 Poster: A snowHead
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Glenshee should be well placed to cope. Lots of space and lots of pomas, the COVID lift of choice, fast and socially distanced  I know they had some queues at the ticket office last year but I don’t recall any long lift queues ?
Of all the Scottish centres they are about the most sheltered and had the best run of days so should have covered their costs at least ?
Of course it all depends Where, when and whether the snow falls?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The French Ski resorts will now have to assess the potential situation even more now after the increase in cases nigh on right across France following on from the high season Summer holidays.
French media have been reporting that tourist numbers are up in the quieter areas of France during the summer.
Brittany, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and many mountainous areas in France have recorded high tourist numbers this summer, while Paris and other major cities have seen a massive drop off.
I'd suggest that the vast % of SnowHeads wanting to ski are more interested in skiing than partying so the big party towns would not be on your list, however many would still favour the likes of the big French ski stations found in the Espace Killy, Portes du Soleil, Les 3 Vallées etc and those stations will still have a high party factor - so I suspect the various Maries are working hard to work out how to lessen the potential impact of covid as well as working out how to get people up the hill in a sensible way, that said they know tourism is vital to their local economies and it's not just about skiing up the hill.
I think that massive queues could well be the inevitable fall out of all this.
With the current spike in France the focus will now be on how the stations propose to deal with the numbers, the mere fact that season passes that would normally be available in August, and the detail as yet are not even being published shows that they have not figured out what to do, and there's no criticism from me as they just don't know how things will develop, plus the ski season as we know has two massive spikes of numbers across Xmas/New Year and Half term.
From a purely selfish perspective interesting to see how little old Serre Che and the 05 Hautes Alpes is one of the few areas that is still green after the busy Summer period in the Alps, and as a ski station we do not really have any crazy Apres style bars that you see elsewhere, we're distinctly quiet in comparison, though there are a couple of late-night party bars that are very French and very busy in High Season.
https://www.thelocal.fr/20200901/map-red-orange-and-green-zones-of-france-and-what-colours-mean
Apart from Covid there's also Bexit to worry about for those that are able to spend a season out in the Mountains and what to do if French residence is not a real option?
As I've not been in Serre Che since June I have no idea what the word on the street is from then many people I know who run a business, many who back in June were still dealing with the fall-out of having to close early in March.
Again with the selfish hat on, I wouldn't complain if lifts were closed but we thought that when the resort closed and then they banned ski touring as well 
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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?
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Still nothing changes my view. Recent governmental reactions have confirmed beyond any doubt my original decision to wait and see until the last minute. Still assuming for the sake of my sanity that we won't be going.
It's pretty clear that governments everywhere aren't going to wake up until we deprive them of revenue to an extent that makes their eyeballs bleed.
I'm not parting with ski trip money to go on a 'holiday' where we're treated like cattle and expected to be grateful for the privilege. They can 'forinstance' right off.
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@robboj, I do believe you have a strong point, if anything governments are regressing not moving forward. They're still fixated on keeping numbers low and the only way to do that is to stop people moving around and leaving home which frankly is madness.
We'll never rid ourselves we are just causing huge amounts of harm to the world economy and still we'll have COVID. Why are they not waking up to that?
We all did the right thing earlier in the year and we're all totally fed up with it now. Absolutely right to protect and shield the vulnerable and continue to do so but leave the rest of us alone or they'll be no money left to pay for those shielding services and countless other services.
I have put a deposit down and that is fully refundable etc until 6 weeks prior and ABTA/TTA/ATOL protected. I had to do that as we go at half term. If we didn't go at half term need to I'd bide my time.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Here in the Infected States of America, you would be bloody crazy to book anything that didn't come with a fully refundable booking and zero cancellation penalties. Maybe we have a season here in the US, maybe not. All it takes is one outbreak in a ski resort and the whole thing comes crashing down.
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We’ve reigned ourselves to losing our £400 deposit on our Canada ski holiday. Just not risking it. Canada won’t rush to open their borders with their neighbours and probably, the rest of the world. And the tour operator certainly isn’t sitting on OUR cash. We may see if there’s anything that suits last minute.
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| Quote: |
if anything governments are regressing not moving forward. They're still fixated on keeping numbers low and the only way to do that is to stop people moving around and leaving home which frankly is madness.
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They can't really win though can they. Open everything up and then they will get criticised for unnecessary deaths and putting the economy before people's lives. Even Sweden who I think probably had a sensible balanced approach have came under lots of criticism.
