Mountain Times - Volume 49, Number 14: April 1-7, 2020

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20 • The Mountain Times • April 1-7, 2020 By Lisa Lynn, VT Ski & Ride On March 24, Governor Phil Scott issued an executive order directing Vermonters to stay at home or in their place of residence, leaving only for essential reasons such as: personal safety; groceries or medicine; curbside pick-up of goods, meals or beverages; medical care; exercise; care of others; and work, as set forth further. So the question that everyone was asking was: does this mean we can still skin and ski? At a press conference, Gov. Scott said: “Outdoor activities like dog walking or cross-country skiing are fine, but it is critical people keep a social distancing of six-feet apart, minimum.” What that means has been a topic that’s lit up the internet, pitted locals against out-of-towners and caused some areas to put up concrete barriers to keep skiers out of the access roads or parking lots. “I skin every day,” said Michael Christopher Owens, director of alpine touring at Magic Mountain in the winter and a regular competitor of the Northeast Rando circuit. “But I stay within 30 miles of my home. I don’t ski on trails or in conditions where I think I might get hurt and I practice social distancing.” When we caught up with Owens he had just returned from a skin at a nearby ski area. “However, it’s crazy there — there were cars parked all over the place — probably 60% of them with out-of-state plates. There were people hiking up in regular ski boots — and it’s really icy now. People come to these ski areas expecting the trails to be like they were during the winter and groomed and that’s not the case now. And when they are heading up the mountain, they are not practicing social distancing. I had a guy skin right up to me on a skin track and start chatting. He looked stunned when I asked him to move away.” Owens has also had to deal with people from out of state asking where Yes, but can we still ski? Not at resorts, not if you have to travel to ski or ride they could rent AT gear. “I told this one dude from Connecticut who reached out to me on a Facebook group, ‘No, you can’t rent gear here and you should stay home.’ He just didn’t get it. Then he said “Well, I’ll just come up and ride my mountain bike.” I know people have second homes up here but the whole point is not to move around, not to drive across three states or to have to stop at a gas station. Honestly, it’s gotten so bad I’m leaving a lot of these Facebook groups that focus on skiing. ” At Pico Mountain, a group of skiers from the Boston area had to be rescued Saturday, March 21, after one of the guys fell about 700 feet after slipping on the icy snow. They were also walking up in ski boots and the conditions were extremely firm, according to sources at Killington Search and Rescue who lead the rescue effort. The man that fell reportedly severely hurt his hand trying to self-arrest on the ice, but was otherwise ok. Killington Resort and Pico Mountain officially closed the uphill travel season, Tuesday, March 24. “I’m not surprised,” said Murray McGrath, KSAR member and owner of Inn at the Long Trail. “They have to worry about the liability associated with being an attractive nuisance.” But he added that he was personally upset by the closure as he enjoyed skinning up the trails regularly, as did many responsible locals. Jay Peak and others have faced a similar appeal. Shortly after Jay closed on March area, the Middlebury College Snow Bowl this week. “It wasn’t so much that people were not obeying the social distancing measure, but more that we wanted to avoid them simply getting in their car and driving up here. That takes gas and at some point, they’ll have to go to a gas station,” said the Snow Bowl’s general manager Mike Hussey. “Also, there’s no ski patrol here, no chance of an immediate rescue and even if there was, we would be exposing others. The added load on the emergency services is an unnecessary burden on a group of folks that are working really hard to get ahead of this virus.” Sugarbush Resort’s president Win Smith has been posting about skinning and wrote this on his blog: “We are still permitting uphill travel as has been our policy, but we ask everyone to do it in a responsible fashion. If we find this is not the case, we will be forced to stop uphill travel. ” Craftsbury Outdoor Center 13, it erected barriers across its access had closed its facilities but continued road. to groom its trails and allow skiers to Middlebury College, the first college in use them last week. “We’re not open, Vermont to send students home in early but we’re grooming the core trails and March, shut down the parking lot to its ski Ruthie’s and Sam’s,” said Sheldon Miller “ We appear to be attracting folks from outside our VT community and this does not seem like a good idea at this time... We do this in the best interest of the health of the COC community. Stay healthy!” By Polly Mikula Out-of-state