[Editor Note: There has a lot already written about the sudden shuttering of the ski industry with resorts closing all around the globe. Our good friend and colleague The Ski Diva has put all the news and its impact on resort, guests, employees and the like in clear perspective. We are posting the headline and initial paragraph of her article, “Skiing In The Time Of COVID-19”, here with a link to The Ski Diva’s site. Thanks to the Ski Diva for allowing us to publish this excellent summary of the situation as of the third week of March. Or CLICK HERE TO LINK TO THE ARTICLE ON SKI DIVA.COM.]
I worked as a ski instructor at Breckenridge last Saturday, unexpectedly the last day of skiing at Vail Resorts this year. Relevant to Covid-19, I am an physician and age 69.
At instructors’ morning meeting we discussed social distancing. The lift mazes were posted emphasizing social distancing, riding only with people from one’s own group, and instructors were authorized to ride alone.
None of this mattered. True social distancing on the ski lift was nearly impossible. And at the height of spring break, our clientele was voting with its feet. Despite purposeful slowing of the lift lines to accomodate social distancing, hardly anybody was in lift lines. The runs were nearly empty. People were getting it. It was obvious to everybody the resort should not be open. Kudos to Governor Polis for shutting it down, and kudos to Rob Katz for extending the shutdown to all VR resorts in North America.
Skiing is a joy. Let’s all try to live through this to enjoy it next year.
It seemed to be few skiers at CB also. They were only letting a few people at a time use the on hill bathrooms . Thank goodness that Vail took this very seriously as soon as they did. This made me realize how serious this was all.