Ski Resorts in France and Germany to Remain Closed Until Potentially Mid-February

The much-hoped-for reopening of ski resorts in France and Germany has been delayed due to escalating covid-19 cases in the countries.

The French government has decided to postpone the opening of ski resorts in France due to the rise in new Covid cases and hospitalizations in the past weeks. The government announced they would look at the issue again on 20th January, and that it would not be before February – and possibly mid-February.

A similar situation is affecting German ski resorts. A post on the Zugspitze Glacier homepage reads:

We would have loved to announce the imminent opening of the ski area today! However, due to the persistently high number of infections, we have to postpone the start of the season again. We hope that we will finally be able to start skiing in our areas in February and are thinking about a possible extension of the season if Ms. Holle will continue to be friendly to us in spring 2021.

France has kept lifts at its resorts closed since the end of the last national lockdown in early December. The resorts are open, but all lifts, restaurants, and other infrastructure are closed.

• Related: Italian Ski Resorts: Re-Opening Postponed Until January 18th Due to Ongoing Covid-19 Concerns

Over the weekend, the Italian government announced their ski resorts were to remain closed until 18th January – at least.

France is reporting 2,727,321 covid-19 cases and 66,841 deaths with covid. Germany is reporting 1,877,740 cases and 39,563 deaths.