Austrian police have fined 96 foreigners at the ski resort of St Anton am Arlberg for breaching public health rules on entering the country and the national lockdown.
The mayor of St Anton, which is one of Austria’s most popular resorts, said dozens of young tourists from across Europe had recently come to his town despite the lockdown restrictions in place. Ski lifts are open, but hotels in the area are closed to tourists.
Fifteen police officers were involved in the operation, and those caught in violation of the rules face fines of €2,180 (around £1,920).
Police said that “Britons, Danes, Swedes, Romanians, Germans, Australians, Irish people and Poles were checked and fined.”
The country has been in its third national lockdown since Boxing Day, with non-essential shops closed. However, there have been some controversial loopholes in the restrictions. Regular skiers cannot stay overnight at a resort, but despite this, ski teacher training courses were allowed to be held for European visitors, and saw a number of coronavirus clusters emerged at the courses.
In St Anton, some travellers appear to have got round restrictions by fraudulently claiming to be looking for work. Tourist accommodation is only available to business travellers, and St Anton’s mayor Helmut Mall has said new arrivals there have registered a local address saying they are looking for work even though there are no jobs available.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
We knew it would happen but has to be said other Ski Areas to i.e Gastein (many Swedes)
Unfortunately for them though it could effect their re-entry into Austria in the future , especially if the have to exit & renter the Schengen
Area.
Yes, those St Anton idiots got onto the national news at lunchtime!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Think it unlikely that any EU citizens could be banned from Austria over what is a fairly minor offence (even if some will get upset over it) though I suspect you might be right about non EU folk. I also think you could be right about checks on seasonal workers again especially non EU ones. In the industry I work in many UK folk have still not understood how difficult (generally not possible) it will be to work and the level of enforcement there is in most countries.
Yes, those St Anton idiots got onto the national news at lunchtime!
I really wouldn't tar them all with the same brush, especially given the dodgy translation that seems to have taken place by the English speaking media. Yes, 96 people were apparently in breach of regulations (not necessarily Covid/quarantine related, some were AIUI related to registration), but only 29 fined.
Also look at it from the viewpoint of some of those who had gone to St Anton, a lot will have travelled out prior to Christmas, before a lot of the regulations came in to force and prior to the lockdown, as the season start was pushed back to Christmas. Lockdown then pushed this back further, but by then people were already in situ in the Arlberg, surely from an infection viewpoint it made more sense to stay put than to travel around again (Brits obviously couldn't, unless they have dual nationality, as they would then lose any rights to work at all under the WA), especially as there was still the sighting of the season opening and jobs on the horizon (and to some extent, still is).
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Yes, I dare say there are two sides to some of the stories.
After all it is free
After all it is free
I agree with Sitter...as I posted earlier I met a forlorn newly qualified (non Austrian national) Anwärter last week who had stayed on here for the very reason that if he left it would be difficult to return...however, after 3 weeks seeking work, he was now planning to throw in the towel and leave. I suspect there are many in a similar postion..
As Sitter also says the German reports of the „Razzia“ in Sant Anton make it clear that only 29 individuals will be considered for further action...probably because if the others had been permitted to register their rental contracts at the relevant Gemeinde as their „Nebenwohnsitz“ it is difficult to see how they would be in breach of the residency laws..this is hinted at in the German text..
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..(my final word on this topic)..if one wanted to be cynical it has probably until recently suited the Austrian (local) authorities to have a bunch of young expats hanging around hoping for work and meanwhile costing nothing..if the season were to have begun in February/early March then an „Arbeitskräfte“ would have been on hand as required..(where else could newly opening hotels have got temporary workers at short notice?). Now it is clear the tourist season will not happen it may suit the authorities to take a harder line and „get rid“..
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@Sitter, sounds a bit like the Verbier story which turned out to be the usual mountain / mole hill sort of thing!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
The same article was hyped here, highlighting the Australians. Curious. They must be expats because we have all but had our passports confiscated since March 2020, ie extremely unlikely they got to StA from Australia in the last 12 months.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Hey Folks
Although not official some Hotels (I am not going to name or say how many) have already sent cancellation emails to guests who have booked March/April.....
They will not be opening this season..
Lift Company is taking a huge financial hit & I am not quite sure why they are operating so many lifts when really 1 or 2 (Galzigbahn on part time & Osthangbahn) would do for just the Locals
The illegals (Anti Lockdown) have been dealt with ..They Came from many Nations but whatever they should NOT of been travelling. I believe only around 29 of 100 were fined almost €2000 each & Businesses €30000.. I would imagine they are appealing.
Lifts maybe closing soon then .......time to Earn your Turns
STAY AT HOME
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@stanton,
In the first clip at around 1:13 I can see someone shoveling snow from the roof while wearing a climbing harness but can't see where/how they are secured to the roof. A long way to fall if they aren't secured.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Just some nice snowy images from Lech....and check the avalanche at 1.35....!
Haven't been there since they moved the railway line - must be very different, now? The old station buffet had a very good reputation for evening meals...
Well, it could be the writing on the wall for my (vague) hope of any end of season skiing. Die Presse is saying a quarantine for Tirol is being considered because of the rapid spread of an Austrian mutation of the South African variant of C19.
Very sad for the local economy, looking at the video above.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@DB, That is in Ischgl... Most locals do not bother with all that modern safety gear...when it only used maybe once every few years ....
