J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

As long as your test certificates are equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate you should be fine.

As France and Italy are both in the Schengen area there are no systematic border controls https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area_en so it's very unlikely that you will be stopped at the border.

Fortunately, the driver was in the front car, which was only slightly derailed. The Villars - Bretaye section of the Bex–Villars–Bretaye railway is actually a metre gauge rack railway and not a funicular. The railcar that was swept off the track weighs over 25 tons so it must have been a fairly big avalanche.

It is expected that the section of track between the Col de Soud and the Col de Bretaye will remain closed until at least Sunday evening.

The Vaud public prosecutor has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the avalanche.

March 26th is a long way off, a lot could change by then. The rules will be updated on five separate dates in February https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Covid-19/Boosters-UK-travel-masks-February-dates-for-Covid-changes-in-France. When the rules change this page will be updated https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A15121?lang=en

andymol2 wrote:Certainly the attitude of the Italians was much more positive to wearing maskscompared to the UK where make up is deemed more important!

This is likely due to enforcement; the Italian police conduct regular checks, the results of which are reported in the Italian press. Between the 24 and 30 Jan. the police in the Aosta valley region checked 7,498 individuals and 414 businesses for compliance with the covid regulations, 3 people were fined for not having a 'Green Pass' and another 3 for not wearing masks.

During a check in the Plan Maison lift station above Cervinia on 30. Jan. the Carabinieri noticed that 4 Italian youths were not wearing masks, when challenged the youths kicked off big time. As well as being fined for not wearing masks they were also reported to the public prosecutor for insulting a public official and refusing to provide identification.

She can enter Italy providing she tests negative https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=italiano&id=5412&area=nuovoCoronavirus&menu=vuoto&tab=4 but once there she will need what the Italians call a 'Super Green Pass' to access accommodation restaurants and ski lifts. The "Super Green Pass" is certification of vaccination or recovery, if her 'Letter of recovery' meets the requirements for a EU Digital COVID certificate https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/safe-covid-19-vaccines-europeans/eu-digital-covid-certificate_en i.e. it has a QR code that can be read by the Italian covid certificate verification app then she should be fine, if not you might encounter issues.

andymol2 wrote:They are hot on mask wearing in queues and lifts. The masks have to be FFP2 rather than surgical or home made masks. Puzzling as this grade is a slightly higher grade of snot catcher/deflector but afik not significantly more protective, unlike FFP3 which is effective at protecting the wearer rather than others around them.

According to tests carried out by the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen a tight-fitting FFP2 mask provides up to 75 times more protection than to a well-fitting surgical mask.

Your welcome J2SkiNews! On Saturday the Austrian government decided to move back closing time by from 22:00 to 24:00 on 5 Feb.

If your wife wants to keep her current bindings she will need to find boots that are fitted with ISO
5355 alpine soles / sole plates, ISO 5355 is the standard that covers alpine ski boots. Some all mountain / piste ski boots are currently only supplied with Grip Walk sole plates, alpine sole plates are sold separately as spare parts which will add £25 – 35 to the price. All the ski equipment manufacturers are experiencing supply chain problems at the moment, so to avoid problems I would only buy boots that are supplied with alpine sole plates.