cars parked at the base of Superstar at Killington Resort, Saturday, March 28. of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, on Friday, March 20. “We sealed up the 2021 manmade pile for November the other day too,” he noted, referring to the novel way Craftsbury has developed to keep piles of snow frozen over the summer by covering them with wood chips and then using that snow as an early season base.” Yet, by the next day, things had changed. A new notice appeared on the Craftsbury web site, effective Sunday, March 22: We had hoped to keep some trails groomed as long as the snow allowed, but we now feel forced to close for the following reasons: Skiers are not keeping ‘social distancing’ (6 feet) from each other. This is critical behavior for all of us to follow at all times. Skiers are gathering in groups to socialize. Even a group smaller than 10 people is at increased risk of sharing germs. We appear to be attracting folks from outside our VT community and this does not seem like a good idea at this time. So, effective Sunday, March 22, we will no longer groom our trails and we ask you not to come to ski. We do this in the best interest of the health of the COC community. Stay healthy!” This story was originally published March 26, 2020, at vtskiandride.com. Mountain View Bison SALE! 20-50% OFF ALPINE TOURING BOOTS Main St. Ludlow, VT (802) 228-3344 2089 Killington Road, Killington, VT 05751 (802) 422-9675 Mountain View Bison 238 Stratton Road No. Clarendon, VT 05759 Tom Hubbard, owner PH: 802.342.0429 Email: thubb12@gmail.com RAISED AND HARVESTED IN RUTLAND, VERMONT
The Mountain Times • April 1-7, 2020 SKI SHOP SHOWCASE • 21 Without getting in a car, we made a gazillion memories climbing the mountains in our backyard and playing in the streams that ran off of them. Solid Waste Transfer Station Location: 2981 River Road (Behind Town Garage) Phone Number: (802) 422-4499 Winter (Nov. 2, 2019 to March 30, 2020) SAT.& MON. (8 A.M.- 4 P.M.) & SUN. (8 A.M.-12 P.M.) Collection & transfer of solid waste deposited by residents and property owners of the Town. (Windshield sticker & punch card needed) Recycling Center for residents and property owners of the Town. (Free with windshield sticker) If you need to dispose of solid waste outside the normal operating hours of the Transfer Station or have construction & demolition debris or other non-acceptable waste, residents and property owners of Killington can go to the Rutland County Solid Waste District Transfer Station & Drop-off Center located on Gleason Road in Rutland. Summer hours begin Sat., April 4, 2020. (Sat. & Mon. 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.) Exploring with youthful eyes When I was young, my mom used to feed us breakfast and send us out the door with instructions not to return home until 5 p.m. to get ready for dinner. I didn’t have a backpack or money or anything except the complete and utter feeling of freedom to create and imagine and dream. I would have a bathing suit on underneath my clothes and a beach towel draped over my right shoulder and a chapter book hidden in my armpit. Opening that rickety screen door and stepping onto the crushed rock patio was like stepping out into a world like none other. A world where I could do anything as long as my little thick legs could carry me there. I was free to explore the world available to me or just sit on the beach and read for hours. It was an amazing time, full of crayfish hunts, sandcastle building and “expositions,” all in the same day. There was a beach within walking distance, but you could never just walk straight there — every day you had to follow a different journey, perhaps get your heart racing by taking the hidden Snake Path or choosing the long way through Mrs. Kiss’s blueberry bushes, around the Split Rock behind the outhouse and then over the rickety wooden bridge built before the Second World War. I spent so many hours on that bridge, hidden from the sun by the thick canopy, and dangling my legs over the side as I met friends both real and imaginary. Without getting in a car, we made a gazillion memories climbing the mountains in our backyard and playing in the streams that ran off of them. We would cut through the woods until we thought we might be far enough to get into trouble and then turn around. We would walk south one day and then west the other, never having a real goal in mind. Usually, we just thought about Livin’ the Dream By Merisa Sherman By Merisa Sherman what kind of trouble we could get into that our parents would never know about. But then somehow, they always seemed to know everything by dinner. How did they do that? The moment uphill travel was shut down, we were sitting in the car getting ready to head up to the mountain. I literally burst into tears and felt my whole world slipping away. The snow was melting quickly around our house and unless I wanted to cross-country ski on the fast grass, it was time to move on. But then we heard from the Green Mountain