Is coronavirus changing your ski plans?

[marzNC]

I wrote about this (and a lot of other stuff) in a new blog post I put up this morning, The Skier's Guide to Surviving Quarantine.

Great stuff and writing per usual! Some humor is required for sure, although with the serious thoughts.

 

[marzNC]

I completely agree with this. I think there are ways to safely recreate on skis, people just need to be smart about it. Quoted from The Ski Diva's blog: From Steve Wilson, Alpine Rescue Team: “While we will still respond, we’ll still rescue them — it’s not with the same resources that we would use under normal circumstances. So they ought to dial back the risks that they take and places that they go with that in mind.”

While some people probably cannot be trusted to make smart decisions and dial back risks, there are a lot of people that can be. That means thinking about how you're affecting any community you're going to (whether that's 5 minutes down the road or 30 minutes)...and planning to minimize that impact. It's taking a "leave no trace" mentality to a whole 'nother level.

As with many topics related to COVID-19, or skiing for that matter, there are big differences between regions. What makes sense in New England may be quite different in Florida or California or Utah or Colorado.

States with coastlines and beaches often inundated with people for spring break are having different issues than inland states in the midwest that only have lake beaches. NC coastal communities closed access to the Outer Banks without waiting for an order from the Governor. They are using their experience dealing with tourists during impending hurricanes to make decisions for the good of the local community.

 

[Christy]

It's tough. People just want to be outside, especially in the beautiful spring weather we're having. In addition to the fact that 70 SAR personnel might have to put themselves in danger or close contact if a hiker or backcountry skier gets in trouble, people living in more urbanized areas are spreading the virus to more rural areas as they travel for recreation; small towns are starting to say "keep out".

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation...mah-falls-to-close-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/

Meanwhile, thousands of Oregonians have swarmed the coast, catching communities off-guard and prompting spirited directives for tourists to return home, the Oregonian reported.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is not just an opportunity for a traveling vacation,” said Tillamook Mayor Suzanne Weber in a video message. “It’s a threat to our very lives.”

Tillamook County, for example, announced Sunday morning it had closed all access to state and local parks and would limit access to beaches.

Further north, the city of Warrenton closed campgrounds and gave visitors 24 hours to leave.

Travelers have also brought on problems in the Columbia River Gorge, where the famous Historic Columbia River Highway saw mid-summer traffic volumes last week. “Parking lots and roadside parking overflowed this week with cars parking in ditches and blocking intersections,” the state department of transportation reported.

 

[mustski]

While Big Bear is not officially “closed” - ie: roads remain open, all lodging has been ordered closed in both the town and the unincorporated areas. Big Bear Grizzly
I guess too many folks headed up here on the weekend. We didn’t notice, but then again we’ve been heading out to the middle of nowhere.
Yesterday’s adventure: My Hawkins flushing quail.

 

[Salomon]

In Andorra the road up to the most popular randonnée ski area ( Arcalís) is closed . Too many people abusing the stay away order I imagine .
The whole country is restricted to 1 person per car ....there is no going to work and shopping can only be done by 1 person , 1 time per week .
Other than that , you get to stay in your home .

So if initial measures don’t work , you know what you may face . It’s tough . Very tough .

 

[Cantabrigienne]

I went up to Whistler on Friday to retrieve my stuff from my sister's condo (and clean out the fridge etc - my parents had stayed there in the first week of March & left a lot of stuff since we had been planning on going up March 15-21 for the first week of our nephews' spring break) and I saw a small handful of skiers coming back to Blackcomb. I thought maybe they were skiing down from staff housing near Base 2, or that enterprising people with accommodating family/group members could get driven up to the top of Benchlands, which would give you a 500m long run back to Blackcomb base...a friend who grew up in Salt Lake City said her highschool friends would do this, taking turns to be the driver.

My parents spoke to one group (from a safe distance!) and they told my dad it took 4hrs for them to climb up. How far they went up, I'm not sure - to the top of the gondola would be 1200m vertical, but I gather from the Snowheads forum that experienced folks can skin 1000m/hour. I suspect they were seasonnaires and not people with AT gear, so they may have literally walked up instead.

 

[marzNC]

One Colorado county has banned backcountry access for recreational use. San Juan County is north of Durango and includes Silverton.

March 22, Unofficial Networks
Colorado County Prohibits All Backcountry Skiing Due to the Coronavirus Crisis
https://unofficialnetworks.com/2020...country-skiing-due-to-the-coronavirus-crisis/
" . . .
Official Press Release From San Juan County, Colorado

SAN JUAN COUNTY, 3/21/20:

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department issues a stern warning to all backcountry recreation users. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department is prohibiting recreationalists from backcountry activities in the County due to the limited Medical, Emergency and Search and Rescue Services available currently due to the Coronavirus COVID 19 crisis.

