The ‘TravelSki Express’
The ‘Travelski Express’ is fantastic news for train lovers and skiers looking to reduce their carbon emissions. UPDATE (13 July 2023): The Travel Express will not run direct from London to the Alps in 2023/24, with a service via Lille likely instead (see below) What ski train services are on offer to the Alps in...
Cauterets / Crans Montana / Eurostar / Les Arcs / Orelle / Serre Chevalier / Ski Flight Free / SNCF / Soll / Train Travel / Zermatt
‘The Best Ski Resorts to travel to by train’
Iain – founder of Ski Flight Free – was recently commissioned by ‘The Independent’ to put together a summary of the best ski resorts to travel to by train. The eight resorts that made the short list were: Les Arcs (Find out about the Travelski Express here) Crans Montana Serre Chevalier (Read about their night...
Les Arcs plans to reduce energy use this winter by 10%
Les Arcs has always been ahead of the game as far as sustainability is concerned. Already awarded the ‘Flocon Vert’ accreditation and in the course of attaining B-Corps accreditation, the resort has also announced measures to reduce the resort’s energy usage this winter by 10%. Ski lifts (6.5% reduction in overall resort energy consumption) – ‘Eco-driving’...
Travelski Express Review 2022 by Charlie Mack
This was the first season of the Travelski Express direct train from London St Pancras to the Tarentaise, but what did travellers think of the service. Review: Charlie Mack Ski Flight Free follower Charlie Mack contacted us with his review of the Travelski Express. Charlie had previously travelled to Arc 1800 seven years in a...
Free Tickets on the Funicular to Les Arcs for train travellers
Last weekend I travelled to Les Arcs on the inaugural Travelski Express train service, direct from London St Pancras to Bourg St Maurice. You can find out more about the experience of travelling overnight on the train in my article for InTheSnow Magazine, this video or in the podcast I published about it for The...
Les Arcs funicular forced to close due to rise in temperatures
The irony is inescapable: climate change has led to the closure of the emissions-free funicular that connects Bourg-St-Maurice to Les Arcs. Powered by 100% renewable energy, the funicular means that it’s possible to travel by train the entire way from the UK to the resort of Les Arcs. ‘Significant deformation’ of the track It’s a...
Les Arcs awarded ‘Flocon Vert’ label for sustainability
We are delighted to report that French resort Les Arcs has been awarded the Flocon Vert label. Iain Martin, founder of the Ski Flight Free campaign, travelled to the resort in December 2019 to review its sustainability credentials. You can read his article, which was published by InTheSnow.com earlier this year. First ‘Flocon Vert’ resort in...
Travel by train to French Ski Resorts
We found this article on travel by train to French ski resorts on the France Montagnes website really useful. Did you know that 57% of greenhouse gas emissions from ski holidays come from your journey to resort? Travelling by train is the single most effective way to reduce your emissions when you take a ski...
Les Arcs survey skiers for sustainability ideas
Following a survey in January 2020, Les Arcs is reviewing the results and making a number of changes to make the resort more sustainable. The survey flagged four key topics at the top of respondents’ lists: – Waste – Energy – Transport – Preservation Reducing waste a key issue The problem of waste was...
Train Travel to the Alps: Tips and Advice
As well as founding Ski Flight Free, Iain also presents The Ski Podcast. Earlier this month, he was joined by Daniel Elkan from Snowcarbon and Anna Hughes from Flight Free UK in a Facebook Live event to discuss train travel to the Alps. Useful links and notes Great options for checking your carbon footprint include the WWF Footprint...
Join the campaign to #SaveTheSkiTrain
It’s fast, comfortable, and far more sustainable than flying or driving from the UK to the Alps. But it’s cancelled. To the massive disappointment of skiers and the ski industry, Eurostar will not run its iconic Ski Train this winter, despite its environmental claims to ‘tread lightly’ Save The Ski Train That’s why we’ve helped...
‘The Grand Jury’: Les Arcs crowdsource sustainability ideas
Les Arcs already has an excellent reputation for sustainability. Ski Flight Free founder Iain Martin visited in December 2019 to check out the new 100% electric funicular that takes skiers direct from Bourg St Maurice to Les Arcs 1600. The new zero-emission funicular (running on 100% renewable electricity) opened yesterday. It takes just 7 minutes to...