Tag: travel post Covid-19

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How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season?

Beaver Mountain. Photo by Indy Pass. How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season?

How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season?

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

OK, the ski season 19-20 has been cut short, at least we have to count ourselves lucky, as we could ski in December and February as a family, and I even had a cheeky escape in January with some mum friends. We were going to go back in April, but oh well. I feel sorry for those families going only in Easter and having to miss their holiday. But with the crisis and all the people losing loved ones, having to stay at home is not so bad really.

Now, if I start thinking about next season, I don’t have to book lodging, as we have our home in the Valdigne region of the Aosta Valley. But usually by now, I would have booked my Eurotunnel ticket and my hotels on the way up in Chaumont (the Ibis Styles Chaumont Centre Gare), and the Novotel or Holiday Inn in Reims for when we come back….

Visiting the mountains is a good option if you are afraid of too many people on the lifts, there are still lots of activities to do while social distancing.
Visiting the mountains is a good option if you are afraid of too many people on the lifts, there are still lots of activities to do while social distancing. How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season? Photo by The-Ski-Guru. Monte Grivola seen from Morgex, AO.

So far, I am in no hurry to do anything, we’ll have time. I do have a Eurotunnel reservation for late July and the Ibis Styles in Chaumont also for July, I’ve figured out that the way back could be in a different place needed be; and I don’t know if we in the UK are going to be allowed to be crossing the Channel by then… so it will be wait and see.

How social-distancing would work in ski resorts?

So how would ski resorts open in the winter (and summer, as they are getting ready for that now?) They are talking of a whole lot of new measures to keep their guests and employees safe.

There would be much less overcrowding for sure. And that for me would be a silver lining.

Winter walks are always lovely, and you can have the space to relax in the mountains. How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season?
Winter walks are always lovely, and you can have the space to relax in the mountains. How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season?

I am the kind of person that likes skiing with no people around, I think I’ve written this before, and as I have kids in school age, we are stuck to go on holidays when everyone is going on holidays…. I remember growing up in Argentina, we could take some time off for going skiing during August, avoiding the Winter Holidays in July and not being penalised. There you get (at least when I was growing up, many moons ago), 25 days of absenteeism per year. That means, if coming late by one minute in the morning, you got half an absenteeism. If coming late by more than 5 minutes, you missed your day- you could count that everyone was in time – not sure why they don’t set this up in the UK, as I keep on seeing people coming late (including me, even I live across from the school!). Also, if then you take some holidays, that is fine, you count the days off, but, if you get ill and have to be absent and you pass the 25 days, you repeat the year …. No ifs and buts… (a well-known phrase in the UK- that I actually don’t like.)

Mt Baldy in Southern California just reopened the ski season, and they are asking guests to come at different times, and only four people can go up every 10 minutes. They only have chairlifts, so that is easier. The people are asked to go alone, unless they are in a family group.

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UK ski industry operators and agencies have felt a huge impact by Covid-19 but are optimistic than resorts will open next winter.

Les Gets- Images ©Keno_Derleyn_OT_Les_Gets. UK ski industry operators and agencies have felt a huge impact by Covid-19 but are optimistic than resorts will open next winter.

UK ski industry operators and agencies have felt a huge impact by Covid-19 but are optimistic than resorts will open next winter.

A study of UK snowsports industry professionals conducted by Ski Press and Skipedia have revealed the damage that Covid-19 has had on their business and what they believe the future might hold for next year.

Some of the key findings concluded that:

  • 82% of companies suffered reduced sales due to the premature end to the 2019-20 season, with two-thirds experiencing lower than usual sales for winter 2020-21 so far.
  • Almost 1 in 5 have made staff redundant and a quarter are concerned they could go out of business.
  • Although almost all expect ski resorts to open next winter, over 70% expect this to be with social distancing restrictions in place.
Crans-Montana in winter - Photo: @CMTC_luciano_miglionico. UK ski industry operators and agencies have felt a huge impact by Covid-19 but are optimistic than resorts will open next winter.
Crans-Montana in winter – Photo: @CMTC_luciano_miglionico. UK ski industry operators and agencies have felt a huge impact by Covid-19 but are optimistic than resorts will open next winter.

With the 2019-20 season cut short, the pressures on UK ski professionals started during March when all Alpine countries started closing ski resorts following the lockdown in Italy. By the middle of March, Austria, France and Switzerland had closed all of its ski resorts and holidays for the rest of the season were cancelled.