The SJC Sheriff has also issued a policy/order prohibiting all but essential services in San Juan County. US HWY 550 is open to DRIVE THROUGH traffic and San Juan County residents only. Vehicles parked on the passes, and on County roads not registered in San Juan County Colorado are subject to fines and towing. This applies to all San Juan County Colorado lands and County roads, as backcountry skiers and snowmobilers unnecessarily increase the potential for emergency and medical team response.
. . ."

 

[Pixie Perfect]

I read on CNN that many European countries have traced back their cases to an àpres ski bar in Ischgl, Austria.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/europe/austria-ski-resort-ischgl-coronavirus-intl/index.html

 

[Salomon]

I read on CNN that many European countries have traced back their cases to an àpres ski bar in Ischgl, Austria.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/europe/austria-ski-resort-ischgl-coronavirus-intl/index.html

Yes .
It’s one of the things that explains Germany’s low fatality rate . The first wave was brought back by young skiers from Austria ...notably 1 bar ...
As the young don’t seem to suffer as badly it skews the stats .
In Andorra we hosted the WC SkiMo ( ski mountaineering) in early March . All the competitors were staying together in the réfugis ( sorry , no clue in English , mountain shelters ?).
There were a large Italian contingent and the Andorran infections can be traced back to that . For the record , the Italians did well ...there was no reason to believe they were sick .
may be I am a bit odd but in these troubled times I find some of this quite fascinating . We are certainly learning a lot about how communities behave .

 

[marzNC]

It’s one of the things that explains Germany’s low fatality rate . The first wave was brought back by young skiers from Austria ...notably 1 bar ...
As the young don’t seem to suffer as badly it skews the stats .

The fact that it could be traced says to me that Germany was testing and tracing close contacts. The first recommendation from WHO (World Health Organization) is to "test, test, test." Countries that don't have testing set up to test not only people in hospitals, but also others who are identified without moderate symptoms, have little way to know the spread. Testing is only the first step for "containment." Followup to find "close contacts" is required as well. That's what Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan were doing and continue to do in order to keep the numbers down.

Unfortunately most states in U.S. are still not testing enough. Only a few are still able to effectively monitor and trace close contacts when COVID-19 is detected. The level of community spread continues to grow undetected.

From what I can tell, Angela Merkel started warning Germans of the seriousness of the situation on March 11. When too many Germans didn't take it seriously enough, she was prepared to make them stay home. She was a research scientist before going into politics, with an academic background in chemistry.

March 11, NY Times
Merkel Gives Germans a Hard Truth About the Coronavirus
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/world/europe/coronavirus-merkel-germany.html

 

[Salomon]

Our German family have not been going to work for almost a month now . Way before lockdowns etc
And yes , Germany has tested more than any other nation ...let’s hope that really helps . Europe is in a big enough mess as it is . Many critical French patients are in Germany and as for the economy ...? Well....

 

[newboots]

Our German family have not been going to work for almost a month now . Way before lockdowns etc
And yes , Germany has tested more than any other nation ...let’s hope that really helps . Europe is in a big enough mess as it is . Many critical French patients are in Germany and as for the economy ...? Well....

Keep in touch, @Salomon. We are all in this together, new friends and old.

 

[StayWarm]

One Colorado county has banned backcountry access for recreational use. San Juan County is north of Durango and includes Silverton.

March 22, Unofficial Networks
Colorado County Prohibits All Backcountry Skiing Due to the Coronavirus Crisis
https://unofficialnetworks.com/2020...country-skiing-due-to-the-coronavirus-crisis/
" . . .
Official Press Release From San Juan County, Colorado

SAN JUAN COUNTY, 3/21/20:

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department issues a stern warning to all backcountry recreation users. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department is prohibiting recreationalists from backcountry activities in the County due to the limited Medical, Emergency and Search and Rescue Services available currently due to the Coronavirus COVID 19 crisis.

The SJC Sheriff has also issued a policy/order prohibiting all but essential services in San Juan County. US HWY 550 is open to DRIVE THROUGH traffic and San Juan County residents only. Vehicles parked on the passes, and on County roads not registered in San Juan County Colorado are subject to fines and towing. This applies to all San Juan County Colorado lands and County roads, as backcountry skiers and snowmobilers unnecessarily increase the potential for emergency and medical team response.
. . ."

Summit County has also asked non-locals to stay away. https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/03/23/summit-county-front-range-coronavirus/235938/

Summit County, which has had nine confirmed cases of coronavirus, is urging non-resident recreationists to stay away while encouraging its residents to exercise outside.

“We’re doing everything we can to slow the spread of (the coronavirus), and when we have lots of folks coming up from the Front Range into the mountains, that flies in the face of everything we’re trying to accomplish,” said Julie Sutor, Summit County director of communications. “We don’t want people to come here. We heard from the governor that everyone in the state needs to be conducting social distancing to the greatest extent possible, and the longer we prolong the outbreak, the longer we will be suffering the health and economic impacts of the novel coronavirus.”

