Ski-Ability: operational indications for inclusive ski resorts in the alpine area

This study investigates the subject of the accessibility and usability of ski areas within the sphere of the Ski-Ability project promoted by the Lombardy Regional Authority in the context of the Arge Alp Working Community and co-financed by the same body.

The study has been structured starting with the analysis of how accessibility is recognized and handled in traditional construction and urban spheres at international level (Universal Design), to then be developed and adapted to suit skiing contexts. The on-site investigations in the pilot areas selected by the regions involved in the Arge Alp Working Community have provided a meaningful overview of the operating conditions to which the various areas are subject, in terms of accessibility and usability (in some cases already consolidated, in others in the development phase), highlighting differences referable to the morphological characteristics of the sites and the degree of experience accrued over time.

The analysis conducted has made it possible, through a flow-chain, to define a methodology capable of supporting administrators in the integrated reading of the overall situation, the variables in play and the relative interdependences, with the aim of orienting systemic – and not episodic – interventions intended to allow an aware increase in the level of accessibility.