State Ski Area Guidance

[Big Bob]

I can see the problem with contact sports and sports that are played indoors. With indoor being the operative word with the spike in cases as people move indoors. This is an outdoor sport. When on the slopes we are usually at least 6' apart. I can see the spread when we enter the lodges to eat or use the potty. These activities can be controlled fairly easily by using your car as a base lodge. Lift loading can be controlled, another possible spread point. Why the VT governor wants to shut a large portion of the economy down is surprising. And the timing of the announcement with the election was well crafted! VT is now experiencing community spread, not from OOS. It is twig season, not to many tourists in VT right now. NH also had a spike, but it seems that the numbers have settled back in the last few days. The NH governor has allowed more freedom in the economy, but our hospital loading has remained under control. Perhaps VT needs to look to the east for how to handle this without bankrupting the state and it's businesses.

[Mistergiff]

VT is now experiencing community spread, not from OOS. It is twig season, not to many tourists in VT right now.

If we lose the ski season this is what is going to cause it. The travel map is being constantly ignored. I also can't find the exemption for work or under 24 hour stays anyone on the website. Did they remove that? If so the map is even more of a joke. Our workforce here in the Northern Berkshires is highly intertwined with Bennington, and even the Mount Snow area. There's hundreds of people crossing the border daily on rt. 7 and rt. 8. Many more so in the Upper Valley.

[skixc2]

"Individuals engaged in a daily commute to and from their job are expressly exempt from the need to quarantine by Executive Order."
No <24 hr exemption.
Yes, Upper Valley is a mess, all the shopping and life amenities are in NH and many of the travel routes from NH to NH are in VT.

[Mister Moose]

Some interesting new guidance from the State that came out 11/3:

Contact Tracing / Travel Policy Attestation
• Resorts must collect the name, phone number, and email address in an electronic format of all
people using the resort each day, and retain the list for 30 days for the purposes of contact
tracing. This list must include all guests using the resort, including season pass holders.
Whenever possible, the resort should include the guest’s physical address.
• Resorts must require guests to attest that the guest will be in compliance with the state’s travel
and quarantine policies when they use the resort either at the point of sale of a ticket or season
pass OR when collecting contact tracing information. Resorts must be able to demonstrate to
state authorities that each guest completed an attestation. Attestations must include a warning
that failure to comply with the state’s travel and quarantine policy may result in the loss of
future skiing and riding privileges.
• Whenever possible, a resort should collect the name, phone number, address and email address
in an electronic format of all people using any indoor space, such as a lodge or cafeteria,
including the time, date and where they sat, and retain the list for 30 days.

Day-Use Lodges
• Capacity must be reduced to 50 percent fire occupancy or managed to facilitate 6-foot
physical distance between traveling parties (whichever is less) with no more than 75 people
in any unique indoor space.
• Resorts should collect names, phone numbers, email addresses and addresses in
electronic form of all users of a day-use lodge, when they used the lodge, and
where they sat, and retain the list for 30 days.
• Safety officers must be on hand to ensure compliance and actively manage
capacity.
• Lodges must have directional walkways in place to reduce close contact between
guests (a designated entrance and exit, large aisles clearly marked with
directional flow).
• Systems must be put into place to reduce and manage customer access and
ensure capacity limits are not exceeded. These systems shall include one of the
following mechanisms or something similar:
• A reservation system for those wishing to use the lodge.
• Metered use systems such as:
• Restrictions for use of the lodge based on first letter of the guest’s
last name. Allowing A-Ls to use the lodge on even hours and M-Zs
to use the lodge on odd hours.
• Ticketing systems for access to the lodge.
• Strict limits must be in place to reduce how long guest stay in the lodge
(recommend no more than 30 minutes).
• Furniture placement, removal and alterations to help facilitate physical
distancing requirements between travel parties.
• Restricting access to the lodge to only those passholders and lift ticket holders
actively skiing or riding that day (no loitering by non-skiers/riders).
• Whenever possible, the resort should put contact tracing mechanisms in place to collect
the name and phone number of guests using the lodge, including at what time they
used the lodge.
• Masks must be worn by all guests and staff in the lodge unless the guest is actively
eating or drinking.
• Bathrooms, cafeteria lines, and other congregation points must be actively managed to
reduce capacity and ensure 6-foot physical distancing occurs.

So does that mean at KBL that all first and second floor and Mahogany Ridge areas are limited to 75 people as it is all open to the same "Unique space"?

