Italian Ski Lift Company Closes for the Season
17th December 2020
Last modified on May 13th, 2021
The Saslong lift company operates part of the slopes in Val Gardena and it has said it will not open due to the chaos and confusion of Covid-19 restrictions. It highlights the extra pressure put on hospitals if ski areas open and criticises the handling of the pandemic by the regional and national authorities.
It runs the lifts that link Ortisei and Santa Cristina in the Dolomites and it is expected a bus service will be introduced so people can continue to ski the other resorts in the huge linked ski area, if not the section run by the Saslong lift company.
The company said “given the total uncertainty on the part of politics to make a clear concrete, logical, decisive and above all human decision (we are) not opening for the 2020/2021 season.”
It is the first ski area that we know of that is remaining closed for the whole season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Italian ski areas are due to open in January, but some question whether this will happen with Covid-19 still surging in Italy, the Alps and across Europe.
There are local travel restrictions in Italy and international quarantine measures in place.
Saslong claims it is not shutting for economic reasons, but rather to stop the spread of the virus and ease the pressure on local hospitals.
The lift company is mainly concerned about any additional pressures put on local hospitals by people coming to ski and snowboard.
“For the summer season, given the short-sightedness of our politicians, we have not been closed but now given the number of deaths and the pressure on hospitals reason and common sense should prevail,” it said.
“The most important aspect is the risk of weighing down the hospital facilities in Bolzano and Bressanone.”
“We don’t need the government to tell us that we have to close or open we are people with common sense and character to understand what we need to do and when we need to do it.”
It goes on to say that “We want our tourists to remember Val Gardena and Saslong for their sense of responsibility, sensitivity, altruism and sense of solidarity towards all our countrymen who lost their lives or loved ones with this pandemic.”
See here for the full statement from Saslong ski resort – Val Gardena
Saslong runs the lifts in the area where the World Cup races take place this weekend and the event is scheduled to proceed as planned.
Saslong sharply criticises the way the pandemic has been handled and casts doubt on any compensation schemes that are put in place.
Some other businesses across the Alps are considering whether it is worth opening at all this winter with likely restrictions in place.
It is expected the situation may be like the season in Australia and New Zealand last summer.
Some resorts in Victoria in Australia opened only to close a few days later.
Others in New South Wales managed to remain open for much of the season albeit with reduced numbers. They had some good snow on occassion.
Resorts in New Zealand were open for parts of the season and closed for others, while being hit by international travel bans and local travel restrictions.
In Europe Switzerland remains open, with Spain opening some resorts this week and Austria opening on December 24th.
For a full and detailed round up of the state of play in the ski nations of Europe see this earlier story on PlanetSKI that we posted at the beginning of the week.
Resorts Open/Close + What Rest of Ski Season May Look Like
France, Germany, Italy and Andorra remain closed over the festive period and there are growing concerns that they may not open in January given the current spread of Covid-19.
It is the first time in its 51-year history that Saslong has not opened in the winter.
Italy is set to be effectively placed under a nationwide lockdown over much of the Christmas and New Year period.
The details are expected to be announced on Friday.
“We will all have to spend Christmas at home,” Francesco Boccia, Minister for Regional Affairs, told Italian news channel Sky TG24 on Thursday afternoon.
“We must make choices to protect the most vulnerable and the elderly, at the cost of bordering on unpopularity,” he said.
“It is evident that we are moving towards restrictions during the holiday period, if anyone thinks there will be parties, dinners, gatherings, they are very wrong”.