The same people moaning about the UK government costing lives by not locking down quickly enough are now moaning about them being to quick to introduce quarantine measures. It often seems more about political point scoring vs what is actually right or wrong.
Not that I think the government have done a great job with the situation, but it really is a lose-lose situation. What is an acceptable balance between the economy and lives?
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Not just economy v lives, but COVID lives v cancer lives.....
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Spoke to some industry insiders who said that they hoped to get the so called 2nd wave out the way before January to reopen more fully in 2021. So being Green now isn't necessarily the best thing.
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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.
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| James77 wrote: |
| ... COVID isn't even a HCID. ... |
Which is probably just as well - if it was, a lot more people would be dead. 
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| bambionskiis wrote: |
| We’ve reigned ourselves to losing our £400 deposit on our Canada ski holiday. Just not risking it. Canada won’t rush to open their borders with their neighbours and probably, the rest of the world. And the tour operator certainly isn’t sitting on OUR cash. We may see if there’s anything that suits last minute. |
We had planned to go out to Banff again this Christmas to visit our girl. But that isn't looking too likely given the current entry requirements ( https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/coronavirus-covid19/travel-restrictions-exemptions.html ). We are fortunate in that we were going to stay with her and her man in their apartment, so we can hold out on the flights til last minute to see if there is any change in the situation. I can't really see any change between now and Xmas tbh though, given how long the current restrictions have been in place. I reckon, at best, even if we were allowed in, we would need to self quarantine for a fortnight. Which would not be possible for us.
Out of interest, which TO are you going with? Crystal are offering alternative holidays for any destination that has quarantine restrictions. Might be a way of saving your £400 deposit if you are booked with them.
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You know it makes sense.
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Yeah my own Canadian mates are focusing on the next calendar yea; I doubt the border will open before then.
If it does, I'm good with a couple of weeks doing quarantine, but it's going to be a major cost issue for most. Iceland may be a possibility.
If it happens at all, I think it's going to be very expensive this season.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Oleski, Ok, I may have got the exact dates wrong, I never checked them, but my point is completely valid. On the 9th of June, had there been anyone infectious with coronavirus in the country then 2 months later you would have been seeing widespread hospital admissions. Asymptomatic cases do not exist in a vacuum, they spread to people who then become symptomatic. These symptomatic cases would be spread around the country, not linked to a single identifiable cluster. How that one cluster got infected I don't know, it has been speculated that the virus entered via a frozen food shipment and as that cluster can't be obviously linked to arrivals and those people were linked to a supermarket this seems plausible. The fact remains, all the evidence suggests that for a period, New Zealand was coronavirus free.
Also, I never suggested comparing NZ to Europe or the US, or suggest how we should deal with it, as you accuse me of doing. All my post is explain why NZ was almost certainly free of coroanvirus and that you maths show nothing. I could test for the plague throughout the UK, get no positive results, but assume a false negative rate of 0.1 %, and hence, using your logic, conclude that there are 65,000 current cases of the plague in the UK.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| rambotion wrote: |
. The fact remains, all the evidence suggests that for a period, New Zealand was coronavirus free.
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No it wasn't as shown by basic probability theory. It make have been free of new clinical cases and positive test results.
There is a big difference between those categories.
You can travel for days or weeks in Africa without seeing a single elephant. Doesn't mean Africa is elephant free.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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British travellers risk being locked out of EU if coronavirus infections rise
British tourists could be forced to quarantine or take Covid-19 tests when travelling to EU countries
under new bloc-wide rules and, if coronavirus infections increase, face being locked out of the bloc
after the end of the Brexit transition period.
EU member states and the European Commission began preliminary discussions on agreeing a standardised
colour system, infection rate threshold and harmonised approach to travellers from high-risk areas
for the bloc on Monday. They do not involve the UK, which will be treated as a non-EU country from January 1.
“European challenges require European coordination,” a commission spokesman said on Tuesday, before adding
that the plans were “welcomed” by national diplomats.
The commission said that any decision on travel restrictions would be for individual countries to make,
but urged EU governments to commit to the same “common criteria” when introducing them.
The EU has banned all non-essential travel to the bloc from non-EU countries. Eleven countries,
including Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, but not the US, are exempt.
China will be exempt if it lifts a similar ban. The UK has not implemented the ban and,
because it shares the Common Travel Area with Britain, neither has Ireland.
