Skiing 2020-21

[pb4uski]

DW and I are both life-long skiers... in fact our common love of skiing was part of why we ended up together. DW instructed at a nearby resort for a few years. When we spent winters in our native Vermont we skied frequently and when I first retired we had season passes to two nearby ski areas about 40 min and 1:15 drive from home (one pass to two ski areas).

We started snowbirding in 2015 and haven't skied since, but we have a ski trip to Breckenridge planned for early February and are hoping that we get to go.

Ski trip is cancelled. DW tweaked her knee golfing and had x-ray and MRI. Mascerated miniscus... injections and PT at first and possible knee replacement if that doesn't work.

Ugh!

 

[tulak]

Sorry to hear that pb4uski. I hope she recovers soon and is able to continue skiing.

 

[Chuckanut]

Ski trip is cancelled. DW tweaked her knee golfing and had x-ray and MRI. Mascerated miniscus... injections and PT at first and possible knee replacement if that doesn't work.



Ugh!

I’m saddened to hear that. I hope she can avoid the replacement. But, if not, I know a number of X Country skiers and a few who still do downhill after the surgery.

I could not ski after my knee replacement. But then I couldn’t ski before it either. But, my granddaughter noticed I could run again though I can’t catch here. [emoji1]

 

[tulak]

As for the experience, most people are good about wearing masks. We usually go when there are less people too, so that helps. Beyond using the restroom, we don't go indoors. The last trip, we saw they had porta-potties in the parking lot and used those instead. As for staying warm, we're only there for skiing and it hasn't been that cold. We usually ski a few hours and then leave. I do miss going to the lodge for a beverage and break to warm-up a bit, but if we have to sacrifice it for this season, that's ok.

We went yesterday evening and our experience wasn't as good. I think the mistake was going on a weekend. Normally the resort doesn't have evening skiing on Sundays, but they did yesterday due to the winter holidays. We ended up getting there before sunset and noticed a good number of visitors: non-skiers that wanted to check out the snow. Many were not wearing masks. This wasn't as big of a problem, but the lines were. There ended up being only one person scanning passes which caused people to bunch up and mask compliance wasn't nearly as high as it should be.

We ended up leaving earlier than planned. From now on we'll avoid weekends and try to go when there will be less people at the resort. Lesson learned.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

The best thing about retirement is skipping weekend and holiday skiing entirely. I won't ski all this week due to the winter vacation crowds. Not worth it: too germy, too crowded, too many non-skiers who are on vacation and trying out the steep trails.


I used to ski Killington and Okemo (gotta love the mid-week senior pass prices!), but moved to NY. I've been to Hunter and Belleayre. (Poor Belleayre! Did you see the pictures of the sort-of avalanche they had? 6.5 inches of rain atop the huge amount of snow - a trail let go and filled their beautiful old lodge with soggy snow, taking out windows, doors, and some of the wall.)


My strategy for Covid skiing is: boot up in the car. Bring snacks in pockets. Keep a thermos in the car (if only so your water doesn't freeze). In the rest room, pull your neck gaiter up over your mask - double protection. Don't hang out there, or anywhere, indoors.


I usually ski all morning and quit around 1 or 2, and won't be buying food on the mountain this year. No apres. No flights to the Rockies or Tahoe or anything fancy.



Thank goodness for skiing and ice skating! Never have we needed outdoor winter recreation more!

 

[skibum]

As an avid skier, I am grateful the lifts are spinning in CA thru our various shut downs. Wearing a mask and occasionally riding a chair with someone two seats away with the breeze blowing seems like a minor risk to me.

I pack a lunch and have not been in a lodge this season after skiing 16 days. I often tailgate with a few friends in the parking lot, about 10 feet apart, but have chosen not to commute the hour drive to a resort with those outside our household.

I rarely ski holidays, but the last few days have had minimal crowds more typical of weekdays due the travel and lodging restrictions I presume. Most lift lines are short with employees there to ensure masks are on and up over the nose.

I'm very pleased to be skiing, this is a primary goal in my early retirement. I have been diligent to avoid others in most all cases, but am comfortable riding the lifts and sliding down the mountain as noted.

 

[JackJester]

Ahhh...skiing is back. We were able to find a Canadian shipper that got our ski gear out of our condo at Sun Peaks BC and shipped it down to WA. The process began back in Oct when it became evident they weren't opening the CA border anytime soon. After spending almost 2 months getting through Fedex shipping and US customs and Homeland Security, we finally got our ski stuff; who would have thought getting used ski gear shipped from our northern brothers would be so hard. We skied our local mountain in Seattle (Crystal) on Xmas Eve. They did a great job of maintaining social distancing and loading the lifts with lots of spacing and enforcing mask rules. The lift lines were a lot longer than we'd get up in BC, but at least we were out there. We will go back to Crystal soon on a tues or wed when the lift lines are smaller.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I have an Ikon pass, but doubt I will use it this year (I will defer). I live close to VT line but in NY so subject to VT quarantine restrictions (or ignoring them which it appears many are doing). Since I won't ignore them, instead I won't ski.

For awhile, I pondered on getting an Epic mid-week pass which would get me access to Hunter. I decided to skip that also and instead just make this a cross-country/snow shoe season, which i can do close to home (and could even just use my own land if needed).

