The now and future of ski and mountain rescue?

Ski and mountain rescue – the now and future?

A collaboration between Gravity Industries, which has developed and patented a 1050 brake horsepower Jet Suit, and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), led to an incredibly well-documented, successful test flight and hill rescue mission in the heart of the Lake District, UK.

Introducing the Jet Suit

Founder of Gravity Industries and Chief Test Pilot, Richard Browning, used his skills and vision create the world’s first patented Jet Suit. The Jet Suit currently can perform speeds in excess of 80mph (although, yes, we know some of you may feel that you already ski at this speed anyway on a good downhill day in Kitzbuhel 😉 ) – the suit is technically capable of reaching an altitude of 12,000ft (although for safety purposes, it is typically flown lower).

Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) showcased the Gravity Suit, an item of ‘mecha’ flying clothing capable of performing mountain and hill rescue wherein the travel distance compared to traditional air ambulance service, such as that which may require a helicopter, is much faster with a suit. The Gravity suit has the potential to be empowering and a life-saver than the transport which is currently available to mountain rescue services currently in use across the world.

The test making this use case occurred most notably, and recently, at the Langdale Pikes saw Gravity Industries founder and Chief Test Pilot Richard Browning fly from the valley bottom to a simulated casualty site on The Band, near Bowfell – a 2,950ft peak in one of the UK’s biggest national parks.

Air Ambulance successfully trial the Gravity suit in the Lake District

Andy Mawson, director of operations and paramedic at GNAAS, identified the Lakes as a possible location for a Jet Suit paramedic after hearing of Mr. Browning’s work and then studying the charity’s own call-out data. Mr. Mawson said the exercise had demonstrated the huge potential of utilising Jet Suits to deliver critical care services.

He added: “In a time in healthcare when we are exhausted with COVID and its effects, it’s important to still push the boundaries. We think this technology could enable our team to reach some patients much quicker than ever before. In many cases this would ease the patient’s suffering. In some cases, it would save their lives.”

Ski mountain rescue: the suit in action

Using the suit, medics, or specialist mountaineering rescuers, could be flown directly to the site of an emergency, instead of having to walk up or down, or take the risk of flying in a chopper. While these types of flights are only for experimental purposes for the moment, the team hopes they could be a crucial part of a future mountain rescue.
Richard Browning added: “It was wonderful to be invited to explore the capabilities of the Gravity Jet Suit in an emergency response simulation and work alongside the team at GNAAS. We are just scratching the surface in terms of what is possible to achieve with our technology. Emergency response is one of the areas Gravity are actively pursuing, alongside launching a new commercial training location at the world-renowned Goodwood Estate.” Following this successful trial and the record-breaking times in terms of ascending the fell, GNAAS and Gravity Industries are now exploring the next steps in this collaboration.

Why the Jet Suit is a game-changer for ski mountain rescue

To anyone who has seen a mountain rescue helicopter approach a scene of crash and disaster, the great saving of valuable time that the Jet Suit could promise the whole skiing industry is more than apparent – we can’t wait to see the next iteration of this exciting ski mountain rescue technology.

Gravity Industries designs, builds and flies Jet Suits, “pioneering a new era of human flight” – it’s hard to argue with that!

The company was founded to challenge perceived boundaries in human aviation. Launched in March 2017, the business secured a raise: totalling $650,000 investment within the first two months from Tim & Adam Draper, Tim best known for his early investments in Baidu Inc., Tesla and Skype.

The company says that it’s true focus is the relentless evolution of the technology as well as bringing “this inspirational spectacle to live audiences all over the world in the form of the International Race Series and other performance events.”

As of this winter season, Gravity is allowing potential clients of the jet suit to fully experience it (tethered, though, just in case you get giddy!) over at Goodwood. Hey, if you can’t fly out to your favourite ski resort for the Coronavirus – why not fly –literally– with your body?

Proud of our ongoing partnership with Ski Club of Great Britain for 2020/21

Ski Lifts enjoys keeping company with the best organisations in the ski and snow communities, so it gives us great pleasure to continue being one ‘a part of the furniture’ at Ski Club of Great Britain!

For regular skiers, boarders and the chalet getaway crowd, the Ski Club of Great Britain is able to offer exclusive deals to members that save a lot of money in the long run, from ski hire, resort bookings, coaching and lessons – and even transfers with ourselves at Ski-Lifts.

