Ski Resort Response to COVID-19

[Smellytele]

Can you do better, I wonder? Won’t everyone be doing this?

Going all small Indy ski areas and skinning this year.


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[Smellytele]

Mcdonald's serves a Big Mac at every store. They're a franchise.

Vail is also a franchise. I'd expect more standardization moving forward.

Common products, common training and consistency is pretty much the goal of "brands."

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Some sell McRibs and some don’t. Same with shamrock shakes.[emoji16]


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[deadheadskier]

Fair enough, but the regional differences between McDonald's are subtle. Vail is becoming a massive corporate entertainment entity. With that there will be multiple corporate policies and branding consistent across their portfolio. No different than say Marriott or Hilton etc.

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[JimG.]

Decision made...not getting an Epic pass.

Will pull trigger on NYS 3 in 1 soon; might consider a Platty pass too but deadline there is not until 10/15.

 

[EPB]

Fair enough, but the regional differences between McDonald's are subtle. Vail is becoming a massive corporate entertainment entity. With that there will be multiple corporate policies and branding consistent across their portfolio. No different than say Marriott or Hilton etc.

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St is the king of the nitty gritty details [emoji3166]... This was more or less my pre-COVID thesis for why the summit triple at Attitash was short-lived.

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[mister moose]

I'm not a lawyer but I understand these agreements aren't worth a whole lot practically speaking. Common conservative protocols are probably the best bet. I'd also expect Alterra's plan to look almost identical to Vail. Any material inconsistency between the two is a liability for whoever operates more liberally.

It's not just the resort lawyers, it's the insurance companies. They'll be paying any claims and they will have long lists of compliance items for the resort. As much liability as possible will get passed to the end user. Read a pass waiver lately?

 

[zoomzoom]

re: "the cdc quietly drops mandatory14-day quarantine after traveling"
seems the cdc no longer recommends that travelers quarantine after arriving in areas with high covid cases.

they do recommend following local restrictions while traveling.

"State, local, and territorial governments may have travel restrictions in place, including testing requirements, stay-at-home orders, and quarantine requirements upon arrival. Follow state, local, and territorial travel restrictions. For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state, territorial, tribal and local health department where you are, along your route, and where you are going. Prepare to be flexible during your trip as restrictions and policies may change during your travel. State, local, and territorial governments may have travel restrictions in place, including testing requirements, stay-at-home orders, and quarantine requirements upon arrival. Follow state, local, and territorial travel restrictions. For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state, territorial, tribal and local health department where you are, along your route, and where you are going. Prepare to be flexible during your trip as restrictions and policies may change during your travel."

am expecting a yuge mess this fall: with college students booted back home after failing to comply w/college rules, little tax revenue from skiers/riders, a complication for those trying sorting out seasonal flu from covid now that the cdc only will test symptomatic patients.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Got this email from ski.com.

They're basically pushing COVID19 as a once-in-a-lifetime "opportunity" to spend a winter living in ski country.

WORK FROM HOME, FROM THE MOUNTAINS
Every skier and rider has dreamed of spending at least one season at their favorite resort. Since many employers have implemented new WFH policies, this could be your chance to make your dreams come true. Ski.com has been working closely with select lodging suppliers to arrange for long-term lodging perfect for skiers and riders who want to work slopeside this winter. And whether your extended stay is two weeks or two months, we can also get you set up with the right ski pass, seasonal equipment rentals and anything else you need to WFH like a local.

Since you’re a skier or rider, we are confident you’ve dreamed of spending a season in ski country. With many schools and employers going remote, the time is now to book an extended stay at one of Ski.com’s world-class ski resorts. In addition to lodging ranging from one night to one ski season, our experts can find the perfect season pass, seasonal ski rentals, and whatever else you need to make your long-term rental feel like home.

 

[Edd]

re: "the cdc quietly drops mandatory14-day quarantine after traveling"
seems the cdc no longer recommends that travelers quarantine after arriving in areas with high covid cases.

they do recommend following local restrictions while traveling.

"State, local, and territorial governments may have travel restrictions in place, including testing requirements, stay-at-home orders, and quarantine requirements upon arrival. Follow state, local, and territorial travel restrictions. For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state, territorial, tribal and local health department where you are, along your route, and where you are going. Prepare to be flexible during your trip as restrictions and policies may change during your travel. State, local, and territorial governments may have travel restrictions in place, including testing requirements, stay-at-home orders, and quarantine requirements upon arrival. Follow state, local, and territorial travel restrictions. For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state, territorial, tribal and local health department where you are, along your route, and where you are going. Prepare to be flexible during your trip as restrictions and policies may change during your travel."

am expecting a yuge mess this fall: with college students booted back home after failing to comply w/college rules, little tax revenue from skiers/riders, a complication for those trying sorting out seasonal flu from covid now that the cdc only will test symptomatic patients.

Strikes me as total Trump bullshit.

