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Active COVID outbreaks at ski resorts

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
It was bound to happen: New list of COVID outbreaks in Colorado includes Monarch Mountain (14 employees) plus small outbreaks Copper guest services, Steamboat ski school, Vail and Breckenridge lift operations, and Keystone ticket scanning. Go here.
 

rbkvail

Certified Ski Diva
I live in the Vail Valley and ski at Vail almost every day. They are still trying to put you in gondola with unrelated parties. Every day we say the same thing, no please, just the two of us. I can't believe we even have to say it. Some lift operators enforce the masks. Some don't. It is clear they are thin in personnel and if they are sick it can really affect their operations. Im lucky we get to ski every day but continue to be extra careful. Stay safe!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The Colorado outbreak list (2+ cases in the same location/business) has included ski schools and other segments of ski resorts since early Dec. Some involved slope operations while others are related to lodging.

Here's what's on the Monarch website about the article statement regarding the "outbreak."

outbreak?
21 January
Recently it has been reported by the Colorado Department of Health that Monarch Mountain is currently an official outbreak site. The State’s website reports that Monarch Mountain has had 14 positive cases of Coronavirus. This is somewhat misleading information. Indeed, there have been 14 positive cases of people who are employed at Monarch Mountain, but most, if not all of these cases have not come from the Monarch Mountain campus. All have derived from places outside of work. Half of them from a party at someone’s home and others from being a roommate of someone who works somewhere other than Monarch. We have employed our own Infectious Disease consultants to work hand in hand with the Chaffee County Health Department in the contact tracing of each and every one of these cases to ensure that none of them enter onto our campus until they are fully cleared by the Health Department. In short, we have been effective in preventing any outbreak at Monarch Mountain. These “community” outbreaks are surely concerning, but I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that our environment is protective of your and our staff’s health. We are proud of what we have collectively been able to accomplish thus far.

“Monarch Mountain and Chaffee County Public Health have been working closely for many months to ensure the safest 20-21 winter season possible. While the plans established and approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are clearly working to prevent the spread of the virus on the mountain, there have been several employees who have contracted the virus from outside of the work environment. This was predicted. However, the source of spread to our knowledge is not due to onsite operations but rather activities taking place off the mountain. At this time, Monarch Mountain is continuing its prevention measures while communicating with the staff the importance of strictly following the public health orders and measures outside of work.” Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Chaffee County Public Health.

We have enjoyed our collaboration with Andrea and her team and will continue evaluating how to better communicate the need for our staff to protect themselves while away from work. We firmly believe that due to the efforts and protocols we have set in place that our campus is one of the best places in all of Chaffee County to enjoy the great outdoors.

So … stay safe and stay home if you feel ill in any way. We do.


Randy [Monarch General Manager]
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Sunday River has twenty something positive and/or quarantining cases of employees. The Maine CDC did an investigation and found that most of the infections are from community spread in the area, and not from anything happening at the mountain. The article wasn’t totally clear, but a low number sounded to be from people who do work really closely or share housing (though unsure if it’s positive cases or just quarantine cases they were referring to for that point). They concluded that they did not find an issue at the resort though. That’s a relief and what I would expect since it seems safety protocols are being well followed here. Though I don’t go inside lodges etc. so I can’t speak to inside operations.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Our resort's covid info is also private, however this photo says it all...the dark red spot is Teton County where the state's biggest ski area is. This is cases per 100K from the NYT hot spots map. Our hospital has been doing a fantastic job managing admits and covid and resort injury patients. Thankful! Covid cases per 100k.JPG
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Pro hint:

Pull up a gaiter over your mask when in the lift line.

Bonus hint:

Double your mask whenever you're in a less-than-okay crowd or indoor space. Carry a spare in your pocket.

I carry at least two and sometimes three facemasks. But that also means I can change them out when they get damp from breathing through them.
 

RachelV

Administrator
Staff member
This thread might not quite be the right place for this, but as usual the Sun has a very good article on rising cases in Colorado being linked not to skiing itself, but to everything that goes along with it: https://coloradosun.com/2021/01/15/...igh-country-not-tracking-back-to-ski-resorts/

As someone local-ish to Summit I do find it very frustrating that the rules are so silly... Sure, you can't be seated at a restaurant with people outside your household, but what does that matter if you flew to Colorado to with 4 friends and you're all sharing a vacation rental? It continues to be a very weird year.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
This thread might not quite be the right place for this, but as usual the Sun has a very good article on rising cases in Colorado being linked not to skiing itself, but to everything that goes along with it: https://coloradosun.com/2021/01/15/...igh-country-not-tracking-back-to-ski-resorts/
I think that "everything that goes with it" is even more of a factor for guests at ski resorts and towns in Europe. Although in N. America the issues for staff not being smart during their off-hours may be as important as whatever the guests are doing, or not doing.
 

finsterlee

Certified Ski Diva
I think that "everything that goes with it" is even more of a factor for guests at ski resorts and towns in Europe. Although in N. America the issues for staff not being smart during their off-hours may be as important as whatever the guests are doing, or not doing.
Fully agree. Take parking for example.

I live in Park City, and Epic/Vail is requiring ski reservations here as we all know, as well as reservations for inside dining, but the parking lot sometimes fills up extra early. There are big flashing signs every busy weekend in town encouraging people to carpool (insert a "Hmmmmm" emoji). Then over at Alta and Snowbird, they aren't requiring reservations to ski, but limiting their numbers on the mountain via parking spaces. You have to have a reservation to park at Snowbird. Once the lots are full, you can't get on the hill.

More hmmmmm. Doesn't that discourage distancing and encourage packing more people in a car? I'm just not following the logic.
 
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marzNC

Angel Diva
Once the lots are full, you can't get on the hill.
Once the Alta parking is full, you can't drive up to ski Alta. For Snowbird, you need to make a parking reservation well in advance for weekends. Haven't sold out midweek that I've noticed but haven't looked in a couple weeks. New spots open up weekly I think.

Can always ride up using UTA buses, which are at 50% capacity.
 

finsterlee

Certified Ski Diva
Once the Alta parking is full, you can't drive up to ski Alta. For Snowbird, you need to make a parking reservation well in advance for weekends. Haven't sold out midweek that I've noticed but haven't looked in a couple weeks. New spots open up weekly I think.

Can always ride up using UTA buses, which are at 50% capacity.
Yes, the bus is an option, but that's my point- trying to distance people on the hill more via parking restrictions just encourages less social distancing as people scramble to find alternative ways to get up there when they can't get a pass reservation at Brighton, or at PCMR- whether it is carpooling or taking public transportation even at 50% capacity. That's a long bus ride up the canyon from the swamp lot.
Agreeing with your thought that it isn't literally skiing, but everything that goes with it, including transportation, that is causing the spread in ski towns.
 
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