Skiing spread coronavirus across Europe at the start of the pandemic. In Switzerland the slopes are full again

In 1875, in Airolo, Switzerland, grazier Giocondo Dotta strapped two planks of timber to his feet to reach cattle stranded by the snows of winter. Ever since, skiing has been at the centre of Swiss identity.

But this winter, more than 140 years later, skiing in the Alps has been declared by European leaders a folly of profound consequence.

After the hard-partying Austrian ski resort of Ischgl was named as a major source of infections during the first…