Weekend lodge use is not going to be possible for everyone. If you count 3 large rooms at Snowshed lodge, 2 large rooms at Ramshead, one room at the peak and one large room at KBL, you get 6 rooms, or capacity for 525 people. If you have a slow weekend Saturday of 5,000 people, that's 10% that can be in the lodge. If you run it perfectly and have 4 seatings from 11:30 to 1:30 of 1/2 hour each, that means 2.100 people can have a rushed lunch in a warm lodge. I'm thinking 3/4 of weekend skiers should plan on lunch from a food truck or in their car.

https://accd.vermont.gov/content/vermon ... s-guidance

[noknees]

Why not partition off the bar area at KBL? Upper area and main eating area? Might not hit the 75 with 6 ft space for the Loft area and bar.
Don't forget Bear....three areas there too. Loft, main and bar area. Can you bring lunch in from the food truck? Anyone hear about using the K Gondi Barn for a warm area?

[Stormchaser]

I haven't spent any significant time in any lodge in years... I boot and gear up at home, ride the shuttle to Snowshed. Shuttle bus back to the condo for lunch - round trip 1:10 including a nice 50 min lunch break - and better food. Powder days just ski till the legs die then split. Who needs a lodge?

[easyrider16]

I haven't spent any significant time in any lodge in years... I boot and gear up at home, ride the shuttle to Snowshed. Shuttle bus back to the condo for lunch - round trip 1:10 including a nice 50 min lunch break - and better food. Powder days just ski till the legs die then split. Who needs a lodge?

I used to enjoy getting to K early and booting up in the lodge around 7:30 with a nice hot drink. Place was usually nearly empty. After a day of riding, I'd come back to nice warm shoes at the end of the day when most of the crowds were gone. Then I met my wife, who always booted up at the car and absolutely hated having to go into the lodge. It's been about 5 years now and I've never been able to convince her otherwise. So, now I boot up at the car every time. After all, marriage is about compromise.

[TreeRunner]

From the sevendays article:

The threshold has no tested scientific basis, and there are no state- or county-level travel recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with which to compare the method. It's simply an estimate of risk.

"We landed at 400 as a ceiling that looked similar to Vermont, in terms of disease prevalence, with a little more of a buffer," Pieciak said. Vermont's threshold is nearly twice as strict as those used in some other states in the Northeast, he acknowledged.

Should have figured as much. Perhaps putting the head of your Department of Financial Regulation in charge of disease prevention and control was not a good idea. Pieciak has no science background, he is a financial regulator with a law degree.

Pieciak also turned to infectious disease experts and a private consultant to help apply those risk management principles to viral spread.

edit: Read this part wrong. I guess that's good but still concerning why Scott would put a lawyer in charge of this system rather than a doctor or public health expert.

[ski]

I guess that's good but still concerning why Scott would put a lawyer in charge of this system rather than a doctor or public health expert.

Let's be clear, Pieciak and VT Commissioner of Health,Dr Levine work closely together in developing the policy. It is NOT a one-man show . .

[TreeRunner]

Let's be clear, Pieciak and VT Commissioner of Health,Dr Levine work closely together in developing the policy. It is NOT a one-man show . .

Great but that still doesn't make it any more sane that the Department of Financial Regulation in charge of the policy. It just looks bad and then when you hear stuff like the threshold not really scientifically based on anything you start to have your doubts about it.

[Jonathan S.]

My impression was that DFR was in charge of the calculations, not the policy. But I could be totally wrong on that...

[PinnacleJim]

Keystone opened this week with reservations sold out in hours. Hundreds of thousands in a waiting que to get access to make their reservations. Hope we don't see similar craziness.

You also needed a reservation to go into tha lodge for lunch!

[easyrider16]

I've been hearing that Epic reservations have been a sh!t show. I figure the worst of it though will be opening weekend and then the normal busy holidays. My family used our 7 day reservations for those busy weekends and holidays so I'm hoping we'll be okay for the non-holiday weekends.

[Captain Hafski]

So: When are we going to hear from K [and others, see below], how they are going to meet the Nov 03 VT governor's mandate re: attesting we are aware of, and abiding by, the rules? It's been almost a week now and I gotta believe a lot of folks, including many of my friends, need to know what they are doing with this.

It is probably that many "K travelers" and other non-Vermonters are not even aware of the state's new rules. We just talked to so good friends of ours that ski K every weekend, from Long Island, and they were not aware of the new rules [they did know about the parking ressies].

So, I checked a coupla other resorts in the state [Stratton and MRG] and their websites are also silent on this.

Come on K, we gotta know. Thx, CH

[Jonathan S.]

^ I would think all they have to do is drop that two-sentence digital check-off box in the existing reservation form (same as already required for overnight lodging), plus the new sentence about threatening to lose skiing privileges.