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...
A combination of new government measures and private investment initiatives will lead to significantly more solar power capacity in Switzerland. Earlier this month (October 2022), the upper house of the Swiss parliament voted in favour of legislation ruling that from 01 January 2024 all new buildings with an area of over 300m2 must be equipped...
With the adoption of electric vehicles increasing fast, more and more British skiers will be driving to the Alps in an electric car. Iain Martin, founder of Ski Flight Free, drove to Zermatt at the end of August 2022 in a Tesla Model Y to see what it’s like on a long-distance journey in an...
The recent joint research carried out between McKinsey & Company and Skift Research contained some valuable ideas for improving sustainability in travel. The report sets the scene by noting that global travel and tourism accounts for 8-11% of global emissions and that travel activity is expected to soar by 8% from 2016 to 2030. It...
Transfer company Cool Bus have confirmed that they are updating their fleet of electric vehicles After six successful years using Tesla Model X’s for transfers to ski resorts in the Tarentaise valley the vehicles have clocked up nearly 600,000km of zero emission transport. New Mercedes Electric Minibuses This winter the cars will be supplemented by...
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...
Despite a challenging first season, Travelski Express have confirmed that they will be continuing their direct train service from London to France for the 2022/23 winter season. Due to engineering works, the outbound train will continue to depart on Friday evening, arriving Saturday morning, with the return train leaving on Sunday morning, arriving back into...
We are indebted to our friends at Midnight Trains for this analysis, first published on their website, but so compelling that it deserves to be shared. Let’s weigh up the stats First up, according to the French government, the transport sector generates more greenhouse gases than any other, representing 31% of all emissions. Drilling down...
When Greta Thunberg told us that ‘Our house is on fire‘ in 2019, it seemed like she was talking figuratively. Just three years later, it seems literal. We have already seen glaciers collapsing in Italy and closing early for summer in France. This trend is evident in the French Pyrénées at the Brèche de Roland....
In another indicator of the growing provision of rail options by travel companies to match the increased demand for this low-carbon form of travel. Last week we wrote about the ANMSM’s goal to lobby for improved rail services to the Alps. Their research showed a high potential level of demand, if there were more trains...
The National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts (ANMSM) has called for better train services to ski resorts in France to reduce the carbon footprint of ski holidays. A survey commissioned by the ANMSM and conducted by G2A Consulting showed that almost half of respondents would change the way they travel to resort if the...
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...
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...