Will be warm until Sunday... Saturday/Sunday maybe Rain/snow ....Cooling down next week but only below freezing at altitude above 2500M
si
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Police from Landeck conducted a second surprise check on paperwork (residency/legal rights) earlier this week.
I thought it was someone on a Snowboard dropping in for a moment.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
If there are any Kitzbhuel people in this thread - wanted to point out that there is a classic poster up for grabs on a dutch auction site at what appears to be a reasonable price:
Rumours of Quarantine/Lockdown for State of Tirol likely could be imminent..
Tests must be taken if anyone has travelled to the Tirol.
A travel warning applies to the Austrian state of Tyrol due to the Corona location, which is considered to be explosive. This was stated by the Austrian government in Vienna on Monday.
""""Update February 8, 11:58 a.m.: On Saturday, Tyrol reported 75 cases of the South African corona mutation– including one active case. On Sunday, the number rose to just under 300, including eight active cases. The Tyrolean President of the Chamber of Commerce Christoph Walser confirmed these figures on Sunday evening in the TV show "ZiB2". According to reports by oe24 and Kronen Zeitung, however, the number of active cases of the virus variant in Tyrol is said to be significantly higher.
According to the media reports, there are more than 150 active cases of the Corona mutation in Tyrol, according to the experts. "The untruth seems to have been deliberately spread here, the true figures are supposed to be covered up," a doctor is quoted as saying by oe24. If these figures are confirmed, this is likely to result in stricter quarantine rules for Tyrol.""""
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Breaking News this afternoon 11/7 from Bavaria
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is calling for Tyrol and the Czech Republic to be declared "mutation areas" by the German government.Tirol lockdown/Quarantine
There is chatter/speculation in Austria that the SA Variant arrived in Tirol/Salzburg/Styria in December from Ski Teachers from the UK .....Alot of these Foreign Ski Teachers are dual passport holders South Africans, Australians, Kiwis etc have travelled from infected (SA mutant) countries probably not even knowing they had the virus ..... However, it also does NOT look as though they were/had been tested before they departed their home countries..
Herr Söder also wants to become the next Bundeskanzler...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Any word on how long the lifts are likely staying open for the locals? I know there's limited lifts open but there must come a point surely when they close for the season?
Amazing photos this morning on social media, of the sunrise and temperature inversion, cloud below the skiers. Really missing the place, the people and of course the powder. The pistes that are open look fabulous.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Whatever you do, do not look at any of the webcams today, especially Zurs. The car park is 2/3 full, Trittkopf middle station open, so is Hexenboden, Zurzersee, even some people made it up to Madlochjoch. A sunny day, great snow, uncrowded pistes, no furriners!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
They have reduced the lifts that are open on the Arlberg Ost side of things, but suspect part of that is due to the test requirements when leaving Tirol as there is nothing that hits the Tirol/Vorarlberg border open, so no Arlenmaehder or Valfagehr etc.
Whatever you do, do not look at any of the webcams today, especially Zurs. The car park is 2/3 full, Trittkopf middle station open, so is Hexenboden, Zurzersee, even some people made it up to Madlochjoch. A sunny day, great snow, uncrowded pistes, no furriners!
Cannot look. It is just too soul-destroying to see, knowing that we should be there, but for many reasons, we cannot be.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@ulmerhutte, yeah it’s pretty annoying but it’ll still be there next season.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
OK ,, The Tirol is really being cut off...
Germany has placed a ban on entry from the Tirol ...even commuters this would effect apprx 2000-3000 Tiroleans/Bavarians per day !!
Only the Arlberg Ost side as I understand it, skiing still possible elsewhere in the non-Tirol Arlberg. The test requirement to use the pistes seems to have been one of the final nails in the coffin along with the recently announced extension of the closure of hotels/gastro
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Sitter, is that because Vorarlberg has different covid regulations to the Tirol?
@Sitter, is that because Vorarlberg has different covid regulations to the Tirol?
Possibly, they are different lift companies though.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@ulmerhutte, Tyrol is in a stricter quarantaine due to an outbreak of the South African-variant
After all it is free
After all it is free
A review will be made in discussions on March 1st., apparently.
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Langerzug wrote:
@ulmerhutte, Tyrol is in a stricter quarantaine due to an outbreak of the South African-variant
Yup, and a negative test no older than 48hrs is required to use the pistes, which the powers that be are expecting the lift companies to enforce (same requirement for anybody leaving Tirol).
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Sitter wrote:
Langerzug wrote:
@ulmerhutte, Tyrol is in a stricter quarantaine due to an outbreak of the South African-variant
Yup, and a negative test no older than 48hrs is required to use the pistes, which the powers that be are expecting the lift companies to enforce (same requirement for anybody leaving Tirol).
"from Wednesday, February 17, 2021, skiing in St. Anton am Arlberg will be suspended until further notice. The reason for this is the new regulatory requirements that are now in force in Tyrol, according to which ski slopes can only be accessed by people who have previously used a cable car if these people have a negative Covid test result (PCR or antigen) that's not older than 48 hours, and the resulting control obligations of the ski resort operator.
Therefore there will be no skiing in St. Anton / St. Christoph / Stuben."
Lech and Zurs have very limited ski uplifts running.
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