Italian ski resorts, faced with rising costs and declining subsidies, have warned skiiers: If your insurance doesn't cover your rescue, you'll have to pay for it.
The warning covers resorts in a number of areas in the Alto Adige, Trentino and Val d'Aosta, where the costs of maintaining snowmobile, toboggan and sometimes helicopter rescue services come at a time when austerity has reduced financial contributions from regional authorities, which used to finance all that equipment.
In turn, local operators have complained that the availability of the highly-trained rescue teams has sometimes led to abuse by skiiers who have had too much to drink or taken too much risk. The charges range from €100-200, depending on area. One ski-area operator told the newspaper La Repubblica that "Having rescue services which you have to pay for discourages abuse."
In the Valle d'Aosta region, which is just implementing its €200 fee, the rescue services aid around 3500 skiiers a year, many of whom are covered by insurance. For more details, see thelocal.it HERE
Photo: Rescue helicopter, Lusia region of Italy. Wikimedia, photographer unknown.
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