No out west to Steamboat, Salt Lake, Taos, Jackson Hole etc. this year...bummer.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

We hit up Whitetail in PA yesterday and had a great time! My first time using the Epic pass. Only issue was the lack of snow to open everything. Maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the trails were open, meaning that the trails were crowded. But people were pretty good about keeping masked up, and the staff was friendly and professional. Hoping to go back this week if the rain holds off.

 

[ncbill]

At a southern ski resort this week & it's the craziest I've ever seen...tickets sold out before 9 am...spouse & kids are lucky to get in a couple of hours in the morning before the crowds drive them away...I expect this to continue the rest of the season.

 

[Montecfo]

We hit up Whitetail in PA yesterday and had a great time! My first time using the Epic pass. Only issue was the lack of snow to open everything. Maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the trails were open, meaning that the trails were crowded. But people were pretty good about keeping masked up, and the staff was friendly and professional. Hoping to go back this week if the rain holds off.

It's closest place for me. Can you elaborate?

How were lift lines, did you eat anything?

PB4USKI or while you ski?

And as Frank Zappa warned, don't eat yellow snow in any case.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Strictly Nordic here.
If public lands are open this year we are good to go. Middle of the week, and after the new year holiday we can usually ski away from any stragglers. Nothing like laying fresh tracks.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

It's closest place for me. Can you elaborate?

How were lift lines, did you eat anything?

PB4USKI or while you ski?

And as Frank Zappa warned, don't eat yellow snow in any case.

Most lifts had minimal lines. 5 minutes at most, but usually just ski right up and have a seat on the chairlift. The main cafeteria is open, but you have to eat outside. Burgers and fries were good. One lady working there said they were hoping to open for indoor dining on January 4th.

If you get there early, you shouldn't have any lines. After 10, I saw a line to buy tickets, and a line to get rentals. We got there at 9, and had to wait about 5 minutes where you pay for the rentals (same place you would buy lift tickets if you don't already have them). Other than that, no waiting for us!

 

[Montecfo]

Most lifts had minimal lines. 5 minutes at most, but usually just ski right up and have a seat on the chairlift. The main cafeteria is open, but you have to eat outside. Burgers and fries were good. One lady working there said they were hoping to open for indoor dining on January 4th.

If you get there early, you shouldn't have any lines. After 10, I saw a line to buy tickets, and a line to get rentals. We got there at 9, and had to wait about 5 minutes where you pay for the rentals (same place you would buy lift tickets if you don't already have them). Other than that, no waiting for us!

Good info. How about actually getting your skis etc. Is that still inside?

Crowds maybe kept down by lack of ski mindshare since not much snow here yet.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Good info. How about actually getting your skis etc. Is that still inside?

Yep, inside, with a new COVID-safe process. Like I said, get there early. At 9am, no wait for us. The guy inside who was helping us said that on Saturday, one family that arrived at 10:30 waited in line for rentals, and wasn't out the door until 1pm. Did I mention that you should get there early?

 

[Montecfo]

Yep, inside, with a new COVID-safe process. Like I said, get there early. At 9am, no wait for us. The guy inside who was helping us said that on Saturday, one family that arrived at 10:30 waited in line for rentals, and wasn't out the door until 1pm. Did I mention that you should get there early?

Nice. Does it matter when you get there?

 

[RunningBum]

Officially deferred my IKON pass to next year. We've had a great year at the small local hill though. Not that much real snow but we had a sustained below freezing stretch for great snow making. 49 days so far. Not done yet.

 

[Big_Hitter]

been a great ski year at bogus, about to head up. Been getting in about 3 days of skiing a week.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I decided not to ski this year at all. Not yet vaccinated. DS got vaccinated in January.

He has a weekday Epic pass and has been going twice a week. He took an overnight trip to Jack Frost/Big Boulder last week. He made a new snowboarding friend through an online group. He usually left when it got crowded on Friday nights. He livestreams some of his snowboarding. Jack Frost in the Poconos was downright empty.

 

[ncbill]

Ski resorts here are slammed, even now in March when's there's usually no one on the slopes...will be interesting to see if it carries over into next year.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I decided not to ski this year at all. Not yet vaccinated. DS got vaccinated in January.

He has a weekday Epic pass and has been going twice a week. He took an overnight trip to Jack Frost/Big Boulder last week. He made a new snowboarding friend through an online group. He usually left when it got crowded on Friday nights. He livestreams some of his snowboarding. Jack Frost in the Poconos was downright empty.

I don't think folks are itching to head to a destination resort at this point, we're so lucky to have an awesome nonprofit ski hill 30 minutes away. We've had pretty decent crowds this year, but with covid protocols.

www.bogusbasin.org

 

[Big_Hitter]

Ski resorts here are slammed, even now in March when's there's usually no one on the slopes...will be interesting to see if it carries over into next year.

gotta recreate, even during a pandemic - golf and skiing are both great ways to do it

our golf club had over 100% more play than in 2019, night skiing at bogus is sold out about every night, forget weekend lift tickets...

 

[tulak]

17 ski days so far at a local resort. I’ve given up on skiing weekends due to the crowds, even though I’m hoping this will change with warmer weather.

Slowly starting to think about next year. I’ll most likely get an Epic pass and hope things go back to normal.

 

[skibum]

28 days at local resort, 16 days on the Ikon. A few road trips coming up to visit more Ikon resorts. Conditions have been good in the Sierras. Resorts busy, but not crowded, except for a few big weekends.

 

[braumeister]

Alas, none for me, second year in a row. Last year due to surgery, this year the pandemic. You can bet I'll be skiing my fool head off next winter!