Coronavirus and Skiing

[MarzNC]

Hey, you “just have to quarantine”!

Sure, you CAN still come, but the quarantine requirements (on both ends) are an effective ban for most. You are right, you can’t spin that away.

Having travel restrictions for both VT and NY certainly makes it completely silly for a NY resident to drive to VT for skiing.

I wonder how many people in CT or MA think it's worth quarantining at home for 7 or 14 days before going on their usual ski resort vacation in VT.

The Killington Winter Ops webpage has quite a few topics that are unique to COVID-19 and being in VT. Parking reservations, out-of-state visitor requirements, face coverings, "treat your car like a base" are the most obvious just from the headings.

 

[MarzNC]

For me, sad as it is, as things stand I’m not sure I see myself skiing out of state this season. Too many hoops to jump thru to stay on the up and up. While I may be working from home (easier to quarantine), even if I were inclined to bend the “rules” (which I’m not saying I am), my wife isn’t, and she works in a public school. She can’t afford quarantine. She’s also concerned (as she should be) that if the kids or I don’t all comply, and one of us gets sick, and she spreads COVID to her school and causes any kind of shut down....it will reflect badly on her. I have to respect that.

My friend who lives in PA isn't restricted from driving to NY. So she intends to ski in NY a bit this season, but isn't going to bother with VT/NH/ME. Originally she was thinking about meeting up with friends to ski in Maine. They were curious to check out Saddleback. But that will have to wait.

I'm too far away for skiing in NY/New England to be worth the effort. If NM keeps their travel restrictions, I'll change my plans for early Feb. There are work arounds, but I don't feel right using them. Felt odd enough being in Lake Placid in early July right after the NY travel rules were started. But my friends and I were in the middle of the trip when the news broke. That was before the online NY Travel Form was created. So we stuck the the plan, which was always to stay very close to the house on a private lake and not do any indoor activities. But I was still relieved when we crossed the state line on the way home at the end of that week. It was like when you see the highway patrol car you are staying behind on the Interstate gest off at an exit.

 

[Brownski]

Yeah, even if I was working from home2-4 weeks of strict quarantine would be onerous

 

[MarzNC]

Interesting, looking at the Stowe and Mount Snow homepages you would have any idea that VT has travel restrictions. Very different from Killington or Sugarbush. Not that prominent for Stratton, but there is a section that clearly is related to COVID-19 on the homepage with the title "A New Way To Winter."

 

[idratherbskiing]

Interesting, looking at the Stowe and Mount Snow homepages you would have any idea that VT has travel restrictions. Very different from Killington or Sugarbush. Not that prominent for Stratton, but there is a section that clearly is related to COVID-19 on the homepage with the title "A New Way To Winter."

Epic vs ikon seems like ikon crew is just putting the info out there. Vail wants you to come spend Monyy and then you deal with the consequences

 

[Benny Profane]

It's probably a blessing that it's too warm to make snow. At this rate most hills may welcome a level playing field with a statewide shutdown.

 

[MarzNC]

Epic vs ikon seems like ikon crew is just putting the info out there. Vail wants you to come spend Monyy and then you deal with the consequences

Certainly a difference between Alterra and VR. But for the websites VR may be slower to make changes because the result has to be consistent. That's not how Alterra works from an IT standpoint.

 

[MarzNC]

Berkshire East and Catamount are doing something cool to provide safe indoor space. Learned about it on the Indy Pass FB page.

What can you expect from Catamount and Berkshire East this year?

A Letter from Jon Shaefer On Thursday, March 12, 2020, Berkshire East and Catamount became the first ski areas to shut down for COVID. Within 100 hours, most ski areas in the country had followed suit. The next 16 days were full of uncertainty, nervousness, and fear. At both mountains, we...

catamountski.com

". . .
A lot of effort is going into building 100 winter timber framed ‘cabanas’ that will fit a group of 6. These units are being manufactured at Catamount, using wood responsibly harvested from our Warfield House farm, and milled at Hall Tavern Farm in Charlemont. Fifty will end up at each mountain, respectively, providing up to an additional 300 extra seats at each space.

These units will have heat, a table and provide space for a family. We are still working on allocating these units to customers each day, but we will announce that process in the coming weeks. The lodges will operate per state guidelines at reduced capacity. Berkshire East will see the addition of new outdoor gathering spaces and patios that will be fun and very logical once you see it.
. . ."

 

[MarzNC]

Didn't know that the Schaefers are also involved in operating Hermitage for the new owners. I knew they were working at Bousquet.

 

[riverc0il]

Lodging businesses: State’s quarantine announcement sends wrong message - VTDigger

After a spate of cancellations, inns and B&Bs want the state to make clear that people can still visit Vermont.

vtdigger.org

From the article:

“Nobody is saying you can’t come to Vermont, even now,” said Tim Piper of Warren, president of the Vermont Inn and Bed and Breakfast Association. “But that’s the perception.”

Yes, absolutely yes. Vermont is saying, loud and clear, don't come to Vermont. How many people can satisfy the quarantine requirements? Who is going to take two weeks off from work just to ski one weekend? Or one week? And then maybe need to quarantine again when returning to their home state?

Even people working from home are going to have a hard time not leaving home at all (for any reason) for the required time frame. Second home owners and those that can take their work with them and work from VT are good to go. The rest of us have effectively been told to stay home. Vermont needs to own that. Stop being coy with a policy that either can't be followed or people with just lie about observing.

It isn't like this is a new policy. Most metro and suburban areas have been on the VT quarantine policy for quite a while. The only difference is it is now effective for all counties and all non-essential traffic, both coming and going.