Brussels’ recommendations say that EU members should not refuse entry to people travelling
from other member states, even if they arrive from high-risk zones, but that they could
require quarantine or Covid-19 tests.
Britain is being treated as an EU member state until the end of the Brexit transition
period on December 31 but is not allowed to take part in meetings discussing the new approach.
Once the UK has left the Customs Union and Single Market at the end of the year,
it will be treated as a non-EU country.
Before introducing travel restrictions, the commission wants EU countries to consider how many
new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in an area there are over two weeks, the percentage of
positive tests carried out over seven days and the number of tests per 100,000 people carried out over seven days.
Member states are expected to submit weekly data to a centre, which informs their
colour on a map of EU countries and their closest European allies, such as Switzerland and Norway.
“Orange” areas will be those where the total number of newly notified cases is fewer than
50 per 100,000 people during a 14-day period, but the percentage of positive tests from all tests is 3 percent.
Places where the total number of new cases are between 25 and 150 but the positive test rate
is less than 3 percent would also be classified as orange.
Red zones would be where new cases are more than 50 over 14 days and the percentage of
positive tests is 3 percent or more, or when the total number of new infections is more than
150 per 100,000 people during a 14-day period.
An EU diplomat described the commission plans as “laudable” and said there would be increased
coordination and communication between member states after border restrictions were reintroduced in
the passport-free Schengen Zone at the height of the crisis.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/british-travellers-risk-being-locked-out-of-eu-if-coronavirus-infections-rise/ar-BB18ONc0?li=BBoPWjQ
https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/european-tourism-manifesto-urges-eu-to-coordinate-on-coronavirus-travel-restrictions/
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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?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Don't engage the troll
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Toadman wrote: |
| Here in the Infected States of America, you would be bloody crazy to book anything that didn't come with a fully refundable booking and zero cancellation penalties. Maybe we have a season here in the US, maybe not. All it takes is one outbreak in a ski resort and the whole thing comes crashing down. |
Not according to Vail.
They want our money for the Epic pass. But it's not refundable. Only very few situations they may refund our money.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
No it wasn't as shown by basic probability theory. It make have been free of new clinical cases and positive test results
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You are clutching at straws. Yes it's possible the virus was being passed around and everybody that got the virus was asymptomatic and nobody tested positive. The likelihood of that being the case for such a long period of time, all while people were living with no restrictions? Astronomically low.
“We must have had some failure at the border, it’s unlikely there could have been silent transmission for that long,” says Nick Wilson, a public health scientist at University of Otago.
New Zealand scientists doubt the virus has been circulating undetected the past 3 months. “Anybody in hospital with respiratory symptoms gets tested and we’ve had nothing,” says microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles of the University of Auckland.
Your argument is not helped by the fact testing showed the strain had came from UK or Australia, supporting the idea it was bought in by someone.
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Regarding Canada, lift passes went on sale a while ago. The resorts are certainly gearing up for a season. Not clear what restrictions will be in place yet. As an epic resort presumably Whistler will have a limited number of people skiing per day and use a reservation system, perhaps others will follow suit. Big white has announced all lift tickets must be bought online to reduce need for contact with staff, but I guess this will also be used to limit numbers somewhat (not quite sure how you account for season passes). Still no date for the borders to reopen (I'm not expecting any time soon). I think it's an all around risky option - book now and there's a very good chance the border won't even be open, book last minute and you may not be able to reserve days to ski.
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We booked a self drive, self catered chalet in St Foy in December last year for a big family birthday this New Year. Final payment is due in October. Keeping everything crossed at the moment but the way our government chop and change their mind , who knows what the heck is going on.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'm increasingly pessimistic there will be a ski season this year. Outside chance of Easter and late spring skiing but think Xmas/NY are definitely out and Feb half term a maybe.
Hope I'm wrong
That said plan is to book a crossing and leave to the last minute and hope for best
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@Boris, agreed. We nearly booked for December but thought it was a bit too early so went for first week of April, and am quite glad we did. Self drive and apartment. As long as the resort is open and we can get insurance cover, Covid itself won’t stop us going.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We hoped to be able to get over to Finland in December. Unfortunately it looks like only about 7 countries will be able to send tourists over without a quarantine, pretty much meaning the Baltic states and Sweden.
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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.
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I've booked New Year to Zurich with BA via Avios with refundable hire car and accommodation in Grindelwald. Also booked Feb half term with Easyjet with their cash grab sales, to Turin - much of the Italian resorts near insist on 30% deposit, but i've got somewhere with full refundable rooms as a placeholder in case everything sells out as i think it's Festival week too.