Club, who recommended walking out your door and exploring your neighborhood. So, every afternoon this week, after finishing our chores, the BF and I would pull on our muck boots and walk out the back door of our house to see what our beautiful neighborhood has in store for us. And I quickly realized that I haven’t changed that much since my childhood. With no destination in mind, we would promise ourselves we wouldn’t come home until the light began to fade and our tummies started to rumble. Instead of just a towel and a book, we’ve got a backpack full of hiking tools and emergency supplies, but the mission remains the same. We just let our childhood selves guide us. There is so much hidden in our little world. Just this week, we “discovered” a dangerously steep ravine, several waterfalls, a swamp that could be very scary at dusk, a waterway that we just might be able to paddle, and of course, all the hidden beauty of our Green Mountains. All just by walking out our back door and exploring. We even found the perfect super secret location for the massively awesome fort that we’re gonna build. It’s, like, gonna be the coolest thing ever! To our valued healthcare partners, patients, friends and employees: To our valued healthcare partners, patients, friends and employees: Regional Ambulance Service, Inc.’s mission for the past 38 years has been Regional dedicated Ambulance to saving and Service, protecting Inc.’s lives. mission At this time for the when past the 38 news years is has been dedic to saving dominated and by protecting Coronavirus, lives. I wanted At this to personally time when reach the out news and is let dominated you by Coronavirus, know that we I wanted are vigilantly to personally and continuously reach implementing out and let you enhanced know that we are vigila protocols to ensure your safety. and continuously implementing enhanced protocols to ensure your safety. We are participating in daily calls and meetings internally and externally We to are remain participating informed and in daily prepared calls based and on meetings the most internally current information and externally to remai informed and guidance and prepared provided by based state and on the federal most officials current as well information as the World and guidance pro by Health state and Organization federal officials and the Centers as well for as Disease the World Control. Health Our Organization main and the Ce for focus Disease to Control. ensure we Our meet main customer focus needs is to while ensure doing we our meet part customer keep needs while our you, part our to employees, keep you, and our our employees, communities and safe. our communities safe. Here’s what we’re doing: Here’s • what We are we’re implementing doing: enhanced dispatch protocols to prescreen for suspected exposure or viral epidemiology. ● • We We are continue implementing to follow CDC enhanced guidelines dispatch and sanitize protocols our vehicles to prescreen for suspe exposure after each or transport. viral epidemiology. ● • We We continue are ensuring to follow that our CDC employees guidelines have access and sanitize to the proper our personal protective equipment to minimize their risk of exposure. vehicles after each transport. ● • We We are are ensuring cleaning our that facilities our employees frequently with have recommended access to the sanitizing products. proper personal protective equipment to minimize their risk of exposure. • In addition, we are taking steps to ensure the welfare of our employees. ● We are cleaning This includes our facilities instructing frequently employees with who recommended feel ill to stay sanitizing pro ● In home addition, and consult we are their taking healthcare steps providers. to ensure We the are welfare also urging of our employees. T includes all employees instructing to be vigilant employees about frequent who feel hand ill to washing. stay home and consult their We want healthcare to reassure providers. you that we We are are doing also everything urging all we employees can to promote to be vigilant abo a safe frequent and secure hand environment washing. for your needs. We are very grateful for our dedicated employees. They will be there to meet the community We needs want during to reassure this time. you that we are doing everything we can to promote a safe secure Your environment health and safety, for and your that needs. of our patients We are is very our grateful highest priority for our and dedicated emplo They we will truly be appreciate there to the meet trust the that community you place in needs our team during and our this company. time. Your Best health regards, and safety, and that of our patients is our highest priority and we tru appreciate Paul Kulig, the trust that you place in our team and our company. President Best regards, Paul Kulig,
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Mountain Times - Volume 49, Number 14: April 1-7, 2020

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