• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

What happens when a mask policy is violated?

just jane

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Oh man I wish. The employees I saw were trying but there aren’t enough of them.

At Keystone, they had an employee stationed at the base area asking/reminding people to put masks on... she asked one guy and he was horrible. He said really rudely and dismissively, my hands are full lady.

I thought violent thoughts but what could she do?
 

Christy

Angel Diva
I have to say, nothing that Whitefish has issued gives me any comfort about enforcement.
I keep seeing ads on tv for skiing in Montana. t
They show beautiful footage of powder skiing while the voiceover, sort of as an afterthought, reminds visitors to be sure to check covid protocols at their destination. The message conveyed is, come to MT, it'll be great, don't worry about it. It's weird to be advertising this in a state that has a 14 day quarantine for any resident leading then coming back to the state.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
Oh man I wish. The employees I saw were trying but there aren’t enough of them.

At Keystone, they had an employee stationed at the base area asking/reminding people to put masks on... she asked one guy and he was horrible. He said really rudely and dismissively, my hands are full lady.

I thought violent thoughts but what could she do?

Since so many resorts say that if you won't wear a mask you will be asked to leave, presumably they have some kind of plan in place for making that happen.
 

CarolB

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Nov. 24, Castanet in Kelowna (Canada)
3 pass holders get suspended
Big White Ski Resort taking firm stand on mandatory mask rule
https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelow...king-firm-stand-on-mandatory-mask-rule#317238
"Big White Ski Resort is taking a firm stand on its mandatory mask policy this year.
...."

I’ve only managed to get up skiing to Big White twice so far. Opening afternoon and yesterday (blue sky pic attached). I saw a few people (usually young guys) pushing it on opening day and I think I actually only saw 1 person (an entitled looking man with an embarassed looking wife) getting on the gondola yesterday. It could be that he had a health issue, so couldn’t wear a mask but I’m pretty sure the fun will be taken out of his stay, if that’s the case.

I believe that getting in to arguments with people not wanting to wear masks will likely make them dig in deeper, vs comply. Peer pressure and polite asking them to not come back will likely win out for the majority, it might just take a few days to get it ironed out. Then there’s the 5% that nothing, besides banning, will work my guess is that’s what happened in the case above. Opening day seemed a bit stressed (especially the liftees) but yesterday it was pretty smooth and not many people even had to be reminded to cover up. With Buffs/Neck gaiters allowed it’s really not a big hardship. It might get a bit uglier once it gets really cold and the buffs freeze up though. I do feel for the Ski Patrol as they were all just sitting at the top of the lifts, giving a presence but I’m sure also because they can’t hang in the Patrol Hut.

Going to be a weird year for sure but so far so good here, pretty thankful to get out at all.

One scarey thing I did notice, and also read on a Big White Facebook group, was that there have been a few incidents of dangerous driving on the road from the Mountain. I attribute that to more young drivers/skiers being able to go up for the day because High School/University aren’t in full session.
 

Attachments

  • AFBB8C6E-DDDE-4D9B-8FF2-D9C517CF7BC8.jpeg
    AFBB8C6E-DDDE-4D9B-8FF2-D9C517CF7BC8.jpeg
    561.9 KB · Views: 5

Jenny

Angel Diva
I’ve been up three times so far this season, once at Breckenridge, once at Keystone, and today we went to Vail. I am overall disappointed at the level of mask compliance and moreso at the lack of enforcement. I mean, compliane probably varies from ... 65-80% maybe? Which isn’t bad but with a little robust “encouragement“ it could be a lot higher.

My worst experience so far was at Vail today. There’s very little terrain open so every lift line was probably 20-ish minutes. If I’m in that large of a crowd for that long, then I need mask compliance to be nearly 100%. There is no enforcement of social distancing either. We ended up leaving early. I would have persisted with limited terrain and long-ish lines but too many people were too cavalier about masks and I did not feel safe at all. Hopefully they’ll send me a survey because I have OPINIONS.

I think you should share them with Vail, whether they send a survey or not.

Last line reminds me of this:

CB1F392B-1B72-4EAA-8E02-789FBA2BC4F5.jpeg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Since so many resorts say that if you won't wear a mask you will be asked to leave, presumably they have some kind of plan in place for making that happen.
Unfortunately, plan and policy are not the same as real life all the time. One reason I started this thread was to get a feel for what happens during early season in multiple regions. Every state with ski areas and destination ski resorts is in a different situation in terms of approaches to COVID-19, local attitudes to mask usage, and the percentage of out-of-county skiers on the slopes.

For instance, Colorado is clearly making a distinction by county. Meaning it's not just out-of-state visitors that need to pay attention but also people driving from Denver and other cities not in the mountains for day trips. PA has both Epic locations as well as large and small independent ski areas/resorts. NC only has independent ski areas/resorts but many people also make the drive to Snowshoe in WV, which is owned by Alterra so Ikon and Snowshoe-only passes apply.

Here's what the founder of SkiSoutheast had to say about wearing face masks while skiing in TN/NC/WV/VA. Bottom line is that he wanted to make it clear that mask usage is required to keep the lifts running, so people need to mask up properly and quit complaining.

Dec. 5, SkiSoutheast
Don’t Be The Reason Ski Season Gets Cut Short This Winter!
https://www.skisoutheast.com/dont-be-the-reason-ski-season-gets-cut-short-this-winter/
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Since so many resorts say that if you won't wear a mask you will be asked to leave, presumably they have some kind of plan in place for making that happen.
Exactly. He should have been pulled out of the lift line and sent to the office for a reprimand, and reminded that the next time he could have his pass revoked. If they don't have a policy like that at Keystone, they obviously need one.
 

snoWYmonkey

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My local hill has an enhanced security team for dealing with non compliant guests. 4 of them are already quarantined because of covid. Not sure how big the team was to begin with.
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I keep seeing ads on tv for skiing in Montana. t
They show beautiful footage of powder skiing while the voiceover, sort of as an afterthought, reminds visitors to be sure to check covid protocols at their destination. The message conveyed is, come to MT, it'll be great, don't worry about it. It's weird to be advertising this in a state that has a 14 day quarantine for any resident leading then coming back to the state.

