In which countries can you ski right now?

Find out about the status and restrictions for the most important ski & snowboard destinations below

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: We're trying our very best to keep up with the latest global travel restrictions. Our updates summarise changes reported by various sources, but with the ever-changing nature of the situation, please take this information as a guide only.

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COVID-19 Snow Travel News

All relevant news & facts about COVID-19 pandemic ski & snowboard travel in our blog

Please find here all relevant news & facts about the COVID-19 crisis. We will reguarly post updates to our booking terms and consitions and how we keep your money safe. We will also produce podcasts with our partners in the destinations or keep you otherwise informed about everything related to the pandemic. Stay safe and tuned.

25.08.2021

Covid Delta Variant Explained

How's it going vs How it started

Just when we thought we can finally catch a break and enjoy some overpriced expressos somewhere on Italy's Amalfi Coast, swellting under the summer sun, the Covid gods have other plans. Vaccines and all - the Delta variant is going viral as fast as those cute cat videos on Youtube catching travelers and operators off guard.

But what do we know - lets hand it over to the experts at Yale Medicine for the full rundown of what these mutations really do.

Read the full article here

17.08.2021

Current State of Travel

Disscussed and dissected by yours truly

Tim, our CEO and LUEX's Head of Sales Martin are discussing, dissecting and contemplating what the current state of traveling really is. Tune in to get the lowdown on everything there's to know if you wanna travel right now!

This episode is was filmed during a recent LUEX trip, visiting partners and operators in the Maldives. Having to jump through a few logistical hoops ourselves, we figured what better topic to discuss than the current state of travel.

This is the first of a two-episode series with a follow-up conversation on the future of traveling dropping soon.

09.08.2021

Canada is (slowly) relaxing its travel restrictions

Snow season 21 might not be cancelled afterall

Good news coming out of the Land of Maple Syrup! Canada is slowly relaxing its travel restrictions and opening international travel at selected airports.

As of today August 9th), American citizens and permanent residents currently living in the US are permitted to travel to Canada IF (AND ONLY IF) they have been fully vaccinated.

The folks from the Land of Free are permitted to land at the following airports on a trial basis before the Canadian government plans to open its borders to ALL vaccinated travelers on September 7.

  • Halifax Stanfield International Airport;
  • Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport;
  • Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport;
  • Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport; and
  • Edmonton International Airport.

Read the full article here

20.07.2021

What will traveling look like after the pandemic?

We all want to know

Granted, this is not a definite guide but a pretty good assembly of assumptions of what traveling could look like after this thing is done. When this will happen? No one really knows. Opinions vary on when traveling without masks, pcr tests and restrictions will be a thing of the past, but hey, it's never too early to start dreaming about it already.

The guys at Nation Geographic wrote a pretty nice piece on what traveling COULD look like in the not so distant future. It's a little bit on the US-biased side, but nevertheless, more sustainable traveling, longer roadtrips and more remote travels sound like pretty sweet options for the rest of the world too.

Read the full article here

Air travel during Covid-19

19.3.2021

Is Traveling Safe Again? What Really Happens on Air Travels

A Doctor Explains

If I was a gambling man, I'd put all my money on the claim that "is traveling safe again?" has to be one of the most asked questions of the last 12 months. Right up there with "do I have Covid-19?" and "How can I prevent Covid?" but that's for another day. Fact is, no other topic has divided the world quite like if traveling is safe during the pandemic. Opinions range from HELL YES to Hell NO, and everything in between.

While it's certainly not all black or white, the truth might surprise you. The MIT Medical Department has published an article that provides some great intel on what really happens if you decide to travel on a plane and what you can do to minimize the risks while collecting miles 35,000ft up in the air.

We think it's refreshing to get advice from an expert who works on the front line rather than the guy at the corner store or the yoga studio lady who knows a guy whose distant cousin is a doctor. Stay safe everyone!


Read what a medical professional has to say on air travel here

05.06.2020

Let's travel again - The LUEX Podcast Northern Escapes Heli Skiing

Corona travel updates with partners of LUEX and how the pandemic impacts traveling to their destinations:

My guests today are:

John Forrest - President and General Manager of Northern Escapes Heliski in BC, Canada
and Martin Jenner - Head of Sales at LUEX

View and listen to their first hand knowledge and insights:
00:00 Intro
01:03 John Forrest - President and General Manager of Northern Escapes Heliski
01:25 When and how Canada was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic
03:23 The New Remote Mountain Lodge and the Elite Package
04:40 Impact on Visa and Flights into Canada
05:14 Covid 19 Precautions at the lodges
06:25 Expects that boarders will open fairly soon
08:42 Flexible low risk booking terms
10:58 Impact of Covid-19 on the lodging, the heliski and catski program
13:33 John's questions to LUEX
16:00 Europe is opening up for travel
17:33 Heliskiing in British Columbia probably the safest trip possible
20:19 Outro

Please also check Northern Escapes Heli Skiing here: www.luex.com/snow/places/northern-escape-heli-skiing.html

13.05.2020

FAQ by travelers and suppliers

Here some of the questions we have been asked frequently in the last few weeks.

