8 rules for skiing this season

As an activity in the COVID-19 era, skiing has a lot going for it — it’s outdoors, people naturally distance by spreading out all over a mountain, and they’re used to covering their faces. What’s tricky is everything around skiing: renting gear, waiting in lift lines, sharing gondolas and chairs, crowding at mid-mountain restaurants, socializing at après spots.

And so mountain resorts across North America are adjusting their operations to the new reality, from restricting the daily number of skiers and riders to modifying schedules. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for example, will load some lower-mountain lifts earlier so guests can spread out faster.

Naturally, skiers and riders are perplexed: What will the experience be like? If you decide to go for snow, here are a few tips to help you make the most of this unusual season.

THINK AHEAD

This winter, forget about impulse decisions to waltz in for a few runs: Many resorts won’t have walk-up ticket sales, and reservations will be key for almost everything from lifts to rental to lunch.

In Utah, the road to Alta and Snowbird will be closed to uphill traffic once the parking lots are full. Snowbird has online reservations for parking, and many January and February weekends are already full.

Among the big multimountain pass groups, Epic, which is run by Vail Resorts, is instituting a system that prioritizes its passholders.

“We’re confident that for the majority of days we’ll be able to accommodate everybody who wants to visit,” Johnna Muscente, the company’s director of communications, said in a telephone interview. “But we need to plan for every day: the busy holiday weekend, the powder day.”

The Epic portal acts as a clearinghouse to book days, though you should also check each resort’s website or app for targeted directives.

Ikon holders must also make advance reservations via the Ikon website. Some popular ski areas on that pass, such as Copper Mountain, in Colorado, and Killington,

in Vermont, are also implementing advance parking reservations along with controlled day lift sales, so make sure to get your ducks in a row before showing up at the mountain.

As for the Mountain Collective, it is instructing its pass holders to check with the resorts they are planning to visit. As the Ski Vermont trade group put it: “Know before you go.”

Similarly, check what your planned area’s policies are on distancing in lift lines and whether they will be loading the lifts in a way that lets skiers from different groups remain separate.

MAKE THE MOST OF NEWLY FLEXIBLE POLICIES

With several major airlines getting rid of change fees, many skiers are securing cheap flights, just in case. Similarly, you can book many accommodations with no-penalty cancellations that allow for last-minute pivots — a chain hotel might be more flexible than an Airbnb, but it might also feature more common areas where social distancing is harder.

It could also be a good time to join a ski club to alleviate planning headaches.