I hate to bring this up......

[ski diva]

Maybe all the pandemic and isolation stuff is getting to me -- it just seems like this is never going to end -- but do any of you think it's a real possibility that ski resorts won't open next season?

 

[marzNC]

Since I have a daughter in college, what she's worried about is not being able to get back on campus for fall semester. I told her today that I think colleges will re-open after the summer is over. Things won't be "normal" but there will be a "new normal" by then. That's based on paying attention to what's happening in other countries. But obviously just my personal opinion.

The likelihood of ski resorts opening in Australia and New Zealand is very slim. Normally would be happening in June.

Might not be too many ski resorts open before mid-Dec, but I think there will be lift-served skiing next winter. Fingers crossed!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I don't know what to think at this time. So far it seems many of the things they predicted about this illness and its progression/spread have come true--and they had been talking about possible resurgence next fall/winter.
I have to assume there will be at least some places open next year, but who knows? But if you had told me last April (or heck even if you told me in February) that we would be where we are today, I probably wouldn't have believed it, so I guess anything is possible.
I'm now at the point of waffling on whether to even get an Ikon pass, as if flying trips are deemed to risky for my taste, there is no way I'll get my money out of it--I'd be better off just buying random tickets to ski locally.
I hate to think of not skiing or even not skiing as much, but I feel like the whole thing is so uncertain right now. I am a planner; I hate not being able to count on things.

 

[santacruz skier]

Wonder about resorts with large cable car/trams (think Squaw, Heavenly) or even smaller gondolas jamming all those skiers together?
What will be the new normal?

 

[Salomon]

If Andorra doesn’t open it will likely cease to exist . We have no central bank ( we use Euros but are not a member ) so the support they can give us limited .
We hope that come summer things will be open and people will be keen to have vacations close to home in the mountains .
There are approx 75 k residents in Andorra and about 11 million visitors per year . The entire economy is tourism .
We all have our fingers crossed .

 

[VickiK]

I think it's definitely possible.

 

[MissySki]

I’m hopeful the whole season won’t be impacted, but I do have concern on whether the season will be shortened on one end or the other or in the middle if there is some resurgence.. This is making it especially difficult for me to determine what to do about passes, as well as finding a seasonal rental which I have yet to secure. I sure don’t want to pay thousands of dollars for a rental I can’t use, but I want a rental if the mountain is open. Certainly is a dilemma all around.. and I’m in complete indecision about what to do except to wait as long as possible on anything that requires a downpayment right now.

 

[skibum4ever]

I don't want to imagine a whole winter without skiing. It's unthinkable... but at this point I think it is possible.

 

[santacruz skier]

I didn't use my timeshare at Heavenly (was scheduled for week of March 14) plus extra days so next season will have two weeks (either can take together or split up).... I'm hopeful for a season in 2021. Assume there may be restrictions though.

 

[MissySki]

I don't want to imagine a whole winter without skiing. It's unthinkable... but at this point I think it is possible.

I just hope if this were to happen, that we’ll at least be allowed to go uphill by then.

 

[Après Skier]

Unlikely. Considering the global efforts, funding, and research currently taking place, treatments and vaccines are already being tested. I am hopeful for a vaccine prior to next flu season (or will it now be called flu/COVID or flu/SARS season?).

Changes likely to occur: increased use and availability of hand-sanitizer in public places, increased use of sanitizing wipes to clean surfaces, increased use of face masks, enhanced public education on the importance of hand hygiene and hygiene in general (I cannot tell you how grossed-out I get when I see people putting their dirty shoes on public seating areas or tying their shoe by putting their dirty shoe on a chair is it really so hard to either bend over or sit down?).

I also hope it will become more common and socially acceptable in the US to ask people remove shoes or wear shoe covers when entering someone’s home. I also hope parents will reinforce hygiene practices when raising children. As a child, my sister and I were never allowed to just grab and touch everything in the supermarket or put our feet on furniture, and heaven forbid if our mother ever saw us standing on a tabletop or chair. This does not appear to be part of childhood teaching anymore at least where I live in the US.

There is a simple reason why nurses are not constantly sick while caring for contagious people year-round: diligent hand hygiene and frequently wiping down or potentially contaminated surfaces.

 

[Christy]

Geez, I hadn't thought about that. How long can you keep the economy grounded? I would hope that on a federal level we get our act together and figure out how to move forward and allow the economy to restart, knowing that new outbreaks are likely and will need to be dealt with. It's a big job for a big country but public health experts have ideas for how to do it. So I guess IMO it depends on leadership and political will. The continued lack of basics (swabs for testing, hospital supplies) is of course not a great sign.

 

[SqueakySnow]

I think it hinges on whether or not we have a widely deployed functional vaccine. The threat of a second wave once restrictions ease is of great concern.