Same thing in Vermont--the paradox of advertising for visitors and having strict quarantine regulations that discourage travel. The lack of federal economic support for people to stay home means the state has to try to find reasonably safe ways for businesses to open so workers can stay afloat economically. It's a horrible Catch-22 and not really the states' fault that they are in that awkward position.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Exactly. He should have been pulled out of the lift line and sent to the office for a reprimand, and reminded that the next time he could have his pass revoked. If they don't have a policy like that at Keystone, they obviously need one.
Maybe similar to Epic resorts in Tahoe that will "pull a pass" for reckless skiing or snowboarding.
 

just jane

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Given how awful the CO numbers are, and that the outbreaks in Co started in ski towns last spring, they need to figure it out FAST. Although I think they're banking on our governor being VERY resistant to shutting everything down again.

But thanks for the feedback - I will make a point of following up with Vail and letting them know how we felt. Right now we aren't keen to go back. Also, I didn't mention this because it's separate from the resort, but the town shuttle experience was iffy as well. We don't like to pay for parking so we usually park for free and ride the shuttle to the base. Our direct experience was okay. in the morning, one bus passed us up at our stop because they were already full per social distancing guidelines, which actually reassured me, and the next bus wasn't too full. But when we left yesterday, we were waiting at the depot and I watched a bus (not ours, thankfully), pull up and everyone just packed it like normal. They obviously were not following the guidelines. I also watched a driver sit in his bus on a break for a good 15 minutes with no mask on.

We lucked out and not too many people were on our bus for the return trip but I was not encouraged by what I saw.
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I really can't see ANY excuse for not following the mask regs. The ski areas really need to stress the risk that they may all be closed dow
Given how awful the CO numbers are, and that the outbreaks in Co started in ski towns last spring, they need to figure it out FAST. Although I think they're banking on our governor being VERY resistant to shutting everything down again.

But thanks for the feedback - I will make a point of following up with Vail and letting them know how we felt. Right now we aren't keen to go back. Also, I didn't mention this because it's separate from the resort, but the town shuttle experience was iffy as well. We don't like to pay for parking so we usually park for free and ride the shuttle to the base. Our direct experience was okay. in the morning, one bus passed us up at our stop because they were already full per social distancing guidelines, which actually reassured me, and the next bus wasn't too full. But when we left yesterday, we were waiting at the depot and I watched a bus (not ours, thankfully), pull up and everyone just packed it like normal. They obviously were not following the guidelines. I also watched a driver sit in his bus on a break for a good 15 minutes with no mask on.

We lucked out and not too many people were on our bus for the return trip but I was not encouraged by what I saw.
Well, that's another email, perhaps to the local newspaper. Sometimes these get more traction than going directly to the town or shuttle co, which might want to keep that info quiet.
 

sibhusky

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I keep seeing ads on tv for skiing in Montana. t
They show beautiful footage of powder skiing while the voiceover, sort of as an afterthought, reminds visitors to be sure to check covid protocols at their destination. The message conveyed is, come to MT, it'll be great, don't worry about it. It's weird to be advertising this in a state that has a 14 day quarantine for any resident leading then coming back to the state.
We do? I thought that ended in June. I certainly didn't do that when I drove to Kellogg 3 weeks ago..... Maybe you're referring to Washington
 

Christy

Angel Diva
We do? I thought that ended in June. I certainly didn't do that when I drove to Kellogg 3 weeks ago..... Maybe you're referring to Washington

Yes, they are advertising this where I live, in Washington, which has a quarantine.
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
Yes, they are advertising this where I live, in Washington, which has a quarantine.

From the WA state DOH website

"Travel Advisory for Non-Essential Travel1 1. Persons arriving in Washington from other states or countries, including returning Washington residents, should practice self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival. These persons should limit their interactions to their immediate household. This recommendation does not apply to individuals who cross state or country borders for essential travel.2 2. Washingtonians are encouraged to stay home or in their region and avoid non-essential travel to other states or countries. Avoiding travel can reduce the risk of virus transmission and bringing the virus back to Washington.
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
Very disappointed with Mt Spokane opening weekend. Hopefully they can do better. Everyone seems afraid to take a stand. What is the point of a policy if you don't enforce it? I'd guess 23-30% of skiers maskless in the lift line... policy says "wear mask in line". So what I guess. Glad I have snowshoes and nordic gear.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Very disappointed with Mt Spokane opening weekend. Hopefully they can do better. Everyone seems afraid to take a stand. What is the point of a policy if you don't enforce it? I'd guess 23-30% of skiers maskless in the lift line... policy says "wear mask in line". So what I guess. Glad I have snowshoes and nordic gear.

Wow yikes, they need to nip that in the bud for sure!
 

just jane

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So what I guess. Glad I have snowshoes and nordic gear.

Yeah, we did a x-country day at Snow Mountain Ranch and while the snow was horrible, I felt like they were great with their COVID protocols. We didn't have to go inside to purchase our trail pass - they had an outside walk-up window. Mask compliance on the trails was pretty poor but there are so few people I don't think it matters. I am totally fine with you not wearing a mask if I'm passing you and we're within proximity for 15-30 seconds. And people were pretty good around the base area. it's just so different when there aren't a lot of people and there's room to spread out. So I anticipate a lot more Nordic skiing for us this winter.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
26,237
Messages
497,624
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top