Customers of a reputed travel company are apparently enraged at the holiday firm after they were refused to be entitled to refunds under the ‘snow guarantee’ for ski trips, Daily Mail reported. The report says that there were only a handful of runs in a ‘snowless’ resort. Crystal Ski, which is part of TUI, has a policy of securing alternative slopes for its clients if a resort is entirely closed - arguing this does not apply to the Bulgarian resort of Borovets where four pistes are open. According to The Telegraph, one 27-year-old man named George Gilfoyle and his friends spent £4,250 on a trip to Borovets, but are now terrified they will be paying full price for a third-rate holiday.
Asian Voice spoke to two friends who treat skiing as an annual pilgrimage. We asked whether they were aware of snowless peaks and sunny alps this year. Surath Uthayakumar said, “My friend Raj and I have been skiing for quite some years now. It is fair to say this has become somewhat of our annual pilgrimage. Given the cost of skiing, we normally book well in advance and were shocked to find out that this last month has been the warmest on record in some parts of Europe. Thankfully this time we have booked in Zell-am-See/Kaprun which is part of a glacier and is guaranteed some snow at least in the higher altitudes. We are glued to the weather forecast and hoping for some snow showers and it's looking good for now. Also, given the lack of snow in some areas, the prices are relatively low this year. We hope to use these savings to drive around to the higher altitude areas to find the best snow. Fingers Crossed!”
Madan Raj told the newsweekly, "There is reduced snow as it has been a warm(er) winter for most of Europe but most of the higher altitude ski resorts employ snowmakers to create fake snow and have been always doing so traditionally too. This has always been the case when the winter snow has been a shortcoming (so nothing new for them). Having said that, you will hear the case of reduced snow or (no) snow often coming up in the European winter season as much as you hear of impending drought or power issues in summer in the UK. In terms of expenses, the main components of a ski trip are your stay (£100- 200 per day), ski rentals (£50 per day) ski lift passes (£75 per day) flights to any main city near the alps like Salzburg, Geneva, Munich etc. "
A Swiss ski resort that advertises itself for championing sustainability, has come under fire for admitting to being ‘ecologically insensitive’ after flying in snow via helicopter services. The move was an attempt by the resort Gstaad after it struggled to keep open as temperates hovered around 20C in Switzerland just before Christmas. The move didn’t work, Matthias In-Albon, director of Bergnahnen Gstaad told Hauptstadt. Commentators on the internet were quick to point out the hypocrisy of the move for a resort that claimed to respect the sustainability of the slopes, enquiring about the carbon footprint made by the nine trips made by the helicopter. Some even commented on the stupidity of the endeavour. The director, however, defended the move, saying, “In an emergency, you have to try things out”. The move came after trying and failing with snow cannons. Subsequent efforts at transporting snow from depots to the slopes via snow groomers didn’t work either.
Destination Gstaad, the valley’s tourist office, told the Telegraph that while the snow shortage continued to be an immense challenge for all the resorts, no further flights were planned after the failed attempt. Previously, around 100 helicopter snow lifts were conducted in 2020 to ensure that the renowned Labuerhorn in Wengen could take place during the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne. Similar manoeuvres were conducted in France as well.