 

[MissySki]

I don’t think we can expect a vaccine to be widely distributed before early 2021. That’s if they get something that has actual promise right out of the gate, and still involves really aggressive timelines. I was reading a study earlier that spoke of some people who had recovered from Covid-19 already, and had only very low levels of antibodies. There is still too much we don’t know yet, but hopefully this isn’t an early indication that we don’t create a strong enough antibody reaction for immunity after exposure.

 

[Abbi]

I'm only mildly worried right now, although I'm hedging on paying for an IKON pass if I can't use it and/or use it 'safely' (my definition, what ever that will be at the time).

At this point I'm sadder about my sailboat which is locked in a boat yard that shut down to protect their employees. I have one friend (who hates winter anyway) who is heading toward depression. I'm more pragmatic since I want ME alive at the end of this dark tunnel.

 

[Jilly]

I'm really hoping, but at this point haven't hit submit on the Ikon pass. I am going to do the payment plan.

I'm seeing a lot of construction activity, ie quotes, but as construction is shut down in the province of Ontario, not much going out the door.

I'm just hoping I have enough income to ski next winter. Might not rent the condo for example. I have a friend that will let me stay with her at her condo. (She owes me if I wanted to play that game. I don't.)

 

[contesstant]

Unlikely. Considering the global efforts, funding, and research currently taking place, treatments and vaccines are already being tested. I am hopeful for a vaccine prior to next flu season (or will it now be called flu/COVID or flu/SARS season?).

Changes likely to occur: increased use and availability of hand-sanitizer in public places, increased use of sanitizing wipes to clean surfaces, increased use of face masks, enhanced public education on the importance of hand hygiene and hygiene in general (I cannot tell you how grossed-out I get when I see people putting their dirty shoes on public seating areas or tying their shoe by putting their dirty shoe on a chair is it really so hard to either bend over or sit down?).

I also hope it will become more common and socially acceptable in the US to ask people remove shoes or wear shoe covers when entering someone’s home. I also hope parents will reinforce hygiene practices when raising children. As a child, my sister and I were never allowed to just grab and touch everything in the supermarket or put our feet on furniture, and heaven forbid if our mother ever saw us standing on a tabletop or chair. This does not appear to be part of childhood teaching anymore at least where I live in the US.

There is a simple reason why nurses are not constantly sick while caring for contagious people year-round: diligent hand hygiene and frequently wiping down or potentially contaminated surfaces.

This is how I am looking at it, too. At some point, we HAVE to get back to living. I'm confident in the medical researchers worldwide who will find treatments that will at the very least help us recover from this until a vaccine can be developed. Until then, personal sanitation as a whole will be of utmost importance.

As to children grabbing everything and standing and crawling all over everything--I agree. NOT a fan of it myself. It tends to go with the "free range parenting" that happens more often. It's odd because we allow less freedom in other ways. I'm the same way with pets, too. They have no business on the kitchen counter.

 

[SallyCat]

I have to admit it seems possible, but I've decided to be blindly optimistic on that subject. It's too sad to think about otherwise.

If resorts don't open, backcountry skiing will probably explode (barring crowd/trailhead restrictions). My decision to buy a tiny place on a mountain with existing ski and mountain bike trails is looking increasingly prescient. My decision to leave my job in two months? Less so.

 

[liquidfeet]

I expect there will be issues with the mountains opening in November-December. The virus will return, having wintered in the southern hemisphere. Ski resorts played a pivotal role in spreading the disease globally. I expect governors will remember that come winter, but maybe not.

Whatever the ski areas end up doing, I expect I will not be skiing or teaching next season. I will not go back into a ski lodge until my husband and I have been vaccinated, and there doesn't seem to be any chance that vaccines will be available to us by Thanksgiving.

My home is in Massachusetts. In order to ski and teach in New Hampshire, I have been renting a condo up there for the winter. I don't expect I'll be willing to lock in my condo rental for next season by the deadline in early May, which is what I have to do if I'm to get that condo again. The deposit to reserve it is quite steep, and I won't be able to lose that money should the vaccine not be ready.

So I'm in lock-down for the long haul. I am trying to get mentally on board with this. At this point getting groceries is the hardest thing I have to deal with, since I will not walk into a grocery store, or any store or business because my immediate family is immunocompromised. Getting what I order, delivered in a reasonable time, is proving difficult. Stock is low, and delivery times are one to two weeks ahead. I hope this gets better over time, but with the economy shutting down I expect it will instead get worse. Plus, when an order arrives in my driveway, everything needs to be disinfected, and that is challenging in itself.

Dealing with this food issue for another 12 months is hard to imagine, but I'm guessing that's what I'm going to have to do. I suppose I'll become a better cook.

 

[Après Skier]

@contesstant I feel the same way about pets in the kitchen. That is why I don’t trust the food at pot-luck events.