health pass now required

The obligation to hold a health pass in French ski resorts came into force on Saturday and controls were put in place, in accordance with the protocol provided for in the event of a deterioration of the health situation, announced Domaines skiables de France ( DSF). “It is from today that it is applicable”, indicated Alexandre Maulin, president of DSF, organization which represents the operators of the 250 French ski resorts.

The protocol for access to ski lifts in ski resorts provided for a compulsory pass in the event of a national incidence rate exceeding 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This limit was reached at the end of last week and we are “at 350 today”, explained the president. “We worked with the interministerial crisis council on what must be set up, we had a long period of discussions in order to intelligently and correctly dose the verification of the health pass of our customers,” he said. .

Checks at the foot of the ski lifts

“There will be verification operations at the foot of the main ski lifts at the departure of the station on a random, non-permanent basis, so that people know that they will be verified and we will have very strong communication when purchasing the ski pass. to indicate to them that the pass is compulsory “, underlines Alexandre Maulin, also evoking a” large part of pedagogy “intended for skiers.

“It is about detecting people lacking a health pass and asking them to come and present it, if someone has forgotten to come back with it or if someone does not have it, to go. do a “Covid-19 test,” he continued, noting that today “more than 88% of French people are vaccinated”. “Each station will be organized in a slightly different way, but it will be either company employees or companies who can come in as reinforcements”, he notes.

In Serre-Chevalier (Hautes-Alpes), whose ski season opened on Saturday morning, sanitary pass checks are carried out “at the time of purchase (of ski passes) and at the time of climbing into the gondola which provides access to to the ski area, “David Chabanal, director of the tourist office, told AFP. “Customers are informed upstream and are not surprised, they have planned and have it on their smartphone. Objectively, things are going very well,” he says. “This opening weekend allows you to settle down well, it’s quite fluid,” added David Chabanal.