Ski Resort Response to COVID-19

[JimG.]

Pass sales may be up because many places have pass holder priority or pass holder require no reservations. Otherwise, lift tickets have to be purchased at least 2 days in advance to some places requiring up to two weeks in advance and online only!


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This!

Skiers who depend on day passes are going to have a tough time this coming season. A big reason the Indy pass is so popular.

 

[kingslug]

I like vails response...we still feel we will be able to accommodate EVERYONE who wants to ski...
ok...so they feel the reservation system will not affect numbers..we shall see.

 

[skiur]

In vt/nh, how many are requiring reservations? The only ones I’ve heard so far are Killington and Loon. Are there others?

If there are, fantastic. But if not, my point stands - there is a tremendous amount of anecdotal evidence that pass sales (in general) are through the roof, which reflects an overwhelming desire to get outdoors. I hope that the lack of facilities - and irrational fear of covid - will help keep the crowds at bay, but all in all I’m bracing myself for stupidly long line lift lines, and, consequently, less runs and less skiing.

Killington does not require reservation's to ski, only to park.

 

[urungus]

This!

Skiers who depend on day passes are going to have a tough time this coming season. A big reason the Indy pass is so popular.

From what I have seen, Indy Pass holders are treated more like day pass purchasers than season pass holders. For example, at Magic, no reservations are required for their own Season Pass holders, but (quoting from their site)

Indy Pass Holders are required to make a free reservation online on our website ticket page in advance as inventory will be limited, similar to ticket buyers. Once reserved, Indy Pass Holders can pick up their tickets at the outside season pass holder ticket window near lodge entrance on slope-side. Only arrive at Magic if you have a confirmed reservation online.

 

[machski]

In vt/nh, how many are requiring reservations? The only ones I’ve heard so far are Killington and Loon. Are there others?

If there are, fantastic. But if not, my point stands - there is a tremendous amount of anecdotal evidence that pass sales (in general) are through the roof, which reflects an overwhelming desire to get outdoors. I hope that the lack of facilities - and irrational fear of covid - will help keep the crowds at bay, but all in all I’m bracing myself for stupidly long line lift lines, and, consequently, less runs and less skiing.

Magic has stated they my use a reservation system but likely you can count the number of days on one hand, maybe a couple of fingers from the other hand.

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[NYDB]

Yup, my constant mask wearing self, who gets tested twice a week, is going to go back and forth to my property in VT weekly, as long as I pass the same health checks my patients have to to come into my office, and I feel well, and keep testing negative and/or have received a vaccine if/when it becomes available.

And I know for sure that I am by far not the only one planning on doing this, except most others won't be doing the same regular testing and/or health checks.

After working mainly non stop since this pandemic began in what is deemed a high risk to exposure profession, with neither myself nor any of my staff contracting COVID-19 to date. You really do learn that rigid adherence to the infection control protocols, does allow one to carry on with their lives in a fairly normal way, just in smaller cohorts of people you associate with directly in person, proper mask wearing protocols and hand hygiene, and some basic other things to minimize your exposure to the places you travel to.

Will I be bringing my weekend groceries from home instead of buying them on my way to VT? Yup. Short of an URGENT restroom stop, will I be stopping along the way? Nope. If myself or any of my other family members are at all feeling questionable, will we go to VT that weekend? No. As of now my kids are fully virtual school, so they're not being exposed to their peers at all. My wife is in the same profession as I am and adheres to the same rigid protocols I do at work, and has also been COVID Negative this entire time.

Take issue with what myself and my family do if you want. It's still a free country and you are entitled to your opinion. I feel fully confident about the safety of my plans for this Winter, based on what I have been living for the past 7+ months, and the last thing I would do is jeaprodise the safety of my 2nd home community if I at all felt I would reasonably be doing so.

