-Swiss domain of Breuil-Cervinia opens the ski season this weekend on the other side of the Alps, facing the majestic Matterhorn mountain. A precise sanitary protocol has this time been planned and validated to guarantee the winter sports season. Cervino Turismo
Italy is preparing to put on the skis again with a well-defined health protocol. From this weekend of October 16 and as tradition dictates, the Breuil-Cervinia ski area, straddling Switzerland, opens a few slopes on the Rosa Plateau, at an altitude of 3480m, only on the Swiss side. Helped by a health situation that is both favorable and stable, the transalpine mountain stakeholders have set a framework compatible with the anti-Covid regulations which come into force in the stations in order to
“protect the safety of workers and users”
.
The sanitary pass will be mandatory to use cable cars, gondolas and covered chairlifts, where wearing a mask will be required.
An obligation from which children up to the age of twelve are excluded.
Wearing a mask will also be compulsory in common areas, lifts access lines, and lifts.
The lifts can be used at 80% of their capacity.
Only open chairlifts can be used at 100%.
To avoid queues at the ticket office, packages should be sold online as much as possible.
Within the ski area, large gatherings will be prohibited and queues at the lifts be arranged to avoid too much promiscuity between skiers.
Read alsoTen great hotel options for skiing in South Tyrol and the Dolomites
In Switzerland, the health protocol still under discussion
Crans Montana, in Valais.
Last winter, a majority of the country's 230 resorts had partially opened their lifts and slopes.
jakartatravel / stock.adobe.com
In Switzerland, hotels are accessible without a sanitary pass, as are the terraces of bars and restaurants.
On the other hand, a pass (vaccination, negative test or immunity) is compulsory for those over 16 years old to access the interior rooms of restaurants, including in hotels, clubs and discotheques.
Read also The insolent results of the ski season in Switzerland
As for the ski lifts, the sanitary protocol remains to be determined.
The Federal Office of Public Health affirms that discussions are underway between the government, the cantons and the professionals concerned.
The Conference of Cantonal Health Directors calls for the extension of the sanitary pass to ski areas, while the association of ski lifts in Valais is against it, asking that the lifts follow the same rules as public transport where the only wearing a mask is compulsory.
The issue must be decided by the end of November.
