Ski resorts battle for survival in pandemic
Plattekill Mountain sold out its opening weekend, but faces financial strife due to COVID-19 restrictions.
With 38 trails, four lifts and 1,100 vertical feet, according to their website, the Roxbury ski center offers a family- owned ski and board ambiance with big-mountain terrain, but is faced with the plight of small business owners in 2020: how to stay open while following COVID-19 guidelines.
“I mean we have an outdoor activity, I mean this is the best thing you can do, it’s like playing golf and that’s the place to be, not cooped up in your living room,” Plattekill Mountain CEO Laszlo Vajtay said.
“What really adds fuel to the fire is perfect ski conditions and huge demand.
People want to get the heck out. They want to go out and recreate, they want to do things outside, and skiing is the perfect activity here in the Catskills,” he continued.
In the year of canceled sports, travel restrictions, unemployment and COVID-19 deaths coming af
ter a shortened 2019-20 ski season, New York skiers and riders breathed a sigh of relief at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Oct. 18 announcement allowing the 2020-21 season to proceed.
Some of the state-mandated requirements for all ski resorts per the state’s media release include wearing masks at all times except when eating or drinking; social distancing between parties that did not travel together, including riding gondolas and lifts with only members from the same party; reduced capacity on “peak” days or when limited terrain is available; ski lessons capped at 10 people; thorough cleaning and disinfection of rental equipment; and food, beverage and shuttle service adhering to state Department of Health guidelines.
Ski seasons, particularly East Coast ski seasons with unreliable weather, are generally short, and Plattekill is preparing for a 50% loss of revenue. Vajtay estimated its opening-day crowd was down nearly 75%.
Even with state-wide restrictions, the local Hunter and Windham mountains continue to draw huge
crowds causing skiiers and riders to seek alternatives.
This year, Windham Mountain joined the Ikon ski pass network, which offers unlimited skiing and riding at 15 destinations around the U.S., and limited access at 28 others in Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and Switzerland according to the Ikon website. The Ikon pass was introduced in 2018 by the Alterra Mountain Company as an alternative to Vail Resort’s Epic pass.
After joining last year, Hunter Mountain remains a member of the Epic pass. The Epic pass offers skiers and riders access to 36 US destinations, as well as resorts in Canada, Europe and Japan according to their website.
“We saw a huge run on season passes and daily lift tickets. We’re already seeing next week. We’re sold out for each day and we
have people begging, begging, to come skiing, but we have to hold them back,” Vajtay said.
Even with tickets in the near future sold out, Vajtay is still concerned. Off-season spending was significantly higher than normal in preparation for this season.
Vajtay said the mountain created a new outdoor food service area for grab-and-go lunch, installed plexiglass around outdoor seating, built new fire pits for warmth, increased cleaning services and built a new outdoor kiosk for contactless lift tickets, rental and ski school check-in.
Ski lessons also face new challenges this year. For now, Plattekill is not offering any group lessons and is only offering private, semiprivate and rent-an-instructor lessons.
“A lot of people that come to Plattekill come there just to ski,” snowsports director Roman Hrab said. “But parents do like to drop their kids off in ski school so they
can come ski.”
In addition to several instructors skipping the season due to health concerns instructors will have to focus on not being able to physically assists their students.
“We’re going to try and not pick up students and have them do it on their own and really show them how it’s done visually without any sort of physical assistance,” Hrab said. “Everybody’s going to have to play it smart and safe and just mask up.”
Even with all the challenges facing Plattekill this year its lifeline may have been thrown years ago, with the introduction of private mountain rentals. In a year when words like bubbles and cohorts are more commonplace than ever, there is an increased demand to ski without having to interact with people from different areas.
“The mountain rentals have been very popular because they’re limited to 250 people,” Vajtay said. “I think it will be a lifesaver.”
Any weekday except Friday, for $4,500, any group of friends, business, corporation or group can rent the entire mountain according to the Plattekill website. At this point, the mountain only has a handful of available dates left for private mountain rentals due to demand Vajtay said.
So far, people are doing their part to help keep this year’s ski season alive.
“We found that everybody is doing the right thing because they want to recreate and they don’t want to see this industry shut down, so everybody’s doing right thing although they may not agree with it,” Vajtay said. “We don’t want anyone feeling uncomfortable, or we don’t want anyone not to come because they feel it’s not being respected.”
Additional lift tickets may become available as the season progresses based on the number of tickets purchased and redeemed. For the most updated information on lift tickets, visit plattekill.com