The big push this winter on the pistes is to reassure skiers keen to forget the traumas of the year, and to help the industry recoup losses from the previous, abruptly abandoned season. With a reduction in UK skier numbers forecast, travelers/skiers can expect natural social distancing, and ski areas across the map have been working hard to develop anti-coronavirus strategies. With some having already opened for summer skiing and most others set to do so by early December, distancing systems will be well tested by the time British skiers arrive at Christmas.
How will resorts adapt?
You can expect to find chairlifts with closed-off seats (no real problem, as those big new chairs often sail off half full), cable-cars that no longer resemble rush-hour Tube trains, and smaller lift queues with skiers a ski stick’s length apart. Dining might involve reduced restaurant menus, and apres-ski bars will be thinned out, with crowds gravitating to open-air drinking spots. Ischgl — the Austrian ski town for the Alpine party set, which last season had the country’s biggest cluster of coronavirus cases — has one of the most comprehensive Covid-safe programmes. Visitors must prove they’ve tested negative within 72 hours of checking in or pay for an in-resort test. Skiers can expect disinfectant misting and free ski buffs, plus colourful neck cosies that can be pulled up over the face — this season’s top face mask fashion. Ski masks are likely to be a common uptake, if not compulsory, and throughout Austria, tourism employees are being given Covid tests.
Vail Resorts, which runs 13 ski areas across the US and Canada, has imposed a raft of measures, including face masks at all times, and so far, bars remain closed so apres will be a DIY affair. ischgl.com vailresorts.com
What will prices look like?
This story is from the Winter Sports 2020 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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This story is from the Winter Sports 2020 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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