The winter season began on Saturday in Breuil-Cervinia, a renowned alpine resort in the north Italian Aosta Valley, with greater consideration of the anti-Covid rules. When skiers show a so-called green passport, which confirms that they have either been vaccinated, recovered from the coronavirus or tested negative. Skiers must wear masks on the ski lifts and keep their distance. The ski pass must be purchased online.

Controls were organized by the ski lift staff with the support of the temporary police and the carabinieri. In this first phase it is possible to ski on the Swiss side thanks to the connection to Zermatt and on the Plateau Rosa, that is a total of around 15 of the total of 340 kilometers of slopes.

Two hours after the opening, 620 ski passes had already been issued. Artificial snow is being made on the Italian side of the mountain. Next week it will be decided when the ski slopes will open. The territory controlled by Cervino SpA, which includes Valtournenche, Chamois and Torgnon, will remain open until May 1st, 2022. The past winter season was completely canceled due to the corona pandemic, which meant huge damage for the Italian mountain resorts.

The Italian government has granted the affected winter tourism businesses compensation.