Discover the best snow before the rest

One thing that’s guaranteed to keep you excited this season despite everything that’s going in this year, is the wonderful Snow Forecast service from Ski Club of GB. Members get access to an exclusive 10-day forecast in one easy place to check.

Including our team, Ski-Club has 22,000 members with over a century’s worth of a rich history in the mountains around the world.

Ski Club of Great Britain members are entitled to members-only discounts across the full Ski-Lifts range of transfers in every single location. Because Ski-Lifts don’t do discounts normally, being a member of Ski Club is of great benefit, as this will help you save on your transfers with us, thanks to this partnership.

A skiing discount for you

You can receive 20% off standard Ski Club membership today by using the code SKILIFTS20. Fill in the details on our membership page and find the perfect membership type just for you!

Our partnership

Ski Lifts continues its fantastic partnership with Ski Club – the membership organisation that gets better and better every year for its members.

Commercial Director, Simon Holmes said: “We are delighted to once again be a partner of Ski Club, a fantastic organisation for skiers and snowboarders, old and young. The plethora of benefits is truly incredible – the value they offer in boosting and saving money across all your ski experiences through the years with them, is simply unmatched.”

Ski Club of Great Britain Head of Member Services, Owen Chapman has said: “We are very excited to announce Ski Lifts as our Preferred Transfer Partner this coming season. Not only supporting our members in providing a great service to and from resort, Ski Lifts work very closely with our Freshtracks team to provide an excellence service for our holidaymakers. We are delighted for our long-standing partnership to continue to grow for many winters to come!”

Click to find out more about Ski Club of Great Britain and how it can benefit you.

Morzine’s snowing early in 2020

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Morzine has snow already for the 2020/21 season!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Like most during 2020, we’ve been turning our attention to the Morzine snow forecast to help keep our spirits up! In the meantime, don’t be scared and make your <a title=”Geneva to Morzine transfer booking just in case – as all of our transfers are protected by the Lifts.To Covid-19 Guarantee.

So for all the self-confessed obsessives and powder hounds out there, we thought it may also quietly cheer up your 2020, to report that Morzine has had its first bit of snow as of Friday 28th September. The snow wasn’t much, but was enough to raise a few cheers around the offices, at a 9cm depth settling upon rooftops in town, and more on the way – with the next Morzine 2020 snow forecast to be this Saturday 3rd October at a depth of 26cm, according to Snow Forecast.

We love checking out Ski-Club’s snow reports as many of our readers do too – so far, nothing on the pistes at the time of writing. However, we have roughly 1 metre of snow to fall over the next 6 days – which is exciting![/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19346″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1601312042986{margin-bottom: 15px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”17999″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.ski-lifts.com/transfers/morzine”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

What kind of snow is ideal in Morzine?

Out of the 22 different types of skiing snow (!) you’ll experience as a skier or snowboarder, the best snow forecast that you can hope for is for consistent, long and low humidity snowfall which ideally has been subject to the least amount of temperature variation, and doesn’t warm up too much during the day.

It’s the same snow that’s ideal in every kind of ski resort: either fresh snow, or fresh powder! It’s true – there’s nothing else like it. This is what skiers and snowboarders love to live for. For others, the fresh snow once the grooms have been out is the norm. Nevertheless – the more you ski, the more you’ll need the good stuff. If not, you’ll likely be aware that everyone has a snow aficionado in their group who will give you their snow analysis for the day – and especially the hardcore ones who are up at the crack of dawn and make their own way, usually further up than the madding crowd, to cut tracks before anyone else.

After this point – you’ll usually get packed powder, which is still fun (and hopefully it’s not hard-packed or icy). But once you’ve had a hit of fresh snow or fresh powder, you’ll quickly need another fix of it…

Itching for the slopes? Be sure and book your transfer to Morzine today in full confidence, with Ski-Lifts. [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”18020″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.ski-lifts.com/transfers/morzine/”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Book Transfers Without Doubt: Our Covid-19 Refunds Guarantee

Book without doubt – our Covid-19 Refunds Guarantee

Book transfers without a doubt, thanks to our new customer protection initiative – which means you may as well book just in case. We are proud to announce our Hassle-Free Covid-19 Guarantee across the entire Lifts To group, which of course includes Ski-Lifts.

