Where to Ski And Snowboard - Ischgl bans boozing in the streets

Ischgl bans boozing in the streets

16th November 2021, by Abi Butcher

Austrian ski resort Ischgl has cancelled its opening season concert to concentrate on skiing

As Austria places two million unvaccinated people into lockdown, the Tyrolean ski resort of Ischgl has cancelled next week’s opening season concert and announces a ban on the consumption and sale of alcohol in public places.

The Austrian ski resort known for its après party scene was at the centre of a major Coronavirus outbreak in 2020. Famed for its Top of the Mountain opening and closing concerts, the season was due to start next week, 25 November, with classical-pop music stars Il Volo and Alice.

But with the introduction yesterday of stricter Covid regulations nationwide in Austria, Ischgl announced its ‘unanimous decision’ to cancel the concert. The ski season will still get underway next week, but the resort says “the focus around the start of winter will now entirely be on the skiing”.

Ischgl has in place a strict package of health a safety measures that includes a ban on alcohol in public places and nightly bans on parking — ensuring that skiers and snowboarders coached in to the resort for skiing and partying must leave each day by 7.30pm. Alcohol will still be sold in bars and restaurants, but cannot be consumed in the streets or car parks.

Ischgl has upped its security to ensure compliance, and local police have enforced a decree that prohibits the sale of alcohol, installations of BBQ stations or “party-like gatherings” in any of the resort’s four car packs at the Silvrettaseilbahn.

Only skiers with proof of vaccination or past infection will be permitted to buy a ski pass, and FFP2 masks and nose protection are advised on lifts and ticket sales points. Lifts, restaurants, ski buses, rental shops, first-aid stations and WCs will be regularly disinfected.

In April 2020 Ischgl announced it wanted to improve the quality of its après-ski, making the resort more upmarket and reduce the number of “party tourists”. The measures announced this week seem a major start in big changes to the Tyrolean resort.