People are more than welcome to feel scared about COVID-19. There certainly are specific demographics of the population who should be concerned about it. There certainly has been a plethora of fear in the reporting of COVID-19. If one takes the time to critically look at the information out there, and takes a serious, approach to their own risk mitigation protocols, and is in a low risk demographic, then one's risk of contracting it is very low.

Feel free to do what you want.

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That's alot of fancy words to say...fuck you imma do what I want. But I appreciate your honesty.

Most of my friends here on eastern LI have the same attitude.

I expect it won't be much of an issue until the VT hospitals start filling up.

 

[thebigo]

My wife works in the largest hospital in the nh seacoast. She was exposed eight days ago. She has tested negative four times, has no symptoms but she is staying home while I bring both our daughters to their birthday party tomorrow. The birthday party is a few friends at the local horse farm in our 4000 person, 50 sq mile town. She is getting called 1 - 2 times a day by nh dhhs, tracking her movements.

Do the right thing people, we need to get this shit behind us.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I like vails response...we still feel we will be able to accommodate EVERYONE who wants to ski...
ok...so they feel the reservation system will not affect numbers..we shall see.

If they're so certain, it begs the question of what is the point of their reservation system.

 

[ALLSKIING]

That's alot of fancy words to say...fuck you imma do what I want. But I appreciate your honesty.

Most of my friends here on eastern LI have the same attitude.

I expect it won't be much of an issue until the VT hospitals start filling up.

What town are you in on eastern LI?

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[drjeff]

I wonder if on some level the reservation system is a way to increase the potential for contact tracing, should there be a spreader event tied to a specific ski area on a specific day?

Much easier to start the task of contact tracing if you have a complete list of everyone who was there than if you're starting point is a media notification of "if you were at this ski resort on this day, please monitor yourself for symptoms and get tested, and not everyone who was there that day may see the notification

If they're so certain, it begs the question of what is the point of their reservation system.

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[slatham]

If they're so certain, it begs the question of what is the point of their reservation system.

1) If there is a chance you’ll need a reso system, better to start with one and get everyone familiar with it. If you end up not needing it it’s easy to stop requiring reservations. It would be much more difficult to try to impose a reservation system mid-ski season.
2) While it’s likely reservations will not be needed everyday, it is highly likely they will be over holidays. So you’ll need a system in place.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I wonder if on some level the reservation system is a way to increase the potential for contact tracing, should there be a spreader event tied to a specific ski area on a specific day?

That's an excellent point.

Though the cynical response is that as some here have suspected, the "reservation system" is hurting them financially, and they're trying to walk back fears that it could prevent you from skiing any given day.

 

[kingslug]

I would say the res system is definitely a good tracking system..

 

[1dog]

Tracking fits. Its all about Big Data. The more you have on an unsuspecting public the more control you have, the more $$ you can earn by selling it.
Many of these are good-willed efforts to keep people safe. Its almost unavoidable in most walks of life today. Whether Google ( as opposed to Duck Duck Go) or your transponder in your automobile, or your smart phone, 'they' can find out just about everything they want or need or desire.
Much of it for good, more than enough for nefarious purposes . . . and there is the loss of freedom, regardless of what we want to believe.

 

[tumbler]

I would say the res system is definitely a good tracking system..

Most resorts have RFID so resi system not needed, they can check who was scanned in and at what time.

 

[cdskier]

Didn't read this board much for a week...quite a lot of discussion while I was away I see!

I think it’s more interesting that somebody who stays home and takes all safety precautions in their home town and in Vermont is somehow “illegal” to come to Vermont when somebody from a green county who does not follow safety precautions and has large gatherings is “legal” to come to Vermont.

I've made this very argument in the past. You can have a person living in a "green" county that follows no rules about masks or social distancing, thinks the virus isn't real, travels to yellow and red counties for work or shopping or play every day, etc and VT thinks it is ok to welcome that person with open arms simply because they are lucky enough to live in a county that has low cases. Yet someone that lives in a red or yellow county and only leaves their home to go grocery shopping while wearing a mask and washing hands, etc is somehow "evil".