Refunds for ski transfers

Not leaving you out of pocket

The Hassle-Free Guarantee is an initiative designed to assure and protect all customers and clients who are unsure as to booking their ski transfers this year, who are worrying about losing out if their local authorities announce any forms of restrictive travel curfews, bans, or full border restrictions.

We’re ensuring our customers can receive refunds when they inform us in 7 days or more of their cancellation – for any Coronavirus-related restriction which denies you of your right to access or entry.

For some customers, this means having to cancel before they’re due to go on holiday or indeed, they may even be forced to stay out longer and cannot come home due to a denial of entry or exit because of Covid-19 rules changes – these are extreme and rare cases where people must stay in their resorts for longer. For these, we would note that customers are welcome to re-arrange their transfer times by contacting us if they are pushed to complete a quarantine period away from home where they may have to stay away for 14 more days than originally planned.

Here at Ski-Lifts, we want to assure you that our no quibble 7 day refunds policy is based on our teams working extraordinarily hard with suppliers and our understanding of travel rules being announced, no matter where you are: whether you’re in France, taking a ski break in Italy, Austria, Germany, skiing in Andorra, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Bulgaria — or even further afield.

By reducing the stress time down to 7 days, we are ensuring you have a decent window before which to get your money back, defer your transfer to a more suitable or unrestricted travel date, or even change your plans if you need to.

You can find the terms and conditions here on our main group site, on the Lifts To Coronavirus Travel Advice page.

Helpful Coronavirus ski travel guides for the 2020/21 ski season

The Ski-Lifts team are working as normal – aside from organising operations as usual and catering to the customers who are making the most of the current “free for all” skiing locations such as Italy and Germany! – we are putting together a number of guides for all of our customers old and new, our clients, and we continue to monitor and enhance our cleaning and hygiene protocol across all vehicles and throughout the supply chain at Ski-Lifts. Simply bookmark our Coronavirus Ski Support posts, or keep checking back to our Guide pages every day for the latest, and always ensure you are looking at your local authority’s travel guidance and updates, as these may change on a daily basis.

You can book your ski transfers risk-free today, in full confidence, with Ski-Lifts.

Where in the world can I go skiing during the Coronavirus pandemic?

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Due to the ongoing disruption to travel as a result of COVID 19 this blog has been suspended. Last updated 22nd Dec 2020.

Where in the world can I go skiing

during the Coronavirus pandemic?

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Go skiing – Coronavirus? It feels stranger this year to be going through the usual resorts for the season – how can we know where we can go skiing during the Coronavirus pandemic? Keep reading. Bookmark this page for the latest Coronavirus ski travel news.

It really does seem like the anvil of another global roll-out of lockdowns against movement and freedom of travel is about to fall off the cliff edge again. In some countries this has already taken place and they continue to weather their “second wave”. In light of the changes, we will keep updating this list for people who might be looking to go skiing during the Coronavirus pandemic and where in the world is open for your season and snow holiday getaways.

It should also be noted however, for any resorts that your home country deems is within a “non-essential travel” destination (should your reasons for travel not be based on home residency needs, repatriation or key-worker status) – will largely not be insurable by yourself or your tour operator, so always check first. Also note that some travel insurance companies will not insureIyou if you are travelling against your home authority’s advice. if your insurer cannot help you, get advice from a broker who might be able to.

Go Skiing – Coronavirus?

You should also note carefully that your country of origin may still require you to either self-isolate or quarantine on your return. Please always check with your local government or national travel authority for the latest. You can also check the Travel Aware measures tips from UK Government as these are generally useful ideas for all travellers. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Places to go skiing during the Coronavirus pandemic

without a quarantine on arrival:

Sweden

Italy is currently under Emergency Decree with most resorts closed.

(However if you find an open area, fill out a self-declaration form and have proof of a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours before arrival in Italy.)

Andorra

(Travellers may be random/spot-tested if suspected of having symptoms on arrival. UK travellers are advised to self isolate on return.)

Places to go skiing

where you must quarantine or self-isolate on arrival:

France*

(UK travellers may need to self-isolate for 10vdays on return from France)

Switzerland

(UK travellers will be subject to 10 day quarantine upon entry to CH, and will need to isolate f on their return)

Germany

(High Risk UK travellers will be subject to 14 day quarantine upon entry to DE.)

