Eurostar have confirmed that they will be running the ‘Eurostar Snow Train’ again for the forthcoming 2026/27 winter season. What dates will the Eurostar Snow Train operate? The outbound Eurostar Snow Train from London to the Alps will run every Saturday between 19 December 2026 – 20 February 2027 The...
Since I founded Ski Flight Free in 2019, I have cut down on my flights considerably in an effort to reduce my carbon footprint. Flight Free in 2024 and 2025 For the last two years, I have gone slightly further and committed to the ‘Flight Free Challenge’ – created by...
In 2022, I looked at the carbon footprint of a ski holiday, based on some research by French ski resorts. The original research attempted to detail the carbon cost of a day’s skiing, and the differences your choices can make to the final figure. I’ve now updated these figures, to...
The options for train travel to the Alps this winter are outlined here: THE EUROSTAR SKI TRAIN (via Lille) Eurostar have confirmed that their snow train, reintroduced last winter will continue for 2025/26 with more departures, plus an option to return on the following Saturday (six days’ skiing), as well...
As well as founding Ski Flight Free, Iain also presents The Ski Podcast. In September 2023, Iain discussed new train travel options with Krissie Roe from Inghams: In September 2020, Iain was joined by Daniel Elkan from Snowcarbon and Anna Hughes from Flight Free UK in a Facebook Live event to discuss...
Make sure you pick up a copy of this month’s ‘Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Magazine’ encouraging skiers to #SkiFlightFree. You can find Iain’s opinion piece on the existential threat to ski resorts on page 20: Find out more at www.skiflightfree.org
Climate change represents an existential threat to human life on the planet. The evidence for this has been widely published, but you don’t have to take my word for it. This is what Britain’s most trusted man has to say on the subject: An existential threat to the ski industry...
It’s a continual frustration that so many ski resorts talk a good game about sustainability but do very little to address the most significant element the carbon footprint in any ski holiday: travel to the resort. Best train travel discounts in Morzine/Avoriaz/Les Gets To be clear, resorts like Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets lead the...
As ski resorts look for ways to reduce their environmental impact, re-using existing lift infrastructure is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to building new installations from scratch. Known as réemploi in France, the practice involves dismantling ski lifts that are no longer required at one resort and giving their components a second life elsewhere. It...
Planning a ski trip without flying just got a little easier, thanks to the publication of a new Ski Rail Maps of the Alps. Produced by Alpine cartographic specialists 2theAlps, the new double-sided map is designed to help skiers understand the rail connections linking Europe with more than 600 Alpine resorts. One side, titled ‘Reaching...
Iain Martin, founder of Ski Flight Free and host of The Ski Podcast, led a panel discussion at the London Snow Show last weekend exploring how skiers can travel to the Alps by night train. With up to 80% of the carbon emissions associated with a ski holiday coming from the flight to the resort,...
There is good news for skiers hoping to ski flight free to the Aosta Valley, as direct rail services between Milan and Aosta are due to restart from summer 2027. The proposed service, made possible by the electrification of the Ivrea–Aosta railway line, would initially focus on weekend travel, with the aim of improving access...
If you’re a visitor to Ski Flight Free, you are probably already highly invested in what the climate crisis means for the places we love to ski, hike and ride. In which case, a free screening of ‘The People’s Emergency Briefing’, organised by Protect Our Winters UK, is an event you will find worth attending....
La Plagne is one of three Compagnie des Alpes (CDA) resorts that has been selected to trial PRINOTH’s new 100% electric snow groomer (more commonly known as a ‘piste basher’ to British skiers) ahead of its worldwide commercial launch in winter 2027/28. This deployment represents a potentially significant step forward for an industry that has...
The options for travelling from the UK to the Alps without flying could be about to get a whole lot more attractive. Virgin Trains has taken a major step towards launching services through the Channel Tunnel, with the UK rail regulator giving the company approval to use High Speed 1 between London St Pancras and...
A new operator has announced ambitious plans to launch direct high-speed rail services from London to Germany by 2030, in what could become the biggest expansion of cross-Channel rail travel since Eurostar began operating in 1994. Gemini Trains, a British start-up backed by the investment firm Midia Partners, says it wants to introduce services from...
I love the work by the Swiss organisation Association Suisse pour la Protection du Climat. Their current campaign is lobbying for a new tax on airline tickets and using those proceeds to provide residents with a CHF100 voucher for public transport, as well as creating a fund to improve rail connections and a focus on...
Protect Our Winters UK (POW UK) has published the findings of its Clean Miles campaign, highlighting the barriers that prevent outdoor enthusiasts from choosing lower-carbon travel. Their campaign has been built around a simple principle: the cleanest route to the outdoors should also be the easiest. Yet for many skiers, climbers, cyclists and hikers, travelling...
Four French ski areas have been recognised for their ongoing commitment to sustainability by being awarded a second ‘Flocon Vert’ (‘Green Snowflake’). The newly upgraded resorts are Les Belleville (Les Menuires/St Martin/Val Thorens) and Valloire in Savoie, together with Les Angles and Font-Romeu in the Pyrenees. The second snowflake recognises resorts that have continued to...
