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. This summer, 182 solar panels, measuring one meter by two meters each, were installed covering an area of...
New Electric Snow Groomer for Val Cenis
Val Cenis remains in the vanguard of ski resorts focussing on sustainability. This winter the Savoyard ski area are adding their first 100% electric snow groomer (piste basher to the Brits) to their fleet. The Prinoth Husky eMotion will be used to prepare their cross country pistes, tobogganning areas and pedestrian paths. Three hour battery life...
New Direct Train from Amsterdam to Austrian Alps
TUI has partnered with Green City Trip, a Dutch startup, to offer a new direct train service to the Austrian Alps for winter 2022/23. This new service is part of a continuing trend of chartered rail services to ski resorts, following the Travelski Express service direct from London to France and services from Denmark to...
The ‘TravelSki Express’: New direct ski train to the French Alps (Updated Sep 2022)
Iain tested the inaugural outbound service in January 2022. You can read his article here, listen to the special podcast episode or watch his video below. Note that on this service the overnight was outbound, but for 2022/23 it will be the return service that is overnight. —————- The ‘Travelski Express’ is fantastic news for...
![[Case Study] Chamonix by Train from the UK](https://skiflightfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/mont-blanc-express-290x290.jpg "[Case Study] Chamonix by Train from the UK")
[Case Study] Chamonix by Train from the UK
In May 2022, Iain from Ski Flight Free travelled to Chamonix in France by train. He left London St Pancras at 08:01 BST and arrived in Chamonix at 19:02 CET (18:02 BST). This is his report of the journey. London-Paris I live in Brighton, so actually my journey started early with a direct train to...
Paris-Briancon Night Carriages to be upgraded
Good news from Serre Chevalier for lovers of train travel – France Relance, the plan introduced by the French Government to stimulate the economy, has invested in new night trains. There is an overall investment of EUR100 million and the Paris-Briançon line carriages will be among those first to be renovated. A total of 44...
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...
Research: What is the carbon footprint of a ski holiday?
We love this great infographic, detailing the carbon cost of a day’s skiing, and the differences your choices can make to the final figure. The data was based on a study by the French ski areas of La Clusaz, Le Grand Bornand and Tignes. It concluded that the carbon footprint of a day’s skiing is...
![[Case Study] Switzerland by Train from the UK](https://skiflightfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220309_170110-290x290.jpg "[Case Study] Switzerland by Train from the UK")
[Case Study] Switzerland by Train from the UK
In March 2022, Iain from Ski Flight Free travelled to Andermatt in Switzerland by train. He left London St Pancras at 08:01 GMT and arrived in Andermatt at 19:06 CET (18:06 GMT). This is his report of the journey. London-Paris Although I started in Brighton, let’s start off this blog post from London, as this...
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...
Alpe d’Huez delivers a subtle hint to take the train
I loved this subtle guerilla campaign that Alpe d’Huez recently ran in conjunction with SNCF. Many resorts are encouraging holidaymakers to take the train rather than fly or drive, but the resorts of Alpe d’Huez teamed up for a few days with Ouigo, the SNCF’s low-cost offering. Travel to resort is typically 50-80% of the...
The award for the best railways in Europe goes to…Switzerland
The exciting ‘Midnight Trains’ project won’t be launching for a long time yet, but their weekly newsletter continues to entertain and inform. The most recent edition awards Switzerland the badge of the ‘Best Railways in Europe’. This is not surprise to us, as we love train travel in Switzerland. Iain had travelled from the UK...
