Winter sports travel insurance uses as snow fails to fall

5th January, 2007

Historically, mild temperatures have left many European skiing resorts with less snow than anticipated this winter. Therefore, skiers have been forced to claim on their winter sports travel insurance. France finished the year 2.9 degrees Celcius above their normal temperatures and the upshot for skiers is that snow cover has been hit at mid-altitude resorts.

Some ski resorts have turned to using artificial snow-making machines to keep pistes open. However, in the last few days as much as 20cm of snow has fallen in some parts of Austria and France, although it has been too little too late for some skiers.

When choosing skiing travel insurance, skiers are reminded not only to look for polices that provide medical and emergency cover, lost luggage and cancellation, but also protection if they are unable to ski due to piste or lift closure. An option worth considering is a winter sports travel insurance policy which provides cover for travel expenses to nearby resorts where skiing may be available.

Cover varies between each ski travel insurance policy but, generally, if one lift is running then "no snow" insurance would be invalidated. On average, skiing travel insurance companies provide around £30 for lost skiing, although some offer up to £50 a day.

Another area often forgotten by skiers and worth considering is insurance to cover damage to skis. Skier Catherine Fischl, who recently returned from the Alps, said: "Piste conditions in the alps over Christmas were seriously bad - plenty of rocks and ice which is bad news for skis. New pairs of skis can cost over £600 so scraping your skis on rocks can be a pretty expensive business. Unfortunately, only broken skis can be claimed for on winter sports travel insurance so the best plan when skiing on rocks would probably have been to rent skis in resorts rather than use your own."