A Pandemic Reprieve For Mountain Resorts And For Skiers

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Skiers and snowboarders wait in a socially distanced lift line at Mammoth Mountain on Nov. 15.

Christian Pondella/Mammoth Mountain

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Christian Pondella/Mammoth Mountain

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Every year more than 50 million skiers and snowboarders flock to resorts every year in the United States. Many of the mountains have put measures into place to help skiers and snowboarders stay safe from the coronavirus.

Peter Morning/Mammoth Mountain

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Peter Morning/Mammoth Mountain

Every year more than 50 million skiers and snowboarders flock to resorts every year in the United States. Many of the mountains have put measures into place to help skiers and snowboarders stay safe from the coronavirus.

Peter Morning/Mammoth Mountain

«We can run algorithms against that to determine within some reasonable degree of accuracy, how many pass holders are likely to show up on a given day,» Gregory said. «Then we take the reduced capacities that we’re holding ourselves to, to make sure that people can maintain adequate social distancing, and we put all that together.»

Limiting the number of visitors each day is easy enough; math does most of the work. But ski resorts are held to the same health regulations as other businesses, Gregory and Olson said. Alterra and Vail both have staff dedicated to make sure visitors wear masks and stay six feet apart.

Pat Moore is a New Hampshire native who has been snowboarding for 25 years. He currently lives in South Lake Tahoe, Nev., and has spent several days riding at Sierra at Tahoe, a resort just over the state line in California. Moore said things on the hill seem pretty cool. Everyone follows the rules to ensure the mountain stays open.

«I would say that when we were at the resort that was the safest that I’ve felt other than being home,» he said. «We’ve been seeing a lot of additional employees and infrastructure around, keeping people safely distanced, making sure people are wearing their masks.»

The mountains can provide people with a much-needed release from the pandemic stress. Which may be why guests are so eager to follow the rules. With amenities like indoor dining closed, everyone is eating outside. Some skiers and riders are even taking to the parking lots to eat their lunch, Moore said.

The personal responsibility visitors have demonstrated during the early season is promising, Olson said. Many guests politely remind one another to keep their masks on and to stay six feet apart. Neither the staff nor visitors want to see the season end until the snow is gone.

«If we’ve learned anything during this pandemic, it’s that people want to be outdoors,» Olson said. «It is the one reprieve that people are able to have during this pandemic. … The ski season looks different this year, but the skiing and riding is the same.»