Free offer: a ski resort of your own

An entire Alpine ski resort is being given away because of the cost of meeting health and safety regulations.

The Erner Galen ski resort in Switzerland, including more than 12 miles (20km) of slopes, three ski-lifts, a chairlift and several artificial snow machines and snow vehicles, is on offer to anyone who can keep it in business.

The sale was announced in a newspaper advertisement posted by Erner county, which owns the resort in the southern canton of Wallis. The advertisement, which said: “We are giving away a part of Wallis.”

Heinz Seiler, the spokesman for Erner Galen, said that there were no hidden costs and that the resort and its facilities were free of charge. “We are giving away the entire resort, including all the facilities and equipment such as the ski lifts and the snow vehicles. The community needs the resort to survive economically, but it cannot finance its operation.”

The potential new owners must fulfil two conditions: extend the contracts of the 12 employees and undertake to keep the resort in business, which would mean investing more than £600,000 on safety measures.