This winter season, TravelSki have chartered a Eurostar train leaving London on Friday evening and arriving in transfer locations for ski resorts (Moutier and Bourg St Maurice) first thing Saturday morning. The ski train returns the following Saturday, giving you seven days to enjoy the slopes and an extra day compared to typical ski trips.
I wanted to understand the carbon footprint of travelling to a ski resort and see how much taking the train really makes a difference. Unsurprisingly, emissions are significantly lower when flying is swapped out for the train. However, you should account for the emissions from spending that extra day in the resort.
For me, the benefits outweigh the negatives of getting the ski train. Booking the holiday with the company was easy, and we received our tickets for the train along with all the trip documentation. Security and passport control was a quick process, and I was able to take two large bags with no weight limit, plus hand luggage.
Once we got onto the train, I spent a few hours working on my laptop before chatting and playing games with my friends. Working for a supportive company allowed me to choose the sustainable travel option, I was grateful that my company let me use the Friday afternoon to get the train down to London.
The downside of the ski train is sleeping arrangements. Experienced travellers had brought roll mats and were lying flat under their seats, whilst I opted for a broken night’s sleep leaning on a table. However, before we knew it, it was time to wake up and stare out the windows at the mountains. A full sleeper train would be a gamechanger here, but it would increase cost and reduce capacity.
We were sat eating breakfast in the ski resort before the lifts even opened on the Saturday. I’m willing to miss out on a little sleep in favour of low-carbon travel, low cost, and an extra day to snowboard. What do you think?