60% of winter sports businesses including tour operators and equipment retailers have now furloughed staff members. 17% of respondents have had to make redundancies too.

Whilst 64% are saying they are experiencing reduced sales for next winter, two-thirds expect that it should be ‘business as usual’ this winter, anticipating that they will be able to offer their normal services.

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Mt Baldy, first American Ski Resort to open after COVID19, a social experiment?

A skier enjoying the fresh powder at Mt Baldy. Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan. Unsplash. Mt Baldy, first American Ski Resort to open after COVID19, a social experiment?

Mt Baldy, first American Ski Resort to open after COVID19, a social experiment?

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

I do hope that it works! Mt Baldy has just reopened operations, only for experienced skiers and boarders that have their own equipment. This is not the time to learn how to ski or board, not use the tubing park!

Maximum of four people will be able to check in every 10 minutes and they have to pre-arrange their time to arrival. Only season passes and one day lift tickets will be able to come. Cars need to be parked with three parking slots between them in the parking lot, if not they will be towed. There will not be so many customer relations personnel on ground, but some will be directing the parking. If people arrive prior to their time slot, they’ll need to stay put in their car until their time is due.

A chair lift ride at Mt Baldy. Mt Baldy, first American Ski Resort to open after COVID19, a social experiment?
A chair lift ride at Mt Baldy. Mt Baldy, first American Ski Resort to open after COVID19, a social experiment?

The cafeteria will not be open on the top of the mountain, but some refreshments will be available at the bottom of Lift 3, Thunder Mountain.

The lifts in Mt Baldy are doubles, so they are asking people to ride the chairlifts on their own, and only ride with someone else if is living with you. Toilets will only be available at the base area and on the top of the mountain and being cleaned more than regularly. The resort is asking people to try to do their necessities prior to coming to the mountain. For me not having a toilet would be a problem, but if there are forests around, that would suffice! (at least for number 1!)

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Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector

Cortina d'Ampezzo. Credits: Cortina Marketing. Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector.

Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector

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Cortina’s history as a tourism destination is at least 160 years long. In the 1860s, climbers and explorers like Viennese Paul Grohmann started making the Dolomites, and in particular Cortina d’Ampezzo, famous throughout Europe. The British, Austrian and German nobility and high bourgeoisie began flocking to Cortina for their summer holidays, attracted by the beauty of the landscape, the numerous adventure options and the positive effects of fresh air and a pristine environment on their health.

This first golden age of tourism was not to last forever: when the First World War broke out, Cortina d’Ampezzo found itself on the frontline, and when the peace was signed it was passed from Austria to Italy. Europe was not the same as before, the Belle Époque had gone for good and the tough war years had reshaped the interests and values of a poorer population. Nevertheless, the taste for beauty and adventure did not fade. Tourists gradually returned to Cortina, the Italian high society replacing fallen royal families. The 1930s saw the boom of winter tourism, Cortina’s success was unrivalled, with 52 hotels hosting over 600,000 overnight stays in 1937, and the town was appointed to host the Winter Olympic Games in 1944.

Foto Storiche Video Archivio Storico Giuseppe Ghedina 1898-1986_Manaz Productions. Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector.
Foto Storiche Video Archivio Storico Giuseppe Ghedina 1898-1986_Manaz Productions. Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector.

A few years later, the flourishing tourism economy of Cortina was once again disrupted by war. The town was still able to host the World Ski Championships in 1941, but the 1944 Olympics were cancelled. When the war stopped, the social and economic situation in Europe was catastrophic, and yet tourism in Cortina slowly recovered. In the 1950s, the Italian economic miracle marked the growth of a wealthy middle class, and tourism stopped being an activity only for the ultra-rich. Cortina was fast in reacting, as only two years after the war the destination bid for the 1956 Winter Olympic. This enhanced the phase of renaissance already taking place and gave residents the necessary motivation to keep working and renovating the town. The Games marked Cortina’s definite comeback on the international scene and gave it a special place in the hearts and minds of Italians as a dream mountain destination.

Foto Storiche Video Archivio Storico Giuseppe Ghedina 1898-1986_Manaz Productions. Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector.
Foto Storiche Video Archivio Storico Giuseppe Ghedina 1898-1986_Manaz Productions. Cortina, an example of resilience in the tourism sector.

Ever since, Cortina’s image and tourism sector have reshaped a number of times: from the party town of the 1980s to the place of Italy’s jet-set in the early 2000, to a shift back to sports, nature and wellbeing after the crisis of 2009.

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