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The Federal Council left the decision to leave their ski areas open to the cantons. They treat it differently.
- The cantons of Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus and Appenzell allow skiing again from Wednesday, December 30.
- In the canton of Schwyz, as well as in St. Gallen, Zurich and Solothurn, operations will remain suspended.
Ski areas are open in Graubünden: Arosa, Davos or St. Moritz can use their ski lifts during the holidays, provided that the epidemiological situation and hospital capacities do not change significantly.
The Minister of Government Marco Caduff (CVP) spoke on Monday, December 21. of a “very dynamic situation” that must be reassessed every day. Without any significant change in the situation, the government will make a new decision on December 29, 2020.
Ski areas are also open in Valais: Crans-Montana, Aletsch-Arena, Verbier – Valais ski resorts are open. The restaurants next to the slopes, like the rest of the restaurants, are closed from December 26.
Bern leaves open: Bern’s ski areas, such as Adelboden and Grindelwald, are open. The hospitals in Frutigen, Meiringen and Interlaken fear being overloaded due to ski accidents. Bern’s governing council has ordered air ambulance services to distribute skiers who have suffered an accident throughout the canton and not to fly to overloaded hospitals.
Free slopes in Vaud: Ski areas like Les Diablerets were initially allowed to continue operating until December 24. Another government decision is pending.
Freiburg has elevators: In ten areas, such as Schwarzsee, Moléson or Hapfere Plaffeien, the ski lifts can continue to operate. However, as in the rest of the canton, the restaurants in the ski areas will be closed. These measures are expected to apply until January 22.
Lucerne closes its ski areas until January 8: The tense situation in Lucerne hospitals does not allow the operation of ski areas like Sörenberg to continue or start, in the opinion of the Lucerne government. The elevators are closed until January 8. One does not want to risk serious winter sports accidents or other sources of infection, there are not enough intensive care places.
Uri, Ob- and Nidwalden, Glarus, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden will reopen the elevators from December 30: The ski areas in the cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden and Uri, however, can resume operations as of December 30, as the three cantons decided on Monday. The situation in relation to the corona pandemic is said to have stabilized. Regarding hospital capacities, the situation has eased, this allows guaranteeing health care. Ski operation is subject to conditions and there are capacity limits. The cantons of central Switzerland suspended winter sports operations on December 22 due to the corona pandemic. On Tuesday, the cantons of Glarus, Appenzell Innerhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden announced that the railways will be operational again from December 30.
No operation in Schwyz and Zug: There are no ski lifts in Zug. The ski areas of the canton of Schwyz remain closed. The governing council promises the necessary operating permit as of January 8 at the earliest, as announced on Monday. The tense epidemiological situation and the persistently high hospital occupancy rate continued to make it impossible to issue operating permits, the health department announced.
Ski resort protection concepts would allow operation, contact tracing would work, and there would also be sufficient testing capabilities. In the last three days, the number of new infections in the canton of Schwyz increased by 122.
The Schwyz ski areas had previously been by surprise by the cantonal government’s decision. “For us it comes out of nowhere,” says Urs Keller from Sportbahnen Hoch-Ybrig to the regional magazine SRF. They felt that they had developed a very good concept of protection with the canton. “It’s been in operation for a week and it worked,” says Keller. However, they have some knowledge of the canton’s decision. “Health is the most important”.
The canton of Zurich ski areas closed from December 22: Also in the canton of Zurich, the epidemiological situation does not allow skiing at this time. Therefore, the operation of the winter sports facilities must be suspended from December 22 to January 22, 2021, as announced by the cantonal government.
Nine operators of winter sports facilities in the canton of Zurich submitted an application, according to the announcement by the governing council. The Department of Economy, which is responsible for the approval of winter sports facilities, has now decided, based on the epidemiological evaluation of the Department of Health, that the requirements according to the Covid-19 regulation are not met.
St. Gallen closes its ski areas: The Wildhaus, Pizol and Flumserberg ski areas are closed. The St. Gallen government had decided not to grant more permits to ski resorts as of December 22. Since then, the ski lifts can no longer transport guests; This also applies to touring riders, winter hikers, and toboggan enthusiasts.
And the ski lifts also stop in Solothurn: Ski areas like Balmberg, Grenchenberg or Hohe Winde currently do not have a permit. The canton also wants as many companies as possible to prescribe home offices.