Those of you saying Vermont will crumble without tourism need to get over yourselves. Tourism accounts for 6-8% of the Vermont economy. What will be devastated is tourism dependent businesses and their employees.

...

When you have rules that make no sense, it fosters disrespect for the rules. People just go on with their lives.

There are a lot of businesses that aren't classified as "tourism" that would suffer as well as tourism has a ripple effect on many other industries. Real simple example...if people can't travel to 2nd homes in VT, then they use less electricity and propane or perhaps turn off their cable tv. So then the power, gas, telecom companies would see their numbers go down. That wouldn't be classified as "tourism", yet it is very much an impact and just one "non-tourism" example of a potential impact. And of course if a lot of the "tourism" dependent businesses in a town go out of business, then that town becomes less desirable as a second homeowner location. Then real estate values drop. There very much is a bigger impact than just looking at "tourism" revenue itself.

Your other point though I completely agree with. Vermonters that genuinely believe their overly complex and restrictive travel rules are the primary reason their cases are low are living in fantasy land. A lot of "high risk" people are still traveling to VT because they don't care about rules in the first place. If everyone was actually following VT's rules...VT would have had very few tourists there in the summer and fall. That wasn't the case at all from people I talked to up there. And I would bet that a sizeable chunk of tourists did not strictly follow VT's quarantine guidance. But VT'ers can continue to think their quarantine and travel rules are making a big difference if it makes them feel better...

 

[mister moose]

There are a lot of businesses that aren't classified as "tourism" that would suffer as well as tourism has a ripple effect on many other industries. Real simple example...if people can't travel to 2nd homes in VT, then they use less electricity and propane or perhaps turn off their cable tv. So then the power, gas, telecom companies would see their numbers go down. That wouldn't be classified as "tourism", yet it is very much an impact and just one "non-tourism" example of a potential impact. And of course if a lot of the "tourism" dependent businesses in a town go out of business, then that town becomes less desirable as a second homeowner location. Then real estate values drop. There very much is a bigger impact than just looking at "tourism" revenue itself.

Suffer vs [VT will] crumble or 'No way VT can survive' or devastated. Of course tourism affects many industries. It's just when you look at statewide numbers tourism isn't pivotal, like say in USVI.

Here's another thing to consider: With all the recent consolidation, lift ticket revenue this lean year is going out west to the conglomerates, not controlled locally in VT like it would have 20 years ago.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Suffer vs [VT will] crumble or 'No way VT can survive' or devastated. Of course tourism affects many industries. It's just when you look at statewide numbers tourism isn't pivotal, like say in USVI.

There's a lot you're not considering though. If we "banned" tourism in the state of Vermont, you'd lose a high percentage of your high tax second homes. You'd probably lose a lot of homeowners from other high tax environs like Stowe, etc.. There are just so many knock-on secondary & tertiary (and more) economic effects which I believe would be massive. When a restaurant closes, not only are the staff laid off, but every vendor loses a customer. Is it a big resto contract? Then the vendor lays off people too. More taxes lost. It sets off a negative cycle. It would certainly blow a hole in State of Vermont's budget. I guess it all depends on the subjective definition of "crumble". If you mean, people eating from garbage cans, then no. But if we mean it as serious economic impairment, then I'd say yes.

 

[mister moose]

There's a lot you're not considering though. If we "banned" tourism in the state of Vermont, you'd lose a high percentage of your high tax second homes. You'd probably lose a lot of homeowners from other high tax environs like Stowe, etc.

We're talking about loss of tourism for one season here, right?

 

[tnt1234]

That sums it up. Don't see how a day of skiing can get you infected or you can infect someone else..if..
Put your stuff on in the parking lot.
get on line
ski
repeat.
go home

Some Covid positive boner coughing on you on a chair lift ride?