Mountain Times - Vol. 49, No. 53 - Dec. 30, 2020 - Jan 2, 2021

The Mountain Times • Dec. 30, 2020 - Jan. 5, 2021 LOCAL NEWS • 7
Honor system: So far, no cases of Covid-19 have been traced back to ski resorts in Vermont but some are worried about increased travel to resorts
>
from page 1
On social media, photos have circulated widely of
crowded lift lines, along with stories of parking lots packed
with non-Vermont license plates. Kurrle said those photos
were the subject of several official complaints to the state.
Officials, including Gov. Phil Scott, also warn against
making assumptions based on license
plates, as many out-of-staters have followed
the guidelines, or have temporarily
relocated to Vermont to work remotely or,
for some, specifically to ski.
Molly Mahar, president of the Vermont
Ski Areas Association, said she
worries that comments from locals
could dissuade visitors from coming to
the state in the future.
“They may have quarantined, they may be living here for
the season, or they may have moved here and just haven’t
changed their car registration yet,” she said. “I really worry
about the rhetoric around out-of-state people, because our
economy depends on those people.”
‘I want them to play by the rules’
While expressing the need for safety, many locals have
celebrated the arrival of snow and broader opening of
resorts after months of cabin fever attributed to the virus.
On social media and in interviews with VTDigger, many
have cited instances where resort employees have encouraged
mask wearing, and others said they felt generally
comfortable with measures taken by resorts.
“I think the resorts are doing what they need to do,” said
Todd Wright, who often skis with his family at Sugarbush,
and is also the director of Adventure Sports at St. Michael’s
College. “I think a lot of it falls down on the users. The
people that do this stuff have a lot of responsibility, and we
just can’t shift it all and say, ‘It’s the resort’s job to manage
my behaviors.’ I need to manage my own behaviors.”
Still, he was unnerved by sudden increases in drivers
from out of state.
“I want them to play by the rules,” he said. “As a
parent, it’s really important for my kid to go back to
in-person learning. Working at the college, I just look at
how much work time and effort we’ve spent into managing
Covid on campus. We’ve invested all this energy,
and all it takes is someone not following the rules, and
then it spreads like wildfire.”
He’s seen posts from travelers who say they’ll arrive,
ski and leave, but he worries about those who stop for
gas, go into stores for food, or interact with customer
service at the resorts.
“You’re plugging into those communities just for a second,
but that contact can be catastrophic,” he said. “I think
that’s what all of us in Vermont struggle with.”
A survival year
Ski areas’ roles in enforcing Covid-19 restrictions
changed in early November, when cases surged and
Gov. Scott reinstated strict quarantine guidelines on
travelers from other states.
Hotels reported a flood of cancellations, and
multiple ski resorts refunded more than $1 million
in season pass sales to those who couldn’t swing the
requirements for out-of-state travel.
“We know that the hospitality industry has been
particularly hard hit,” Kurrle said, “and they have this
additional burden, the ski areas, of this frontline enforcement,
letting visitors know what our expectation
is, and trying to do it ahead of time.”
Kurrle said the industry revenue will likely decrease 40%
to 70% this season, a significant hit to the state’s economy.
In an average year, the sport brings around 4 million skiers
and riders to Vermont.
Mahar, of the ski areas association, estimates that in a
typical season, skiers spend $925 million in Vermont, and
two-thirds of that is spent in communities surrounding
resorts. “It means a lot to the state,” she said.
The organization estimates $125 million in tax receipts
from sales tax and rooms and meals tax during an average
ski season. The industry is an economic driver in rural
areas, and employs about 13,000 people at the height of a
typical winter season.
“We knew it’d be tough,” said Mike Solimano, president
and general manager at Killington. “The ski resort business
is very expensive to operate, and very capital-intensive. So
“If we find somebody hasn’t done that [quarantine],
we’ve already told people that we will pull their pass and
probably give their name to the state,” Solimano said. “It’s
the same thing if people are on site and refuse to wear a
mask. We have a no tolerance policy for either of those.”
most of us can’t survive with a 50% reduction in revenue.
This is a survival year, to be totally honest.”
