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An alliance between cable cars (and regions) to save skiing in the winter from Covid. A pact between the same ski areas that until last year competed (with snow cannons) that opened the lifts first. This year the problem is not so much progress, but the “yes”. With two fundamental questions: will they be able to open the elevators of the Immaculate Conception, which traditionally marks the beginning of the season? And above all: will they be open at Christmas, which is the time that alone is worth half the season for winter tourism? The Dpcm signed in the last hours by President Conte leaves the door open, thanks to pressure from the local authorities of the Alps: facilities open only for athletes until November 24, with possible openings to the public after the adoption of approved guidelines of the regions with a green light from the Scientific Technical Committee. On the other hand, there is no indication for the later period, which is what counts given that the runway openings – with a few exceptions – were scheduled to start from November 28. Everything will depend on the progress of the epidemic. And from Trentino, Governor Maurizio Fugatti explains that it is working together with neighboring realities to find common rules, in order to avoid situations of unfair competition between realities but above all to ensure clarity for skiers in areas that often exceed the borders of provinces and regions. On the table – according to a calculation by the National Association of Cable Cars – there is a sector of 400,000 workers, taking into account that the world of skiing is the engine that also drives the hospitality industry during the winter.
Skiing, winter Covid: this is how the snow season will be saved
by Giampaolo Visetti
The rules
Actually, there is already a draft protocol, signed by the representatives of the Anef from all the Alps, and awaits the approval of the CTS. The key points are these: interventions at the cashiers to avoid queues when buying ski passes; scope limited to 80 percent of closed facilities (cable cars and cable cars); hygiene of the structures and obviously a mask always used. Basically the same precautions as in ordinary public transport, considering that a cable car ride has a maximum duration of 8-10 minutes. For mountain huts and restaurants on the ski slopes, the rules of other public establishments apply. The inauguration of the Cervinia ski lifts last Saturday showed that the real weak point is precisely the purchase of ski passes in the morning. Maurizio Rossini, CEO of Trentino Marketing, confirms: “We are working on common rules with a sense of responsibility, the hypothesis of the closure of the plant is not on our table”. With Valeria Ghezzi, national president of the cable car companies, who underlines the importance of skiing for the economy of mountain populations: “Stopping skiing would mean the closure of hotels, restaurants, shops and ski schools.” But the installers know that we have to go further and here is Dolomiti Superski launching new applications for the online purchase of ski passes (with an experimentation of payment by phone at the doors of the cable cars) but also “apps” that will allow, via smartphone , verify the presence of queues at the ski lifts within the ski areas and act accordingly.
Costs
In the last twenty years the ski industry has bet more and more on artificial snow, but snowing a next-generation track can cost up to 100,000 euros: who will bear these costs with the risk of not being able to open the slopes for ‘ epidemic? It will be an extremely difficult season also due to the absence, linked to international restrictions, of tourists arriving from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, which represent significant market shares in the Dolomites. Faced with this situation, the ski resorts will adopt at least a “prudent” strategy: in a first phase, the tracks considered essential will be covered with snow, including those that allow connections between valleys. In this way it will also be possible to hire company employees, to proceed with seasonal hiring only at a later time. It will be a different ski, on a smaller scale, less crowded, which environmental associations have been asking for for a long time: for those who are going to ski it could be a good discovery. Will it also be sustainable? For many ski resorts, which also struggle with lockdown ski pass refund policies, there is a risk of opening knowing that they are already closing in the red. “A gesture of responsibility towards all winter tourism” explain the representatives of Anef.
