Italian manufacturer Prinoth has announced the first hydrogen-powered snow groomer. The new LEITWOLF h2MOTION piste basher will be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and is currently being tested by the South Tyrolean company. Prinoth also has a fully electric model, the HUSKY eMOTION, in development. Anton Seeber, president of the HTI group, said: “For us,...
We are delighted to report that French resort Les Arcs has been awarded the Flocon Vert label. Iain Martin, founder of the Ski Flight Free campaign, travelled to the resort in December 2019 to review its sustainability credentials. You can read his article, which was published by InTheSnow.com earlier this year. First ‘Flocon Vert’ resort in...
Austrian rail operator ÖBB has confirmed that their NightJet service from Amsterdam to the Austrian Alps will start again in February 2021. Departures from Amsterdam are every evening at 19.30, connecting to Vienna, and via Munich to to Innsbruck. According to their website: Until further notice, single seats can be booked on the ÖBB...
Vail Resorts has confirmed their plan to have zero net emissions across their portfolio by 2030 in their ‘Epic Promise’ Increase in renewables The plan means that all 34 of Vail’s US resorts aim to be 93% powered by renewable electricity by 2023. The change will be driven by two major renewable energy projects. The...
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...
![“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]")
‘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,...
