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...
We found this article on travel by train to French ski resorts on the France Montagnes website really useful. Did you know that 57% of greenhouse gas emissions from ski holidays come from your journey to resort? Travelling by train is the single most effective way to reduce your emissions when you take a ski...
SNCF have announced that a new low cost TGV service will connect Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice this winter. Trains will start from 17 December 2020 and run to 29 March 2021, and will also connect with Grenoble and Albertville. From Charles de Gaulle Airport to Bourg St Maurice From December Ouigo trains will run between Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle...
The ‘POW Pledge’ is a new project from Protect Our Winters, which calls on the outdoors industry to take climate action to help protect the environment. Climate breakdown is real and we need to act now The business sector accounts for around 70% of carbon emissions globally and the outdoors sector is significant – worth...
At Ski Flight Free our whole remit is to encourage British skiers to choose to travel by train to the Alps or in a (fully-laden) car instead of flying. Yet it was with mixed feelings that we read the news that the number of skiers planning to fly has plummeted. Skiers planning to fly down...
Despite the Covid crisis, ski resorts are still taking steps to improve their sustainability. Alexandre Maulin, president of Domaines Skiables de France (DSF), said at their annual conference: “We are ensuring we cover the quantifiable and quantifiable, so we can’t be accused of ‘greenwashing” The carbon footprint of a ski holiday is determined more by...
Following a survey in January 2020, Les Arcs is reviewing the results and making a number of changes to make the resort more sustainable. The survey flagged four key topics at the top of respondents’ lists: – Waste – Energy – Transport – Preservation Reducing waste a key issue The problem of waste was...
Morzine has released details of some of the environmentally friendly changes they are making in the lead up to the 2020/21 winter season. PV Panels Electricity is the top energy expenditure in the ski area. In addition to reducing consumption, the lift company (SERMA) plans to focus on renewable energy, particularly solar power. Photovoltaic panels...
‘Plus ça change’, as our French friends say. A more relevant quote might be one attributed to Karl Marx: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” In the same week that Eurostar announced that it was cancelling the direct train to the Tarentaise in the French Alps, Andrew Brannan, a keen listener of The Ski Podcast,...
In excellent news for skiers who enjoy travelling by train, a new study by the Andorran Chamber of Commerce is proposing a new railway line to Andorran ski resorts via Seu d’Urgell. Currently it’s only possible to travel to Andorra by road from neighbouring countries. However, the idea of a simple rail connection is attractive...
It’s fast, comfortable, and far more sustainable than flying or driving from the UK to the Alps. But it’s cancelled. To the massive disappointment of skiers and the ski industry, Eurostar will not run its iconic Ski Train this winter, despite its environmental claims to ‘tread lightly’ Save The Ski Train That’s why we’ve helped...
Iain Martin, founder of Ski Flight Free, had this article published in The Telegraph this week, promoting driving to the Alps, rather than flying. This article is behind the Telegraph paywall, but you can download a Word doc version by taking this link. While our preference would always be to travel by train, if...
Iain Martin from Ski Flight Free was delighted to take part in the #SkiGreen Webinar at Circular Economy Week London last week. The session was attended by over 70 people interested to find out more about sustainability in the world of skiing and snowsports. The webinar started with five short presentations by the attendees: Sally...
![“People are travelling to the Alps again by train” [1988 version]](https://skiflightfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ski1-290x290.jpg "“People are travelling to the Alps again by train” [1988 version]")
![[Video] #SkiGreen presentations at #CEweekLDN](https://skiflightfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Capture-290x290.png "[Video] #SkiGreen presentations at #CEweekLDN")
