The offer of opened ski resorts operated by the TMR company currently includes Jasná – the biggest Slovak resort (9 pistes on the northern and southern side of Mt Chopok) and Štrbské Pleso (3 pistes) in the High Tatras. If the conditions don’t change, Tatranská Lomnica is going to open on Thursday 17th December as well. “Skiers can look forward to a continuous line from Čučoriedky across the pistes of Grand Slnečná and Javorová cesta to the lower station of the 6-seater chairlift in Tatranská Lomnica. There is 30-60 cm of artificial snow on the opened pistes, other runs are being prepared depending on the weather,” informed Lukáš Brodanský, the manager of the Vysoké Tatry resort. The cable cars and lifts in Tatranská Lomnica will be at disposal also for walking tourists who can travel to Skalnaté Pleso and Mt Lomnický štít.
In addition to packing their skis and luggage, from Monday 14th December, skiers and visitors of mountain resorts have to get tested for COVID-19 before they set out for the mountains. Negative tests must be presented when checking in at hotels as well as when travelling with cable cars and lifts when skiing or hiking. The test results are checked at hotel receptions when guests arrive and at ticket offices when clients buy ski passes and cableway tickets. Season passes and tickets purchased in advance are checked in individual resorts in cable car and lift boarding zones. If any client doesn’t show their negative result of an antigen or a RT-PCR test taken less than 72 hours before, their cableway ticket/ski pass will be blocked. “So far, skiers who have come have been responsible and the test has not been any problem for them. They have been very happy not only about perfect weather and snow conditions but mainly about the fact that they can finally be on the snow and ski. On the other hand, there have also been a lot of tourists who had to get by without cableways because they had forgotten about the tests. During the first two days with the new rules, the turnout in the resorts of Starý Smokovec and Tatranská Lomnica decreased considerably as a result,” informed Dušan Slavkovský, the general manager of the Vysoké Tatry mountain resort.
In order to avoid unnecessary complications and save time, the operators of mountain resorts recommend that all skiers and tourist get tested at their places of residence. “This would mean that once they arrive at the resort, they can focus only on skiing, hiking or whatever they do. If any clients stay in the High Tatras or in Jasná for more than 72 hours, there are several testing sites with sufficient capacity at disposal in the regions. Their list is available on our websites and the websites of the respective regional tourism organisations in Liptov (visitliptov.sk), in the High Tatras (regiontatry.sk) and in Horehronie (horehronie.sk),” explained Igor Mráz, the general manager of TMR resorts in Liptov. The obligation to present a negative result of an antigen or a RT-PCR test taken less than 72 hours before doesn’t apply to kids under 10 years.
In addition to the negative COVID-19 test obligation, there are more rules and precautions that must be respected in ski resorts such as safe distances, mouth and nose covering when travelling with cable cars and ski lifts, only 1 passenger or members of the same household allowed in one cable car, regular disinfection of objects and facilities.
