Lifts shut down
Catskills resort says COVID-19 cases prevented ski patrollers from working
Hunter ski resort closed Tuesday as too many of its ski patrol staff called out of work due to the COVID -19 pandemic./
The Hunter Mountain ski resort in the Catskills was closed Tuesday because too many of its ski patrollers were out of work due to the COVID -19 pandemic, according to a Facebook post from the company.
“Unfortunately, this morning at Hunter Mountain, a number of ski patrollers excluded out of work relating to COVID -19 and as such we will not be opening the mountain,” read the statement. It went on to say “We will be assessing our ability to operate tomorrow, Jan. 6, and will share that information as soon as possible later today.”
According to several comments accompanying the post, skiers and snowboarders, who showed up hoping to enjoy a new 4-inch snowfall, waited outside until about 9:45 a.m. when company officials said they couldn’t open. Those who had purchased tickets online would get coupons good for another day.
It wasn’t known on Tuesday how many patrollers were confirmed to have COVID -19 or were instead worried about it or waiting for test results. Additionally, a number of online comments referenced a dispute between staff and management of the mountain centering on employee benefits that have changed over the years.
The Colorado-based Vail Resorts, which owns Hunter Mountain, could not immediately be reached for comment.
One of the resort’s live webcams, which provides a scanning panoramic view of the slope and lifts, showed the empty ski area, with chair lifts turned off.
Ski resorts across New York, the Northeast and nationally have been operating at reduced capacity in order to lower the risk of COVID transmission. Many have closed or severely limited how many people can
go inside their base lodges, and guests are being required to wear masks.
Additionally resorts are having employees fill out daily phone app health screenings. Ski areas can also curtail their food service, grooming and classes and still remain open.
But without enough patrollers to care for injured skiers or to unload a lift in the rare event that one stalls or breaks down, ski resorts cannot operate safely.
From that standpoint, the possibility of short staffing is more of a threat to continued operations than of spread among customers, who are mostly outdoors.
It wasn’t immediately known if any other resorts were closing due to such shortages.
The closest resorts to Hunter are Windham Mountain, which is about 20 minutes away, and Belleayre, about a half hour away. Both were still operating Tuesday.