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From St. Gallen through Zurich to all of Central Switzerland: like a game of dominoes, one canton after another has closed their ski areas in recent days. What remains are the best dogs from Graubünden, Bern and Wallis, where the tracks will remain open until further notice.
In Graubünden they want to make a decision on Monday. “We deliberately waited for the weekend and then we used the latest figures to verify the utilization of intensive care units,” says Daniel Camenisch of the Graubünden communication office for the coronavirus. This test weekend is intended to provide information on whether and in what way accident patients aggravate the situation in hospitals. “The deciding factor for us is the number of skiing and snowboarding accidents that put additional pressure on intensive care unit locations.” Because there are currently enough beds available for emergencies.
But peak activity on the slopes also means peak activity for rescuers.
Photo: Ester Michel
In fact, the season really started for many ski resorts this weekend. Thousands of winter sports enthusiasts drove from the lowlands to the Graubünden mountains. But peak activity on the slopes also means peak activity for rescuers.
Every year, around 76,000 winter sports enthusiasts suffer accidents so serious that they need medical help. Rega then often coordinates the rescue. On peak days between December 24 and 26, air rescuers bring up to 160 winter sports enthusiasts to a hospital. For some, the injuries are so severe that they must be cared for in the intensive care unit, to make beds even scarcer.
“We fear overloading the hospitals”
After Zurich hospitals criticized this week the fact that ski areas should remain open, now clear words have come from the chairman of the Berner Insel Group, where patients from the ski areas also end up. “We have emphasized that uniform, strict and controlled national regulations are needed. Current measures will not achieve this goal, ”says Uwe E. Jocham.
The president of the directorate expects additional emergency deliveries from the ski area and that contacts with broadcasts are also expected. “We fear that the measures that have been decreed will not be enough to prevent the imminent overload of emergency services and intensive care in our hospitals,” says Jocham.
Hope for the holiday season
The canton’s large ski areas have not yet given up hope that the Christmas business will continue for them. In the Engadine, mountain railway operators are “cautiously optimistic.” And the canton of Uri, like Obwalden, is taking a new path: they only have to close the chair lifts and chair lifts, and no ski or toboggan runs can be prepared. All other railways, however, continue.
“We will reuse the ski area,” says Stefan Kern of Andermatt Swiss Alps AG. After the weekend, Bullys will prepare new hiking trails from the slopes. Food trucks should also replace closed restaurants. On December 28, the canton of Uri wants to reassess the situation. Then decide if the ski areas can be allowed to reopen at the turn of the year. (Fabienne Riklin, Pia Andrée Wertheimer)
