Is coronavirus changing your ski plans?

[skibum4ever]

I had 3 more VRBO rentals at Keystone. I reached out to the 3 parties this evening and offered them full refunds. This may not be a VRBO policy, but it's my policy for this crisis.

Unfortunately I probably won't get a refund on my China trip scheduled for October.

 

[mustski]

@mustski Are you on you way yet? Please drop a line to let us know you got home safely!!!

We are at the airport in Geneva beginning what will be an insanely long flight home. Our flight was cancelled- no one told us! I discovered it by accident yesterday. In the name of “social distancing” Lufthansa cancelled a bunch of flights and are jamming us like sardines into one plane! We are now travelling via Chicago and will be in route fir 23 hrs! Other than that - all is well. France ordered club med to close so everyone arriving for their vacation today will be told, sorry we are closed. Go home.

 

[SkiBabyMD]

We are now travelling via Chicago and will be in route fir 23 hrs! Other than that - all is well. France ordered club med to close so everyone arriving for their vacation today will be told, sorry we are closed. Go home.

Hope you don't experience this:
https://www.insider.com/crowds-travelers-pack-us-airports-trump-coronavirus-travel-ban-2020-3

 

[sibhusky]

Apparently we need to stay away from everyone.

CNN: Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/health/coronavirus-asymptomatic-spread/index.html

 

[sibhusky]

Two more in Montana, both in Missoula. Woman in her 30's, man in his 50's.

It turns out I used to know the guy. He was a ski team parent when my daughter was racing.

 

[SkiBabyMD]

Apparently we need to stay away from everyone.

CNN: Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized.
l

From the recent cruise ship data, 328 out of 697 people don't have symptoms despite testing positive.

At this point, I assume everyone is infected. Social distancing is key.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

 

[marzNC]

Apparently we need to stay away from everyone.

CNN: Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/health/coronavirus-asymptomatic-spread/index.html

Yep, federal officials were not helping for a while and have probably contributed to community spread in multiple states and cities. WHO and other sources were clear in January that the contagious period for COVID-19 starts before symptoms and can last for several days. That's much longer than seasonal flu or a cold. The importance of "social distancing" and hand washing is to stay away from EVERYONE and avoid picking up the virus from a surface to getting it into your body, because it's impossible to know who is infected and who isn't. That's why gatherings with hundreds and thousands of people are a really bad idea.

A death when there hasn't been much testing means COVID-19 has probably been around that local area for 2-4 weeks. If the patient didn't go for treatment until too late, think about what that means for the days or weeks before they went to the hospital with moderate or severe symptoms. All the early deaths in Italy . . . meant COVID-19 had been around for a while. Same for the deaths in the U.S. such as reported recently in Colorado.

Everyone has to do their part to FLATTEN THE CURVE. The basic ideas are not that hard. Not just for a few days, but for a few weeks or more. This pandemic will end eventually. As did the pandemics of 1918, 1957, and 1968. The question is how many people will die before the number of new cases (detected and undetected) levels out. So far in 3-4 months, the total is almost 1500 in Italy and still climbing exponentially. Italy has a lot fewer people than the U.S. I hope the American case fatality rate doesn't end up in the same ballpark.

https://www.flattenthecurve.com

 

[mustski]

Hope you don't experience this:
https://www.insider.com/crowds-travelers-pack-us-airports-trump-coronavirus-travel-ban-2020-3

I am sure we will. You can blame the airlines for that. They cancelled all flights going to the west coast and are routing us all through O’Hare. LAX is approved as a screening airport so there is no reason for it at all. They just want to jam their blights full and save money. It will add 6 hours to our travel time.

 

[Abbi]

Apparently we need to stay away from everyone.

CNN: Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/health/coronavirus-asymptomatic-spread/index.html

That is the truly frightening part.

 

[nopoleskier]

I am sure we will. You can blame the airlines for that. They cancelled all flights going to the west coast and are routing us all through O’Hare. LAX is approved as a screening airport so there is no reason for it at all. They just want to jam their blights full and save money. It will add 6 hours to our travel time.

Hope you get back to USA and are fine..
Worse case rent a car, sanitize it and take a leisurely drive home thru America.

Safe Travels Pat & Bob, I'm thinking of you a lot.

 

[lisamamot]

I just popped over this morning to Sunday River to grab things out of the locker so I can continue to skin.

Some people were booting up at vehicles, but I could hear a lot of people up in the lodge too. Parking lot was much less full than usual at the time so some are definitely staying home, but I expect even if Boyne doesn’t follow suit and close, it will become quite difficult to social distance and lift serve.

I expect my last lift serve day for this season is behind me.

 

[newboots]

We are at the airport in Geneva beginning what will be an insanely long flight home. Our flight was cancelled- no one told us! I discovered it by accident yesterday. In the name of “social distancing” Lufthansa cancelled a bunch of flights and are jamming us like sardines into one plane! We are now travelling via Chicago and will be in route fir 23 hrs! Other than that - all is well. France ordered club med to close so everyone arriving for their vacation today will be told, sorry we are closed. Go home.

Apparently the O’Hare debacle is a hastily-organized screening operation that isn’t going well. Big crowds of people waiting to get through customs and medical screening.

So sorry you will be part of this!

 

[MissySki]

I just popped over this morning to Sunday River to grab things out of the locker so I can continue to skin.

Some people were booting up at vehicles, but I could hear a lot of people up in the lodge too. Parking lot was much less full than usual at the time so some are definitely staying home, but I expect even if Boyne doesn’t follow suit and close, it will become quite difficult to social distance and lift serve.

I expect my last lift serve day for this season is behind me.

You can’t socially distance at Barker today that I can tell, even though Sunday River has to “ride with your party” on the website. Singles lines still setup??

