It’s time to end private jets to the Alps
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak loves a private jet. Last month Sunak took three trips by private jet in just over a week, including flying from London to Blackpool and London to Leeds, both journeys that could have been done by train in two and a half to three hours. The UK is in fact...
Glacier lake in Chamonix at risk of overflowing
The ski resort of Chamonix has met again to discuss the monitoring of the lake formed in 2018 on the Bossons Glacier. Formed from increased amounts of snowmelt, the lake now carries the threat of overflowing, should there be future extended periods of warm weather. Last year, the resort used an excavator to clear rocks...
New Solar Panels for Meribel
Méribel has joined the increasing number of ski resorts to deploy solar panels on their ski lifts. This winter look out for the unique PV panels on the roof of the mid-station of the Saulire Express gondola. In the summer of 2022, 182 solar panels, measuring one meter by two meters each, were installed covering an...
Case Study: UK to Méribel (Les 3 Vallées) by train
In January 2023, Iain Martin, presenter of The Ski Podcast and founder of Ski Flight Free, travelled from the UK to Méribel – in the heart of Les 3 Vallées – by train. London to Paris All train trips to the Alps from the UK depart from London St Pancras International. I booked the first Eurostar of the...
New EV chargers for ski resorts in Andorra
Wallbox has announced the installation of twenty EV charging points for electric vehicles at Grandvalira Resorts. Chargers will be installed in Grau Roig (18 chargers) and Costa Rodona (two chargers) parking areas. They will offer 7.4kW charging power and are capable of operating in bad weather and temperatures from -25C to 40C. Powered by renewable...
We can’t wait for Midnight Trains to arrive…
We’re in the midst of creating a sleeper train company, but more precisely, we’re aiming to reinvent the night train to make it the most comfortable and sustainable mode of transport of the century, as an alternative to medium-haul flights. The new trans-continental train company ‘Midnight Trains’ is not expected to launch until the end...
Consumers want more sustainable options in travel
Recent research from Skift shows event more evidence that sustainable tourism has become more important since the pandemic. Interest in sustainable travel options by consumers has been steadily increasing over the past decades, and we are now seeing a societal shift towards sustainability that needs to be addressed by the travel industry. Details of the...
New Direct Train from Amsterdam to Austrian Alps (Updated Dec 2022)
December 2022 Update: The TUI Ski Express has started. ⛷ Big news: The very first #TUI Ski Express hit the rail. ????The special #train is a weekly direct service from The Netherlands ???????? to the Austrian alps ????????. In addition to its comfort and cosiness, the big bonus is a more #sustainable transport to winter...
Case Study: UK to Orelle (Les 3 Vallées) by train
In December 2022, Iain Martin, presenter of The Ski Podcast and founder of Ski Flight Free, travelled from the UK to Orelle – the secret fourth valley of Les 3 Vallées – by train. London to Paris As with all train journeys to the continent, my day started at London St Pancras. Although on arrival...
Six more French ski resorts awarded the ‘Flocon Vert’
Last week at the International Festival of Mountain Professions in Chambéry, the environmental organisation Mountain Riders confirmed that six more ski resorts have been awarded the ‘Flocon Vert’ sustainability label. The new resorts to receive the accreditation are: Font-Romeu (Pyrenees-Orientales) Val d’Isère (Savoie) Tignes (Savoie) Valloire (Savoie) Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (Haute-Savoie) Cordon (Haute-Savoie) In addition, two...
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...
More Travelski services…from Paris
Lovers of train travel will no doubt already be aware of the Travelski Express direct service from London St Pancras to the French Tarentaise. You can find all the details of this service elsewhere on Ski Flight Free, including Iain’s review of the inaugural service in January 2022. However, it recently came to our attention...
