Random check of green passes in ski lifts and obligation to wear a mask to be worn on cable cars, gondola lifts (80% filled), but also chair lifts and other outdoor facilities (with 100% capacity). Here are the indications for mountain lovers who in these days are sharpening the edges of the skis to get back on the slopes that will be open from next November 26th without limitations on admissions and skypasses if the ski area is in the white to yellow zone. In the case of an orange or red zone – this is the request of the Regions to the Government in the new guidelines just approved – the slopes will remain open but with a ceiling at the entrances. The guidelines on the reopening of economic activities just reviewed by the Regions and validated by the Technical Scientific Committee in the session of last November 5th provide for the updating of the indications for the new ski season.
The current legislation in the white and yellow zone
According to current regulations, ski lifts can only be opened in the white and yellow areas. In fact, the slopes remained closed for the whole of the past winter season. Today all hopes are on the green pass. Because in the white and yellow area, green certificate holders are allowed access to the lifts via cable cars, gondola lifts and chairlifts with windscreen domes. The guidelines just approved add the possibility for managers to carry out random checks of the green certificate, given the possibility that travel tickets are purchased online or through other digital solutions and have multi-day validity.
Skiing in the orange and red zone
On the eve of the winter season, which would have all the prerequisites for a redemption after the “blackout” of last year, there are regions like South Tyrol that hope to still be in time to reverse the race towards yellow but above all towards the ‘orange, with the adjoining closure of the ski lifts, at least according to the regulations in force.
The closure of the ski lifts in the orange or red zone would be «a disaster for the mountain economy. We have been closed since March 2020 and the winter months, for many locations, represent 90-95% of the total turnover. Thinking of having to face another closed season would mean destroying the mountain economy but also the possibility of finding human resources who come to work seasonally “reports Andy Varallo, president of Dolomiti Superski Alta Badia regarding a possible stop of the skiing activities in Alto Adige following the passage of the band.
Hence the pressing of the regions to keep the facilities open also in the orange and red zone, albeit with the maximum limit of salable travel tickets.