Back to the future for skiers
Ski resorts are having to change way that they look at using their lodges
The upcoming winter sports season will likely have a distinctive back to the future feel, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage through the nation.
Skiers and snowboarders may find themselves booting up and even eating lunch in their cars rather than in crowded base lodges.
And they’ll probably take longer to get up the mountain as social distancing will spread out skiers on lift lines. Chairlifts designed for six people may carry just three at a time — the same with enclosed gondolas.
Other changes: The timehonored tradition of lone skiers calling out “single” when looking for someone to ride a chairlift with may be on hold this year. Ski resorts will likely encourage people to ride the lifts with people they already came with, who are presumably free of COVID-19.
Lots of skiers and boarders will also use their cold weather face masks on milder days since areas say they will require face coverings in the base areas or when riding lifts.
The most obvious changes, though, will be indoors as ski area operators are looking at space and crowd limitations in their restaurants, bars, restrooms and other facilities.
“We have to change the way that we look at the lodge,” said Chic Wilson, who operates the Willard Mountain ski area in this Washington County community north of Troy.
Wilson is looking at offering self-serve crock pots of chili and other winter favorites as way to speed food lines and accommodate the smaller indoor numbers.
And some of his patrons may be encouraged to warm up or
enjoy lunch in their cars if the lodge gets too crowded and if it’s too cold outside.
Willard Mountain is one of dozens of small, no-frills ski areas that are still found across upstate New York and are popular with local families as well as school groups and those learning to ski.
For decades, these areas have differentiated themselves from larger, increasingly corporatized resorts that offer highspeed lifts and lavish lodging facilities with fine dining options, spas and off-slope amenities. Small operators like Willard, though, have sometimes struggled, lacking the deep pockets that their larger counterparts enjoy.
Now, with the pandemic restrictions slowing everything down, Wilson expects to have a good season and he may even have some modest advantages over his larger competitors.
Willard is small enough, for instance, that it doesn’t need shuttle buses — which present a whole other social-distancing challenge for operators of larger resorts.
Nor does Wilson have a nursery – another profit center at larger resorts that will inevitably pose heavy logistical problems given the pandemic.
Still, Wilson says he will have to impose limits on some of his most popular offerings such as Little Colonels, a learn-toski program for children ages 4-7, in order to make social distancing manageable.
“We have to cut back the numbers somehow,” he said.
“It’s going to be kind of a throwback,” said Adam White, communications director for the Vermont Ski Areas Association.
Like those in New York and elsewhere, resorts in the Green Mountain state will be operating with social distancing, face mask requirements and probably lower capacity in mind.
Ticket sales are being impacted too, especially for the increasingly popular multi-resort passes.
A number of resorts in the region are now part of two national Coloradobased ski conglomerates.
Vail Resorts runs Hunter Mountain in New York as well as Mount Snow and Okemo in Vermont, to name a few. They offer the Epic pass, which is usable at the various resorts.
Alterra Mountain Co. operates Stratton Mountain in Vermont and their Ikon season pass will be also accepted at Windham Mountain in the Catskills this winter.
Both Vail and Alterra are making Covid-related changes in their Epic and Ikon pass deals.
Only Epic pass holders, for instance, will be able to ski prior to Dec. 8 when general tickets are on sale. Pass holders can make reservations to ensure they aren’t locked out by crowd limits on busy days and all tickets will be touchless — that is purchased on-line or through phone reservations.
For Ikon pass holders, users can, if they don’t ski or ride this season, defer
the purchase price toward a 2021-22 pass. If their resorts close early, pass holders will also get a pro-rated credit toward the next year.
Ikon pass holders, like Epic owners, also will get priority through reservations during busy periods. And instead of walk-up sales, they will be online or through some other reservation system.
New York’s Olympic Regional Development Authority, or ORDA, which runs the Whiteface, Gore and Belleayre areas, is offering similar deals for its season pass holders. Pass holders can get
full credits for their 202021 passes if they decide by Dec. 1 not to use them. They’ll also pro-rate passes for 2021-22 if they close before March 15.
Overall, ORDA will be running at half capacity in lodge, lift and other facilities. “We will continue to follow the New York State guidelines throughout the winter season at all venues,” said spokeswoman Elise Ruocco.
And like other areas, they are still working out logistical details.
Ski school lessons, for instance, may go out at staggered times, drop-off areas may be enlarged and
there is likely to be more outdoor seating.
Another change is the cessation, at least this year, of the competition to open first. In the East, those bragging rights have over the years bounced back and forth between Vermont’s Killington and Maine’s Sunday River areas, although Killington usually comes in earliest.
But this year, because the pandemic led to cancellation of the November women’s World Cup races at Killington, there is no push for early snowmaking. “The arms race is just not going to happen” White said.
But either way, White believes there will be plenty of skiers and riders at resorts, if the summer influx of hikers, bikers and others in Vermont, as well as the Adirondacks, is any indicator.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a shortage of riders and skiers this winter,” he said.
“Skiers and snowboarders are really resilient people,” Wilson said. “Everybody understands and accepts that things are going to be a little different this year.”
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