 

[snoseek]

Pulled trigger yesterday on epic veteran. Was 506 after the discount code they sent earlier this summer to lure me back. I'm located in nh and within a reasonable day trip toall the new england places. I mostly ski midweek. I'm feeling fairly safe about my purchase. As long as things dont go bonkers over winter I'm hoping to get 60 plus days this winter. I may hedge with indy pass as well. Or just some saddleback days.

Honestly the more I read into vails plan the more I think it's a reasonable response. I would probably be more hesitant as a weekend skier for sure but at least some sorta plan is in place. You can bet other areas will follow or risk being an utter shtshow this winter

 

[Edd]

On Wildcats’s Instagram page, there’s a ton of whiny bitches. I could not stand dealing with these people. Mt Snow must be exponentially worse.

 

[snoseek]

Double post

 

[snoseek]

On Wildcats’s Instagram page, there’s a ton of whiny bitches. I could not stand dealing with these people. Mt Snow must be exponentially worse.

Well if enough people bail maybe it will be a good winter after all. Maybe mount snow will actually be skiable on a weekend if you can get in.

 

[mbedle]

Well if enough people bail maybe it will be a good winter after all. Maybe mount snow will actually be skiable on a weekend if you can get in.

YES, YES, YES..... It will be a blessing in disguise.

 

[icecoast1]

Well if enough people bail maybe it will be a good winter after all. Maybe mount snow will actually be skiable on a weekend if you can get in.

I doubt that, given its proximitely to major cities and increased traffic in recent years, one can only hope though

 

[Smellytele]

...

if you can get in.

 

[Newpylong]

On Wildcats’s Instagram page, there’s a ton of whiny bitches. I could not stand dealing with these people. Mt Snow must be exponentially worse.

#FirstWorldProblems

 

[drjeff]

Well if enough people bail maybe it will be a good winter after all. Maybe mount snow will actually be skiable on a weekend if you can get in.

I think that much of that will have to do with what they set their maximum number of reservations per day at. If it's a relatively low percentage, then even with the lift riding limitations, then it could be a good thing for those who have a reservation that day.

If it's close to whatever they feel "full capacity" is, then it could be very similar to the crowding that has certainly been present in increasing numbers the last few seasons

 

[deadheadskier]

It will be interesting to see how well built out Vail's IT systems are to manage this program. Wildcat stated on their FB page that you can't make reservations to multiple mountains. This was in response to someone asking if they could reserve Wildcat in the morning and Attitash in the afternoon. I've done that plan several times over the years. Start at Wildcat until their terrain gets skied off and head to Attitash in the afternoon. Or a more likely scenario is I show up to Wildcat, that quad goes on windhold after a couple of hours, so I head down to lower elevation Attitash where the lifts are all spinning.

I'm wondering if it's just policy to not allow multiple mountain reservations or if they will deactivate your pass for the day at all mountains except for the one you made a reservation at.

I'm also curious what happens when someone just shows up and walks straight to the lift. Will your pass be deactivated and then the lifty tells you you can't ride the lift? That could make for some very ugly conversations.

Vail better hope their IT systems are up to the task. In the very early days of the virus, I frequently used Hannaford's To Go service to buy groceries. On a few occasions, the system got overloaded with requests and the webpage would crash.

 

[MikeDeJ]

As a Mt snow regular skiing 40-50 times a year (at mt snow plus a few other vt areas) I am beginning to think about turning my Epic pass in and going IKON, waiting to see what IKON's (strattons) plan is. My wife and I hiked the mt snow in July (and a few more times)and stopped at the Bullwheel for a beer and lunch etc, we knew it would be limited. Masks required which is good. One premade wrap, canned beer no mixed drinks. One way in one way out, if you where on the deck and had to use bathroom it was outside around the building to the bathroom, go outside around the building again and back up. Stupid. Is some how it a health risk to make a mixed drink behind the plex, you have to open the beer or make a sandwich??? They had 5 employees on to do this more than anytime in the past?? I really dont care about any of that but I cant even image how restrictive this winter will be. I only stop for a beer when I ski every other day or so, so the bar does not really matter in the winter but really the whole summer ops was depressing.

The next day at Stratton I downhill mtn biked for the day felt safe on the lift and at base and had a real lunch at the base. Stratton did a great job distancing, making guests safe, employees safe and not making it feel like a prison. These are different times i get it, but there are ways to do things and still make them enjoyable.

I dont go in the lodge that much when i ski, I boot up in the car and go for it. But I will end up in the lodge at some point and want to feel safe and comfortable. I also never ski Saturdays. From what I have seen Stratton, IKON, has done a better handling this then Mt snow, at least for the summer. Vails letter was good but has me worried at the same time that they may overreact in some areas and not correct them based on science like for there summer ops and the fact they fell off the face of the earth for 3 months with no communication. I really worry about the ski season getting shut down but I feel what happens in the town is even more important than the area, that is where the we need to be really careful.

And trust me I will be happy and appreciative to ski anywhere in the middle of a pandemic. Just a quick opinion.