General News

The lifts are set to be closed across Xmas and New Year but the authorities are allowing resorts to offer other forms of skiing and travelling in the snow. You just can’t use a lift.

 Austria has indicated it will not support the move led by Germany to stop resorts opening in December and postpone any openings to January. Switzerland will likely keep its resorts open. Pressure is mounting and it is getting highly political. UPDATED

The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, has made an announcement that slightly waters down what President Macron said on Tuesday. Resorts say it is not enough. UPDATED

Italy has got the ball rolling and France says it is in discussions.  Germay is fully supportive. Austria and Switzerland appear rather less enthusiastic. PlanetSKI examines the chance of success. UPDATED

It follows the likelihood that French resorts will not open until late January. There is also the matter of isolation required when arriving back in the UK.

President Macron has indicated they will close but a final decision will be taken next week. It will come at a huge economic price, but some resorts say they will be open, and though the lifts may be closed there is much else to do.

France has passed the peak of its second wave of Covid-19, but tough restrictions remain in place until at least January and ski resorts will likely remain closed. It is a bombshell for the French ski industry. UPDATED

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said Italy “can’t afford” the risk of further infections from people taking ski holidays. He is urging Europe-wide rules. Ski resorts are seen as super-spreaders of the virus back in March.

Thousands of ski workers who thought they would be able to work in the EU after the Brexit transition period ends on 31st December are being told that may not now be the case.

The announcement has been made by the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps.  With a vaccine on the horizon, hopes rise in the world of snowsports. The self-isolation changes mean skiing is more attractive but there are still significant obstacles.

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on…

The new rules have come into force this weekend and include travel restrictions. The resorts are not due to open until December, but an impact is already being felt.

It is the question on many of our lips as winter approaches. Some operators have gone bust, and others have called off the whole season. There are grounds for some optimism, but the realistic ones know it will not be for a while.

Hotelplan UK runs Inghams, Ski Total, Esprit and Flexiski.  Holidays to Finland go too. It is another body blow for UK skiers and snowboarders in these Covid-19 times.  

The company had been going for 30 years and has been unable to survive the Covid-19 crisis. UPDATED

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on…

The alpine nation is seeing a sharp rise and measures taken so far do not appear to have worked. Ski resorts are already closed to the general public and it is grim news as winter approaches. UPDATED

UK Shortbreak Specialist is closing its main base in France, but it will act as an agent selling hotel rooms in its resorts. Other operators are under pressure and are considering their plans for next winter as the pandemic spreads and restrictions are tightened.

Shops in Austria now need to shut at 7pm. Last week it introduced tighter rules and further measures are expected to be announced on Saturday. Elsewhere in the Alps Covid-19 is spreading as the ski season approaches, but news of a successful vaccine trial has brought much optimism.

The operator has been working in the Aosta Valley in Italy for almost 40years, but has decided to suspend all operations next winter due to Covid-19.

Inghams, Ski Total, Esprit and Flexiski have announced they will not be running any ski trips this year, including over the Christmas period. The UK’s largest operator, Crystal Ski, says it still plans to operate in December.

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on… UPDATED

The restrictions aim to “avoid saturation of the hospital system” as the virus runs rampage. Switzerland is one the the major coronavirus hotspots in Europe.

A decision on whether the Canadian city should bid to hold the Games 20 years after it last did so has been delayed until next March. UPDATED

With the Alps looking increasingly difficult and North America near impossible some skiers and snowboarders are looking at following their passion in the UK this winter. Resorts are preparing but Covid-19 restrictions remain unclear.

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on… NEW & UPDATED

Snow centres in England are closing as the government orders another lockdown. Skiers & snowboarders express their disappointment & sympathy with many pragmatic to get Covid-19 beaten. UPDATED

Austria has imposed new new lockdown measures with resorts closed on Tuesday. It is a severe below for the snowsports industry. Nine resorts were open offering some skiing with excellent early season conditions.

Almost the whole of the alpine country has turned red on its four-level traffic light system. New measures are expected to be announced tomorrow.

The current numbers make grim reading with forecasts even worse. Resorts have coronavirus policies in place, and hopefully skiing can happen, just in a different way to normal. But perhaps not till 2021.

The resort is following all the regulations and has obtained the “Clean and safe” label in collaboration with Switzerland Tourism. Some question the wisdom of opening as Switzerland, and the Valais Canton, is one of the Covid-19 hotspots in Europe.

The latest storm in the Alps has seen up to 50cm in places. It’s coming down in the Pyrenees and over in North America too as resorts open. UPDATED

The Australian city is out of its lock down as no new cases have been reported. Some say it has set an example to the rest of the world, but its economy and those of its surrounding ski areas have been badly hit.

There are only a handful of glacier resorts open but the apparent breaches of Covid-19 rules in Cervinia as the pandemic spreads in Italy are being taken very seriously. It’s an indication of what things may be like next winter across the Alps. UPDATED

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on… UPDATED

It is currently seeing one of the highest numbers of cases per head of population of any nation in the Alps. The Jura mountain area has introduced a raft of new restrictions. UPDATED

A drive to get more children interested in skiing and snowboarding is taking place this autumn with two new programmes about to get under way.

 Austria’s main ski area has answered the 10 most asked questions about what next winter my look like.

It will include overseas COVID-19 testing costs, repatriation if medically required, self-isolation costs and new return flights home.

It is a confusing picture, but testing & reduction in quarantine times are essential if there is to be a ski season this winter for us Brits.

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on… UPDATED

It is no great surprise as its case rate is now 64 per 100,000 over a 7-day period. It was the last major alpine ski nation that did not require self-isolation.

That’s the finding of an independent report in the spread of the virus in Ischgl and St Anton.
The resorts could have closed earlier, the mass exodus when they were shut was badly handled & lessons should be learnt. UPDATED

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on… UPDATED

The former Olympic skier has been Secretary General of the International Ski Federation for two decades. She is out in a ruthless manner with immediate effect. UPDATED

It has announced compulsory testing for anyone travelling from the UK and a number of other countries. Those that test positive will need to go into quarantine. UPDATED

It is the single biggest restriction on the ski industry for next winter after Covid-19 itself. If current quarantine measures are in place it will decimate the winter for many UK skiers and snowboarders. It seems changes are coming but not soon enough for many.

They are the last major ski countries that do not have travel restrictions for people returning to the UK, but their Covid-19 cases are rising. Travel remains possible with all the skiing nations in Europe, but arrival/departure quarantine rules are growing.

The government is expected to start a trial project at Heathrow and it could then be rolled out to other airports. Testing is seen as key to getting people flying again and booking ski holidays.

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on… UPDATED

Quarantine is now needed from Poland and Turkey. All the countries in the Pyrenees, North America and many in the Alps are currently under the restrictions. There are though some options. Fancy skiing in Cyprus?