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The ski season in Italy is still suspended: yesterday, in fact, the Minister of Health Speranza signed the ordinance that postpones the opening of the ski lifts throughout the country to January 18, advancing the old date of January 7 by eleven days. A postponement expected for days and absolutely predictable, given the trend of contacts and the epidemiological situation not only in Italy but also internationally. And this in the year, it seems the last joke of 2020, in which there is a snow record in all ski resorts: more than two meters in the Dolomites.
In recent days, the autonomous regions and provinces had requested, through a letter from the president of the conference Stefano Bonaccini, the postponement of the reopening in order to align the guidelines with the opinion issued by the technical-scientific committee.
What, in particular, are the knots to solve? IS as the Cts requests restart plants safely? In fact, skiing is a complex issue that involves not only the management of the facilities but also the accommodation facilities of mountain resorts and local institutions. In short, a square yet to be organized.
The condition: yellow zone
First is the evaluation of epidemiological situation. It is not possible to restart if the areas in question do not have the characteristics of the yellow zone, therefore, with the Rt index below the risk threshold. With a view to its next reopening, which in any case must be preceded by a preliminary reassessment of the epidemiological situation, it is necessary to highlight that the proposed measures may only be applied if the epidemiological trend at the Regional or Autonomous Province level is compatible with the risk classification of the so-called yellow zone. This was stated by the CTS scientists in the document released after the December 24 meeting in which they examined the guidelines presented by the regions.
A cable car like a bus
Then there is the importance of the flow of people on the ski lifts, as the CTS experts had equated cable cars and cable cars with public transport in the city: a significant part of the means of ski lifts in ski areas (in particular , cable cars and cable cars) have structures and cargo such that it is assimilated in all respects to the means used for local public transport (buses, trolleybuses, trams and metro).
50% capacity and limited number
For this reason, the CTS asks, it will be necessary to reduce by 50% the capacity of the gondolas and cable cars and also of domed chairlifts against bad weather. Contingent must also be the entrance of skiers in each ski area or descent area. In short, a kind of “limited number” to evaluate for each location. Consequently, it should be expected a reservation system that can allow a structured management of the number of users who can actually access the ski areas and related lifts on every day, also through coordination not only (as was already planned) with the category representatives and the Authorities Competent toilets but also with the representatives of the accommodation facilities.
A security protocol
If these are, in general terms, the indications expressed by the Scientific Technical Committee to restart safely, at this point and taking note ofon the new date set by the Ordinance of the Ministry of HealthRegions and plant managers expect a real protocol in due time. Because, as Valeria Ghezzi, president of ANEF (national association of cable car operators) explains to Corriere della Sera: Putting an elevator into operation is a complicated thing that requires a lot of work.
Installations Billion in turnover
The economic weight of skiing is relevant as shown by the Anef data: only the turnover of the ski lifts (1500 in all of Italy) of un one thousand two hundred million euros and we are talking about a reality that employs 15 thousand employees. Not to mention the entire economic chain linked to skiing: hotels, mountain huts, mountain huts, shops, ski schools
The mountain economy
The sector has already been greatly affected by the Christmas and New Year’s blockade. Coldiretti estimates the pre-pandemic winter break business was worth it more than 8 billion per year. And it is precisely on winter work that a large part of the survival of many agricultural structures in the mountains depends, which with their agricultural and cultivation activities – emphasizes Coldiretti – play a fundamental role in safeguarding the territory, even in the face of hydrogeological instability. , the abandonment and depopulation of mountains.
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