Might as well be optimistic!
Meant to be taken my sprogs to Copenhagen in October 2020 half term... Wonder what chances of that going ahead. Just at the end of my 14 day quarantine post holiday in France, and it's been a right nightmare with the young kids in the house!
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You know it makes sense.
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[url=][/url]With so many known unknowns, I've (sadly) not booked anything and, for my own sanity, have prepared myself for the fact that we won't be skiing this coming season. However, more than ready prepared to be flexible if the cards fall right. There are too many factors to consider and this tends to be multiplied when school age kids are involved obviously.
Clearly I'm hoping that a vaccine trial will succeed asap but I fear that will not help the coming season having read how roll out would need to take place: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54027269
We had our 2020 ski holiday canned because of resorts closing but were very, very lucky to be able to have our family school break summer holiday (week in Italy and week in France - which was booked Dec 2019) before quarantine kicked in. Nowadays you just have to be thankful for what you can get. I'll certainly be putting more time into researching our summer 2021 holiday rather than winter 2021.
And just to mention, when we were away in summer, Italy were really 'on it' regarding rules and regulations in public spaces whereas France seemed to have forgotten Covid was going on and this made my husband feel quite uncomfortable (just go and read some TripAdvisor reviews from France this summer -'what Covid?' - and that was from French people in their own country). In fairness, it was mainly people from outside of France not adhering to every rule....so this isn't directed at the French. But it is interesting how I've not heard anything in the media about Covid in Italy for weeks.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Quote: |
This is how Les Gets are making preparations - masks, ski pass refunds etc I am guessing that other domaines will make similar arrangements to entice skiers back.
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No mention on what capacity gondolas/lifts will be taking. If they don't limit numbers and lifts are running at 50% capacity queues are going to be unbearable.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
| Quote: |
This is how Les Gets are making preparations - masks, ski pass refunds etc I am guessing that other domaines will make similar arrangements to entice skiers back.
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No mention on what capacity gondolas/lifts will be taking. If they don't limit numbers and lifts are running at 50% capacity queues are going to be unbearable. |
Depends on which part of the season, if brits have to quarantine for two weeks I cant see many families going and in jan lifts rarely have queu8
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A lot of people for whom Apres plays a large part in a ski holiday may we'll decide to give next season a miss. That in itself will help to limit numbers.
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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?
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| esaw1 wrote: |
| A lot of people for whom Apres plays a large part in a ski holiday may we'll decide to give next season a miss. That in itself will help to limit numbers. |
Also vastly reduced numbers from non European countries? Russians, Kiwi, Aussies, Americans travelling to ski in 20/21, can't see it? I think 20/21 season will take place but yes numbers will be down, apres will be no/no, feel sorry for the business owners but no apres doesn't affect me.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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2 weeks provisionally booked mid/ end January and one in March. Booked no travel, I don’t see us being allowed to travel without quarantine, and without insurance it’ll be impracticable. Then there’s the exchange rate which will likely tank if no deal brex-sh*t so not a great outlook.
So I’d be highly surprised if we ski next season..... I’d think there’ll be a lot in same position.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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just booked a week end Jan in Baquira. Time share so no great cost and only 8 hours drive from where I live in Spain so no quarantine worries. I'm OK!
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Would have booked for pre Christmas too but accom. fully booked
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Would have booked for pre Christmas too but accom. fully booked
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Old Man Of Lech wrote: |
| Would have booked for pre Christmas too but accom. fully booked |
I guess it is possible as we get closer to the time that you may find last minute availability as the fco advice / rules become clearer.
Certainly right now there is no way we can take up our booking for Christmas week. Our only hope is that the rules are changed again... but my hopes of this a re pretty low tbh
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We decided at the end of Apr to go ahead and get our chalet ‘guest ready’ for this winter. We have set up the business and website and are now finishing off some improvements to the chalet itself. We know this is a risk but decided to be ready when customers are ready.
We’re lucky that Lenk is a small resort with no big lifts and very few queues. The whole of the Adelboden-Lenk area can be accessed by chair lift and it’s not a big party town.
We offer a catered and hosted chalet for just four guests. We think we’re as good as possible for a Covid safe ski holiday this winter and just hope that quarantine rules change so we can share this amazing place with some UK customers.
Fingers crossed for last minute bookings.
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FAQ