This request came after this weekend, when there were dozens of cars parked along Loveland Pass for backcountry access: https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/03/23/loveland-pass-coronavirus-skiers-social-distancing/235917/

I truly empathize with folks' desire to get outside, but it's time to be more cautious than you ever have, at least for the next few weeks. Any additional (and unnecessary) strain on our health systems right now will have serious consequences. Denver is on stay home orders so that our hospital systems can maintain enough capacity to support rural communities. We all need to do our part.

 

[DeeSki]

According to German magazine, Spiegel, a criminal investigation is underway in Ischgl into the failure of a bar/restaurant to inform the health authorities that one of its staff had tested positive for Covid-19. The government of the state of Tyrol has also proposed establishing an expert commission to determine what happened - from the article, it looks like the opposition would need to agree this.
Article here, in German https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/cor...ischgl-a-e7ed11c4-e7bd-4375-879a-765d2d4b8b5a

 

[marzNC]

I read on CNN that many European countries have traced back their cases to an àpres ski bar in Ischgl, Austria.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/europe/austria-ski-resort-ischgl-coronavirus-intl/index.html

On my . . . just read the article. Nine days . . . even if only 1 person continues to infect only two people once a day, that means 1 -> 3 -> 9 just in the first two days. I don't even want to continue the math.

". . .
Despite an official warning from the Icelandic government on March 4 that a group of its nationals had contracted coronavirus in Ischgl, Austrian authorities allowed ski tourism -- and the partying that goes with it -- to continue for another nine days before fully quarantining the resort on March 13. Bars in Ischgl were closed on March 10.
Even after a bartender tested positive for the virus, the medical authority of Tyrol -- where ski tourism is one of the biggest economic drivers -- reiterated in a press release on March 8 that there was "no reason to worry." CNN has reached out to Franz Katzgraber, the director of Tyrol's medical authority, for further comment and not received a response.
. . ."

 

[DeeSki]

Last week Norway said that one quarter of their then 1400 infections could be traced to Ischgl! All of Tyrol is now locked down, but Ischgl and St. Anton were shut down first. It would be interesting to see what role ski vacations played in spreading Covid-19 across Europe. One of the earlier clusters was among a group of British citizens sharing a chalet in the French Alps, but this seems to have been effectively contained. Then schools in a huge chunk of Europe broke for a week just as the extent of the outbreak in northern Italy became clear. Many of the first cases in Ireland were traced to vacations in Italy. I couldn’t pull off a ski trip this year. Now, I‘m kind of relieved ....

 

[echo_VT]

Yes I had a Canada hut trip scheduled for Mar 19 to the 28, and the Hut trip was canceled on Mar 15. Applying partial funds to a trip in 2021 or a partial refund. It was pretty sad and depressing, drank a glass of wine in the evening for about a week. Since they closed the borders too it made sense.

I am better now— but I was really looking forward to it. DH had just returned from his hut trip on Mar 8 :/ with lots of powder shots.

 

[Pixie Perfect]

On my . . . just read the article. Nine days . . . even if only 1 person continues to infect only two people once a day, that means 1 -> 3 -> 9 just in the first two days. I don't even want to continue the math.

". . .
Despite an official warning from the Icelandic government on March 4 that a group of its nationals had contracted coronavirus in Ischgl, Austrian authorities allowed ski tourism -- and the partying that goes with it -- to continue for another nine days before fully quarantining the resort on March 13. Bars in Ischgl were closed on March 10.
Even after a bartender tested positive for the virus, the medical authority of Tyrol -- where ski tourism is one of the biggest economic drivers -- reiterated in a press release on March 8 that there was "no reason to worry." CNN has reached out to Franz Katzgraber, the director of Tyrol's medical authority, for further comment and not received a response.
. . ."

The math is pretty scary and it definitely helps show that it is exponential! I saw a graphic the other day that shows how beneficial to staying at home is to minimize the rate of infections. It really does help the numbers from doubling & tripling so quickly. If I see it again I will share here.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Y
I am better now— but I was really looking forward to it. DH had just returned from his hut trip on Mar 8 :/ with lots of powder shots.

The Turkey!

 

[Pixie Perfect]

On my . . . just read the article. Nine days . . . even if only 1 person continues to infect only two people once a day, that means 1 -> 3 -> 9 just in the first two days. I don't even want to continue the math.

". . .
Despite an official warning from the Icelandic government on March 4 that a group of its nationals had contracted coronavirus in Ischgl, Austrian authorities allowed ski tourism -- and the partying that goes with it -- to continue for another nine days before fully quarantining the resort on March 13. Bars in Ischgl were closed on March 10.
Even after a bartender tested positive for the virus, the medical authority of Tyrol -- where ski tourism is one of the biggest economic drivers -- reiterated in a press release on March 8 that there was "no reason to worry." CNN has reached out to Franz Katzgraber, the director of Tyrol's medical authority, for further comment and not received a response.
. . ."

The math is pretty scary and it definitely helps show that it is exponential! I saw a graphic the other day that shows how beneficial to staying at home is to minimize the rate of infections. It really does help the numbers from doubling & tripling so quickly. If I see it again I will share here.

I found the graphic!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1242133575194963971