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 committed to the ‘Flight Free Challenge’ – created by Anna...
In June 2025, Eurostar confirmed that they would be running the ‘Eurostar Snow Train’ again for the forthcoming 2025/26 winter season. This is great news, plus there are some key changes to this year’s service that will make the journey more attractive for many travellers. What dates will the Eurostar...
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...
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’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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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’...
No one can be unaware that last summer was devastating for the world’s glaciers. We reported previously on the record melt in the Pyrenees. New data from the Glacier Blanc in Pays des Ecrins glacier backs this up. According to this research, 2022 represented not just the lowest winter snowfall for 23 years, but also...
If reducing the carbon footprint of your ski holiday is important to you, the obvious first step is to choose an alternative to flying, but you can also make a difference by choosing a resort that has high sustainability standards. The Compagnie des Alpes (CdA) has taken a huge step to reducing the emissions generated...
The French resort of Serre Chevalier has been recognised by the European Union for its outstanding use of renewable energy. The Energy Efficiency Prize was awarded by the EU to the lift company Serre Chevalier Vallee Domaine Skiable for its ‘EnR’ project. Consistent implementation of PV solar panels, wind turbines and use of hydroelectricity throughout...