Traveler or Suppliers: How has LUEX changed its services for clients in the current situation?

Martin Jenner - Sales Expert at LUEX:

Ultimately the service we offer still remains the same, but obviously people are much more hesitant to book at the moment.

So we have focused our negotiations with partners not only on getting the best rates as normal but better cancelation and payment terms, as well as attractive options for rebooking and changing dates, should the situation continue.

There are actually some great deals to be had at the moment, as long as you are willing to accept some flexibility with the change of travel dates. For example, that your holiday dates could be changed within the next 18 months should the situation continue.

Traveler or Suppliers: I can imagine you have had many trips affected by this, how was that process?

Martin Jenner - Sales Expert at LUEX:

Well, yes - Our team has been overwhelmed with cases affected by Corona. We have managed to keep on top of it, but it was very daunting at the start.

We had to switch straight away into "Crisis Mode" and work towards getting the best deals possible for our clients and helping with any stranded customers. We had some clients stranded in the Maldives for example and figured out how they could stay until their new flight date.

We worked towards finding the best solutions possible for all bookings, starting with the ones traveling soonest and I'm proud to say we've managed to do really well.

Traveler or Suppliers: Do you have some preparations for the time after travel restrictions ease?

Martin Jenner - Sales Expert at LUEX:

We want to get back to normal as soon as possible, we are ready to help everyone get back in the water and the mountains as soon as they can!

The crisis won't be over as soon as travel restrictions ease, so we are looking to make everything as easy as possible from that time onwards and understand extra precautions may be needed.

Things like increased sanitation measures at resorts, social distancing, and testing of staff. The trips that offer these will be the ones that people are most comfortable booking when they can again, so we are encouraging these measures wherever we can.

07.04.2020

A word from the LUEX CEO

Hey Surfers, Snowboarders, Skiers, Travelers and Clients of LUEX!

Wow - the last three weeks have been a rough ride. Covid-19 and the potential impact on our lives, on tourism and our business LUEX has been on my mind for quite some time. But I have to admit – at first I wasn't too worried.

LUEX has withstood many crises over the years. Swine Flu in 2009, volcanic eruptions in Iceland in 2010, the tsunami in Sumatra in 2010, MERS in 2013, Ebola in 2014, Zika in 2016, and all of Bali's Mount Agung's periodic eruptions from 2017 to 2019. Thousands of LUEX's clients have been affected. We had clients that got sick, some that needed to save themselves by climbing trees, or got stuck for days/weeks on the way back home. Some were also "just" worried or concerned to travel.

But in the end, everything usually worked out fine. Some of it was definitely not fun, but our clients survived, most can look back with a smile, and a number have another good story to tell. I am very proud to say that we have always worked really well with our clients and that we have always found good solutions for even the toughest challenges along the way. In return our clients have rewarded us with many impeccable reviews of LUEX on Facebook, Trustpilot, Google and elsewhere. Whereas most of our competitors have disabled Facebook reviews, ours are purely in the excellent range. Check them out.

And then came Covid-19. Ah, just another one of those events - I thought. The first clients canceled their trips with us in early February. But even then, I was convinced that it would go away. By end of February, I started to be really concerned about my family, our clients, and the business. It was still so abstract though. I was enjoying the best powder and freeskiing in Austria and life was just too good. All friends around, and happy and healthy. You just couldn’t feel or touch this damn Corona virus. Giulia, one of our travel experts, managed to change my perspective rapidly. She is a globetrotter, but originally comes from Italy. Her mum is a doctor in the north of Italy - one of the most impacted places in the world - and shared insights about how the situation got more and more out of control.

"Let's stop saying it is just a flu". Well, that couldn't be more true. Tens of thousands of people have died by now, the world has been locked down, my sister, mother and father are infected and obviously pretty much all of our travelers have canceled their trips. Within a few days, everything turned upside down. Since then, we are in full crisis mode. How can we save the trips for our guests and rescue their money? How can we pay and keep our staff? What happens to LUEX? What happens to our families? I wouldn't be honest if I said I wasn't stressed and partly pessimistic at times.

However, some very special things happened. The vast majority of our clients are just amazing to work with. Even with a lot of money on the line, we have found a fair solution for everyone so far. We have given refunds wherever possible, value vouchers in other cases, and we have changed dates of travel with convenient conditions or found other individual solutions if needed. All this while keeping an eye on our valued suppliers and trying to keep the trips alive for them as well. Big hugs to all our clients and suppliers for the good work! But that's not all. I am so grateful for the LUEX team. They are the ones doing the magic. LUEX has hundreds of bookings affected, and they work relentlessly to find the best compromises for all. They just love surf and snow travel so much and are too passionate to fail. One of them told me, "Tim, we have something really special here. Let's turn it around and get out even stronger". That is heartbreaking and wonderful. A huge thanks to the team! You guys are awesome!

I am not concerned anymore. With this team, plus our amazing clients and great partners we have turned it around already. We are in a solid financial standing and additional funding is on the way. So, you damn Sars Cov 2 virus. Unless you keep raging for many years you won’t get us down!

And to all clients, please continue to contact us. We love to assist you and will be able to offer risk-free bookings and trips you will never forget!