Liechtenstein (border management by Switzerland)

(UK travellers will be subject to 10 day quarantine upon entry to LI, and will need to isolate on their return)

Norway

(All international travellers will need to quarantine for 10 days or more upon entry to NO, and UK travellers must self-isolate on their return)

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Poland

(UK travellers are not currently known to need to necessarily self-isolate upon their return from Poland unless told by Home Borders to do so)

Serbia

(UK travellers will also need to self-isolate for 14 days on return from Serbia)

Slovakia

(UK travellers will also need to self-isolate for 14 days on return from Slovakia)

Greenland

Faroe Islands

Denmark

Iceland

(You will need to pay for a test OR quarantine for 14 days. UK travellers will also need to self-isolate for 14 days on return from Iceland)

Finland

(Quaratine for 14 days – if you’re eligible to enter at all. UK travellers will also need to self-isolate for 14 days on return from Finland)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]These countries, so far, have the most liberal borders policies for skiers and snowboarders, with the lowest levels of quarantine restrictions in place for arrivals.

Some Foreign Nationals will not need to quarantine at all for the above list of countries. We will update this daily, but please first check with your own country’s guidelines which may restrict your movement or your ability to travel, and for any entry requirements on arrival. It is important to check befor eyou go skiing, Coronavirus measures that update daily mean these places may have their own lists for certain countries and nationals.

Some nationals and locations will automatically mean being asked to quarantine first, or some may simply be refused entry on this basi. So it is important to stay alert and even set up travel news alerts on your phone.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]If you are a foreign national and are able to spare the weeks, plus you’re happy to quarantine on your arrival, or your return (and potentially both)… then these countries are open for you to go skiing in:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Where else could I go to ski in 2020?

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USA (1)

Slovenia

Latvia

Estonia

Morocco**

Bulgaria #

South Africa (2)

Australia

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]*France = Arrival is also subject to your prior self-certification of good health and French entry requirements.

**Morocco = Arrival is subject to your prior self-certification of good health, proof of a negative PCR test, and potentially an additional spot-test on arrival with a private clinic. British nationals residing in Morocco, and their families, are exempt.

#Bulgaria = Reachable but NB that some major roads are completely closed

(1) USA = Open domestically, except to those who have been in the following places 14 days prior or more to arrival: UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, China.

(2) South Africa = proof of a negative test taken within the last 72 hours which incudes travel time. UK not allowed unless staying for 3 months+[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Where is closed for skiing?

New Zealand – Closed

Canada – Closed, except for Canada nationals and those exempt

Again, everything is subject to change, so bookmark this page and keep checking back in case this list empties, which is what we’re all hoping for. Remember, authorities in the country or area that you are going to are responsible for setting and enforcing rules for entry. To quell any confusion, make sure you contact the embassy, high commission or consulate of the place you’d like to visit to get the most up to date information, and ensure that your desired departure flights or ships are available and permitted.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”18018″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://ski-lifts.com”][vc_column_text]

A Covid-19 Support Guarantee with every ski transfer booked with us

Ski Lifts has introduced its company-wide Hassle-free Covid-19 Guarantee from LiftsTo.

For holiday-makers and consumers booking direct with us, this gives you up to 16:00 CET the day before travel to cancel with no penalty if you are affected by Government-driven travel restrictions. Please see full terms and conditions here.

Our airport transfer + vehicle safety measures

In our incredible network of local transfer operators, drivers, chauffeurs and concierge – we have worked together to agree to maintaining the most practical and hygienic ways we can keep you safe:

Up to 7 people per shared vehicle. Private: up to 6 people (in a carriage for 8) maximum, and up to 8 people (in a carriage for 10) maximum.
Enhanced daily cleaning and airing of ski transfer vehicles inside and out
Drivers are isolated which means passengers won’t be able to take the adjoining seat
See this page for our airport transfer and train station transfer cleaning protocol to help you travel safely and with peace of mind.

Other tips and ideas

You may have also seen that The Telegraph did a fantastic piece a few weeks ago on weekend snow + ski getaway ideas, which is worth checking back to if you’re able to go flight hopping across Europe over the coming weeks.

If not, that’s OK – we have still put the above guide together to show you where (currently – we’ll update it every day that we can) you can go skiing during the Coronavirus pandemic.

To make your booking, just use our free, no-obligation ski transfer quote generator, to discover a range of the cheapest season prices to suit you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]