 

[Liquid Yellow]

My holiday to Val d'Isere next Sat is cancelled. Gutted.

Sad for all the resorts in the Alps and I feel sorry for all the guests who arrived yesterday who have to go straight back home.

 

[newboots]

We Americans tend to focus on ourselves, but you remind us of the worldwide impact on skiing (and everything else).

Sad for all the resorts in the Alps and I feel sorry for all the guests who arrived yesterday who have to go straight back home.

 

[skibum4ever]

We are at the airport in Geneva beginning what will be an insanely long flight home. Our flight was cancelled- no one told us! I discovered it by accident yesterday. In the name of “social distancing” Lufthansa cancelled a bunch of flights and are jamming us like sardines into one plane! We are now travelling via Chicago and will be in route fir 23 hrs! Other than that - all is well. France ordered club med to close so everyone arriving for their vacation today will be told, sorry we are closed. Go home.

We need a "don't like" option. Sorry you got caught up in this. Do your best not to freak out. And please keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Liquid Yellow]

We Americans tend to focus on ourselves, but you remind us of the worldwide impact on skiing (and everything else).

Several countries in Europe are now on lockdown, loads of big events in the UK are being cancelled. It's an unprecented, scary situation. Donald T has banned travel from all of Europe (including UK) to the US, flights are being cancelled all over the place. The travel industry is being brought to its knees.

Every resort in the Alps is closing or has closed. Imagine the millions lost and the businesses and livelihoods going under.

 

[Jilly]

I have ski buds that are stuck in Switzerland right now. Can't get any info from Air Canada about getting home. Everything closed....I'm sure that for 1 of guys it'll be his last trip. He was upset over some stuff last year, now this...

Our Florida training camp is still on, but a few of the ladies are looking at their health insurance and it's void because of this. Just wish the coach would cancel it.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I was supposed to drive to Killington/Pico this morning but thankfully I decided yesterday afternoon not to go. Not sure when they all decided to suspend operations but when I looked at websites yesterday afternoon they had not yet posted anything about not being open. Soooo happy I didn't drive 3 hours only to find everything in that area closed!

 

[contesstant]

Yes. I’m getting increasingly angry with the rhetoric that it’s “just” older people, “just” people with other health conditions, like somehow they’re not valuable? They don’t have robust lives and they’re not loved and valued and they don’t contribute in countless ways we can’t begin to quantify? Like people in this forum, like my mid70s parents who are pretty healthy in spite of some “underlying health concerns” and I’d like to have around for a good long time yet? Like the elders at my church who have been active in local social justice work their whole lives and have such rich histories and perspective to share? It’s a devastating blow.

This has been really upsetting to me, too. It's a really weird attitude to have--it's only taking out the elderly (??) Which, new evidence out of Italy seems to be showing that this, in fact, is NOT the case.

Received the email below from Powder Mountain (UT) this evening. They are relatively unique in North America because of their massive acreage and ticket cap, and the steps they describe make sense. That said, I think it's only a matter of a day or two before the governor of Utah takes the same steps as the governor of Colorado and orders all resorts to close.

Powder Mountain respects the serious nature of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the incredibly difficult decisions other resort operators have made over the last 24 hours.

Powder Mountain is unique in our operating strategy and part of our core values is maintaining plenty of open space for our guests to enjoy by capping daily visitation at 1,500 ticketed guests. We also place the health and well-being of our guests and team members above all else. To provide a much-needed outlet for people to get out and enjoy the beauty of our Wasatch Mountains during these stressful times, Powder Mountain is making the decision to continue to stay open for skiers and riders for the time being.

To provide the safest possible experience for our guests and team members, we will be modifying our operations and making some important requests from our guests in the following ways:

• Our cap will be lowered to 1,000 tickets per day to allow guests to load the lifts with their party and not be grouped with other guests.
• We will be suspending normal food service and indoor dining options.
• We will make limited canned, bottled and fountain beverages available and prepacked snack food items available for purchase.
• Lodges will be accessible for limited food and beverage purchases and restroom use only.
• Children's programs and Children's group lessons are suspended. Private Lessons will still be available on a limited basis.
• The Rental and Retail shops will have metered access to ensure they are not overcrowded. If guests are requested to wait outside, we ask that they maintain appropriate social separation and respect others personal space.
• We will continue enhanced cleaning procedures for indoor areas.
• Powder Country and Woody's World will remain closed and Lightning Ridge and Raintree snow cats will not operate due to the confined spaces in the buses and snow cats. Lightning Ridge and Raintree will remain open for hiking and skiing.
• We will be running shuttles between lodges but restricting the number of guests at one time to allow for safe separation, please respect personal spaces and be patient if wait times for shuttles are longer than expected.
• We are encouraging guests to tailgate and base out of their vehicles.
• If you have any signs or symptoms of Covid-19, please self-isolate and take the time you need to get well before you come ski or ride.
• Please maintain and respect social separation of at least 6 feet and show compassion to everyone at the resort during these difficult times as we all strive to find some enjoyment and stress relief in our mountain sanctuary.

I got this, too. I skied yesterday and was disappointed that Snowbasin's lodges were still a beehive of activity and food service. We brown bagged it and ate lunch outside, including my daughter, who was in her Devo group--they stayed on the chairs only (gondolas were closed anyway, but due to wind.) Her group sat inside and ate, but I had her sit with me outside. We did go in to use the bathroom, and again, I was rather unhappy with the business as usual inside the lodges. Gotta scrape the last pennies of food service $$ in is how it felt. I have no doubt they make scads and scads of money off of food.

That being said, I won't hesitate to brown bag a day at PowMow this week if it snows like the forecast is calling for. I'll eat in the car and yes, that place is so vast, I could go the entire day and see two people from a distance.