Skiers on melted slopes rage at refund refusal despite 'no snow' guarantee
Disappointed skiers claim they've been refused 'no snow' refunds after arriving on melted slopes.
This winter has been a major wash out on a large number of Alpine mountains due to the unseasonably warm weather.
Half of the slopes in France are closed due to a lack of snow, with resorts in the northern Alps and French Pyrenees affected.
Ski resort Ax 3 Domaines was forced to temporarily close, while the likes of Le Gets and Morzine have only opened a limited number of runs.
TUI customers are enraged at the holiday firm, claiming that they have been refused refunds under the 'snow guarantee' for ski trips.
Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts
The situation in Leutasch, Austria (ZEITUNGSFOTO.AT/AFP via Getty Im)Crystal Ski, which is part of TUI, has a policy of securing alternative slopes for its clients if a resort is entirely closed.
The company is reportedly arguing that this does not apply to the Bulgarian resort of Borovets where four pistes are open.
George Gilfoyle and his friends spent £4,250 on a trip to Borovets and are now concerned they won't get any kind of refund, despite the slushy state of the resort, the Telegraph reports.
He reportedly wrote to the holiday firm: "You are sending us to a resort with 3.5km of 58km of runs open. Surely allow us to change our holiday to another time/destination."
Skiers due to be departing to the resort have been told their trips will go ahead, despite there being just one ski lift operating, Mail Online reported.
The Alps has endured an unseasonably warm winter (Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock)There are no intermediate or difficult runs open at all.
Customers have reportedly been told that if they cancel their bookings there is no guarantee they will get a refund.
"We are being forced to go to a resort with no snow," added Mr Gilfoyle.
Another customer, 36-year-old James Weston, claimed he paid £3,900 for a trip to the resort with four of his friends.
"They said we'd receive free amendments and a £50 compensation per person on the trip," he said.
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Issues on the slopes have affected resorts across Europe.
“The period immediately after Christmas was the warmest since 1997 in France”, with “exceptionally high” temperatures recorded, The Local France reported.
How Borovets generally looks in January (handout)Temperatures around 8C higher than the seasonal average has devastated many of the ski resorts at a lower altitude and made winter sports impossible.
Many skiers have filmed themselves standing on mud as ski lifts trundle overhead.
Austrian ski resorts in the Salzburg region have had no snow for at least a month, while parts of Switzerland are 20C warmer than usual.
After years of warning that temperatures in the resorts were creeping up and making skiing harder and harder, the start of 2023 seems to be the realisation of many people's worst fears.
As the level of carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions continue to increase and global temperatures rapidly rise, the situation is likely to get worse year-on-year.
A Crystal Ski spokesperson said: "“We're aware that resorts in Bulgaria aren't seeing the snow conditions we'd expect at this time of year.
"Both our teams on the ground and our suppliers have been closely monitoring the situation over the last few weeks to ensure our customers are updated as quickly as possible if the weather is going to impact their trip. Any customers impacted have been communicated with directly by the Crystal Ski Holidays team.
"For customers travelling to Bulgarian resorts this weekend, ski trips will be going ahead as planned as the weather is set to improve over the coming days, with snow forecast during the week and temperatures expected to drop which would allow the use of artificial snow making facilities.”
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