He said reservations were down 40% to 50% for the
Christmas/New Years holiday week.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Bonnie MacPherson,
communications manager at Okemo, sighed. She had
been thrilled last week about the 40-plus inches of snow on
the mountain — a boon for the ski area, which has had to
deal with warm temperatures in addition to the confines of
the pandemic year.
Since then, the resort’s social media page, which she
manages, has had an onslaught of commenters concerned
about social distancing and overcrowding at the resort.
“I think they’re just scared, they’re frustrated, they’re
fearful about this pandemic,” she said. “There are rumors
that we’ve never dealt with before, and there’s just
so much misinformation about what’s happening and
what’s going on.”
MacPherson listed the precautions the resort is taking,
similar to other resorts: reduced capacity, mandatory face
masks and social distancing, ghost lanes between skiers
in lift lines, required reservations, spaced-out chairlifts,
reduced capacity indoors.
Employees enforce social distancing at Okemo,
MacPherson said, but many skiers are funneled into
designated lift lines because the resort can’t yet open all of
its terrain. Opening a trail requires snowmaking efforts and
approval from Ski Patrol.
Enforcement within the honor system
So far, no cases of Covid-19 have been traced back to ski
resorts in Vermont.
Still, some locals have argued for stricter enforcement
within what is one of the state’s only industries
that brings thousands of travelers to gather in one place
during the pandemic.
Based on state guidelines, resorts require signatures
from travelers, promising that they’ve adhered to the rules,
but some locals have reacted squeamishly at the thought of
handling community safety through an honor system.
“I’m not going to say that nobody’s breaking the quarantine,”
said Solimano at Killington. “I’m not naive … and
I think the governor’s not either. I think the key for us is we
need to do all the things we can control.”
Solimano said he’s made an appearance in lift lines, and
has offered pass refunds to people who need extra encouragement
to properly wear their face coverings. “All of them
have decided that they will pull their mask up,” he said.
Skiers aren’t required to wear masks while skiing, so
most of the time, he said, he assumes those without masks
have forgotten to pull them back up when they reach the
lift line. He’s more concerned about indoor spaces, where
skiers are removing masks to eat. Lodges are reduced to
50% capacity or a maximum of 75 people, and Solimano
said guidelines are enforced resort-wide.
“It’s with the threat of taking away your $1,000 pass,”
he said. “I think we’re pushing harder than probably a lot
of businesses. If you just walk into a retail store, nobody’s
questioning where you came from.”
Resorts can revoke skiers’ passes if they aren’t adhering
to mask wearing, social distancing, or if the resort learns a
skier hasn’t quarantined.
“If we find somebody hasn’t done that [quarantine],
we’ve already told people that we will pull their pass and
probably give their name to the state,” Solimano said. “It’s
the same thing if people are on site and refuse to wear a
mask. We have a no tolerance policy for either of those.”
‘The benefit of the doubt’
Neither Killington Ski Area nor Okemo
Mountain Resort has revoked any season
passes yet, though MacPherson said the
resort’s hotels have turned travelers away
upon learning they hadn’t quarantined.
Mahar said she had not heard of any
resort in the state pulling a season pass
because of violating guidelines.
Ski areas are responsible for following
the state’s guidelines, but there’s no specific procedure
in place for a ski resort that does not take away someone’s
pass if they haven’t followed the guidelines.
“The way we manage other businesses in the state is
we’ve given people the benefit of the doubt that they’re
going to follow our guidelines,” Kurrle said. “If we knew
that somebody was in violation, our first approach
would be to provide more education and more opportunity
for them to adjust their operations to improve
health and safety.”
Solimano said there is little the resort can do about
travelers who promise they’ve quarantined, but
haven’t. He’s hopeful that outdoor recreation businesses
can continue to flourish during the pandemic.
A summer season busy with out-of-state mountain
bikers didn’t cause any problems, he said.
“To me, this says it’s working, that it’s safe to be
outdoors,” he said. “We’re trying to balance this. We
don’t want to have it be a police state. We’re trying to let
people enjoy the outdoors, but you know, we have to
balance that and try to stay open.”