Les Gets opens its ski slopes this Saturday, December 17, but smokers will discover new regulations in France and Europe: it is now forbidden to light your cigarette on a ski lift or on a slope.
From now on, between two descents, they will still be able to go to one of the five areas set up for this purpose.
The measure applies to the entire communal ski area of the Haute-Savoie resort, i.e. 47 ski lifts and 72 trails.
And this, until April 10, 2023 and the closure of the lifts, as voted by the municipal council.
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In detail, the five smoking areas, lined with ashtrays made from recycled skis and controlled by the slopes service, are located at the top of certain ski lifts, "
in strategic places
", we specify in the press service of the station.
Objective: to avoid the 3,000 cigarette butts collected on the slopes last year.
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In terms of enforcing the restriction, the focus will first be on prevention and awareness, in particular through signage.
"
Then there may be fines
", the amount of which is not yet defined.
If the Les Gets initiative seems to be a pioneer in Europe, other ski resorts are already supervising smokers in Japan, New Zealand or North America.
Wooden packages
Five smoking areas are located at the arrival of certain ski lifts.
Les_Gets
This cigarette butt hunt is part of a “
global
” approach to environmental protection in Les Gets.
Membership of the Perles des Alpes association (which promotes soft mobility), provision of GetsLib' electrically assisted bicycles and, more recently, introduction of wooden packages to replace plastic... Next step, obtaining the label Flocon Vert, awarded by the Mountain Riders association, which rewards resorts committed to a process of continuous improvement in terms of sustainable development.
Twenty French spots in the Alps and Pyrenees have held it to date, including Val d'Isère since this year.