US resorts adapt to new normal of skiing amid pandemic.
DENVER (AP) — Helmet, goggles, skis? Check. Hand sanitizer, face covering, reservation? Check.
Roughly seven months after the coronavirus cut the ski season short at the height of spring break, resorts across the United States and Canada are slowly picking up the pieces and figuring out how to safely reopen this winter. While many of the details are still being worked out, resort leaders are asking guests to curb their expectations and to embrace a new normal while skiing and snowboarding amid a pandemic.
That could mean wearing masks, standing 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart in lift lines (about the length of a typical ski), no dine-in service, riding lifts only with your group and no large gatherings for an apres drink.
“We’re very optimistic about skiing this winter,” said Dave Byrd, director of risk and regulatory affairs at the Colorado-based National Ski Areas Association. “The fact that we ski outside in ultraviolet sun and in the wind, and it’s common for us to wear goggles, gloves and face coverings. All of those things bode very well for us as a sport.”
Resorts, some of which are set to open at the beginning of November, are trying to avoid a repeat of last spring when many mountain communities were disproportionately hurt by the virus as travelers from all over the country and the world hit the slopes during one of the busiest times of the season. more
I wouldn’t touch that with a six-foot ski pole….
I don’t ski but it sounds like a snow job to me. Wouldn’t being out in the cold kill the virus or is it resistant to cold. I know they can all hide under their covers all Winter and wait until its Spring or until they get checked by the Covid authorities like the groundhog does to see if they can see their shadow and whether or not they can come out ever again. We’ve become a nation of wimps and weenies because everything scares the living bejeezus out of us if we believe everything the lamestream media tells us to believe.
I used to be a ski nut,i raced at a competitive level,spent a year in 1974 travelling through Europe and checking out the major and not so major slopes came back to Canada and headed out West,BC and Alberta.Paid for all this with private instruction and paid patrol work,Thought it would be my life,nah.
Last time i skied was when i took my Wife to Banff for a Honeymoon,1982.
Sometimes life just changes.
So what if you have a 6 foot Polish guy who skis, does that make him a ski Pole. And what if his name ends in Ski?
Now you tell me.
Went once, a ton of fun. Took to it right away…after the bunny slope lesson of course! The ‘mountain’ I was on was about 1000′ in elevation. A bump to some I am SURE.
Just a TAD expensive to be doing regularly, but to each their own…
BTW, unregulatable…on a MOUNTAIN?
Are they going to make St. Bernard’s wear protective masks when they rescue skiers so they don’t give skiers the chink flu?
I no longer ski but I’d hoped we were going to see a beginning of a return to sanity and reason somewhere. I certainly should have known better at my age. The left ALWAYS sees to it the Hope dies eternally…
How stupid! Your ticket usually reads that you should ski at least 15 feet apart to be save from an accident.
I’ve skied. Once. Last I heard they still had my picture up banning me from most ski resorts in the western United States. Just couldn’t get the hang of snowplowing. I hold the world record for knocking the most amount of people down in a lift line unintentionally.
Curb your expectations and accept a new normal.
…too bad Sonny Bono wasn’t able to stay 6 feet away from that tree.
Or Cher.
…what, too soon?
Funny thing, my wife had a back doctor die the same way.
Don’t know anything about skiing, but if they can’t figure out to not ski where the trees are, how are they supposed to not ski where the politics are?
Preparation for skiing:
(1) Place back and head against a wall.
(2) Slowly bend your knees while moving your feet away from the wall.
(3) When your upper leg makes a 90 deg. angle with your lower leg and your lower leg is vertical, stop.
(4) With back and head still against the wall, hold this position until you cry.
Do this twice a day for 30 days prior to the start of the season. At the 30 day mark, you should be able to hold in the position for as long as you want.
(And you think I’m making this up!)
@Jimmy — Ski resort vacation enjoyment plan:
1. Make sure resort has a well-stocked bar.
2. Make sure resort has a good chef and menu.
3. Get a pair of crutches.
4. Put on a fake leg cast.
5. Hang around the bar and restaurant all day soaking up booze, good food, and ski bunny sympathy hugs.
That is the alternate (but highly preferable) preparation plan, Uncle Al. (And I’m glad you didn’t ask me if I still did, you know, you know the THING I outlined! But I used to. Haven’t been skiing since my first son was born.)
I’m guessing that anything you learn from this will be the ‘cold hard facts of life’.
You guys should go skiing or snowboarding this year. Lines were damn short last year, reflecting the general downward trend of the industry.
I’m sayin’ it’s not as crowded with the hoi poloi.
Wait. What? Last winter they were telling us ski resorts were covid superspreaders. To hear it told, one ski resort in Austria pretty much loosed the plague on Europe. Now. they’re veritable anti-covid spas with just a couple of little tweaks? I’m starting to get a little suspicious about this covid science.
Not completely unrelated, I have also noticed a few ads for the 2020 post-election Conservative Cruises. Remember how we laughed at them last year? 🛳🛳🛳🛳
Some elites are starting to act like it’s not a crisis anymore, and want to get back to pleasure as usual. I think we’re about done with covid, don’t you?
I know that’s right, Sonny.
Uh. Did somebody say snow bunny?
Asking for a friend.
@Brad
Snow plow? What’s that?
https://media1.tenor.com/images/ea54c5f7d29ec921dc583aa79fde960f/tenor.gif?itemid=5219663
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Jethro
Lmao..😂
Jethro
LOL, that’s pretty much what it looked like. Except I was knocking over peoples. On top of that durring one of the wrecks I split my pants from the yoke in the back to the zipper in the front. Talk about blue balls. There’s pictures around somewhere to prove it. LOL