A ski resort spread coronavirus across Europe. Austria and Switzerland are eager to reopen slopes anyway. - The Washington Post

BERLIN — Around eight months after a coronavirus outbreak at an Austrian ski resort infected thousands and contributed to the virus’s spread across Europe, the country once again appears poised to ignore warnings and is moving ahead with preparations to reopen slopes and lifts.

Visitors may have to do without boozy après-ski parties in the winter, but many ski resorts in Austria are operating under the assumption that they will reopen at some point in December, in defiance of pleas from many health experts and the leaders of the European Union’s three most populous nations.

In Switzerland, some resorts are already in the process of reopening.

Looming over the upcoming winter season is the coronavirus outbreak in the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl in February and March, which has been linked to more than 6,000 infections in almost 50 nations, at a time when many countries had yet to confirm their first cases.

But similar shutdowns would probably take a heavier toll in Austria and parts of Switzerland, whose economies are more dependent on the winter sports season.

In Austria, revenue from recreational winter sports is estimated to account for between 4 and 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

In Switzerland, the canton of Valais — a ski resort stronghold — echoed those reassurances.