Ski resorts in Austria, Germany and Norway close for the season

13th March 2020, by Abi Butcher

Lech is among the many ski resorts across Austria closing due to coronavirus

Most ski resorts across the Austria are closing this weekend, along with Norway and Germany, too.

Hundreds of ski resorts across Austria — from Lech to Saalbach-Hinterglem — as well as Germany and the whole of Norway have this morning announced that their season will be closing this weekend.

While skiers currently in the mountains are coming home as normal this weekend, those due to travel won’t be heading out. Tour operators and airlines are working round the clock to deal with the situation – all of which have issued announcements on their websites and social media, here are links to Crystal Ski Holidays and Inghams.

In France, where the president Emmanuel Macron yesterday announced closures of schools, colleges and nurseries, it can perhaps be only a matter of time — though yesterday the Three Valleys director of tourism Olivier Dessaulty told Where to Ski & Snowboard that he thought closure would be “unlikely” and that changes in the way lifts are operated (such as reducing capacity on cable cars) would certainly be on the cards. But with the situation changing rapidly, who knows.

Aspen in Colorado announced yesterday that it advised anyone over the age of 60, and those with compromised immune systems or respiratory issues, against travelling to the resort. In a statement, it said accommodation, lift tickets and lessons in Aspen are either refundable or have been moved to a more flexible basis — if you can’t go this Easter you have another year to re-book.

“We are currently disinfecting gondola cabins daily and not loading unrelated parties or putting singles into partially occupied cabins,” read the statement: “We are removing some seating in restaurants to increase social spacing and are abiding by stringent best practices in all of our food handling.”

• ski
• coronavirus
• covid-19
• cancellation

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