Italy's ski resorts are set to reopen next week

Ski resorts in Italy will begin to open next week, after spending the first three months of the ski season in lockdown.

With infections in Italy now down to 138 per 100,000, from February 15 resorts will be allowed to reopen, depending on their location, according to the Italian Government’s Technical Scientific Committee (CTS).

Italy is currently operating a national tiered system of coronavirus restrictions. It is the resorts in yellow zones that will be allowed to start operations.

This includes the majority of the biggest resorts, as currently 17 of Italy’s 21 regions are classified as yellow: Lombardy, home to Livigno and Bormio; Aosta Valley, home to the likes of Cervinia, Courmayeur, Champoluc and La Thuile; Veneto, where skiers will find Cortina d’Ampezzo and Arabba; and Piedmont, the region home to Sestriere, Sauze d’Oulx and Bardonecchia.

Lara Magoni, Lombardy Tourism Councilor, said the news is “a breath of fresh air for a sector that is suffering an unprecedented crisis.”

“I really hope that this reopening is the beginning of a new era, with the recovery of a fundamental tourism for Lombardy. I am convinced that the mountains must be central in the political debate to relaunch our country,” she said.

However, resort bosses are still being cautious. “The virus is still circulating and should not be underestimated,” said Luca Zaia, the president of Veneto, which is hosting the World Ski Championships in Cortina from today.

Luigi Bertschy, councilor for economic development in the Aosta Valley, said the regions are working together to make the most of what is left of the winter season. “Now we continue to work together with the other Regions to allow a greater influx of skiers for the next 40, 50 days of the season,” he said.

There is yet to be an official announcement regarding the plans, but the news was first announced by the Italian media this weekend, with further details of what rules will be in place expected to be confirmed later this week. It’s likely restrictions will look similar to those in force in Austria and Switzerland, where resorts are already open – including limit capacity on lifts, social distancing in queues and mandatory face masks.

Resorts in red and orange zones must remain closed, this includes the Sud Tyrol region home to resorts such as Val Gardena and Selva. However, some regional authorities have called for resorts in orange zones to be allowed to reopen with extra precautionary measures in place, such as the use of FFP2 face masks. These are currently compulsory in all ski resorts in Austria, which have been open since Christmas – but the CTS has reportedly rejected this idea.

It is not yet known if people will be allowed to travel out of their local area to visit resorts, or whether the slopes will be the bounty of local residents only – as is the case in Austria. Currently, there is a ban on non-essential travel between regions in Italy, but this also expired on February 15.

Those who are welcomed to the slopes can expect pristine conditions. The Italian mountains, like much of the rest of Europe, have been blessed by heavy snowfall in recent weeks – it will now be the job of resorts, lift companies and the ski patrol to make sure the ski areas are safe for visitors, after a number of alarming avalanche fatalities recently.

Italian resorts have been closed since November under strict rules to curb the spread of coronavirus. Their closure sparked widespread debate across Europe over whether ski resorts should be allowed to open before Christmas, resulting in the closure of lifts in Italy and France until present, while people have been welcomed back to the slopes in Switzerland and Austria.

Last month, resorts in Italy learnt that their reopening had been postponed until mid-February, after they were originally meant to open on January 7, a date that was initially pushed back January 18. Resorts in neighbouring France will not be able to open their lifts until March at least.