Opening day crowds at Snowmass and Aspen mountains were not far off from previous years. The mountains opened one day earlier than planned, with a slew of new COVID-19 protocols and touchless ticketing options.
“Everyone had their face coverings on, which was such a relief,” said Katie Ertl, senior vice president of mountain operations. “So thank you to the community for that.”
Jeff Hanle, vice president of communications, said that the bluebird conditions helped bring people out in an even split among the two mountains.
“They were pretty darn even and both pretty strong,” Hanle said.
A Snowmass ski patroller waves from the Village Express lift on Wednesday for opening day.
He said there were surges at times at the Silver Queen Gondola, but that running Nell and Bell chairs — as well as Ajax Express and Gent’s Ridge lifts up top — helped give skiers and riders enough options to stay spread out and keep lines moving.
The Sundeck was open for business, along with a companion shelter for additional seating, but Hanle said the crowds were primarily focused on their turns.
“We found a lot of people were just skiing the whole day. It became much less about going in to hang out and eat and watch football at the Sundeck,” he said. “There were times when we were at capacity and we had our doormen working, but not nearly to the degree that we thought it might be.”
A proper snow dump on Tuesday, along with sustained temperatures below 20 degrees that allowed for snowmaking, enabled SkiCo to open more terrain than originally planned on Aspen Mountain. Both Hanle and Ertl said the primary thing they heard from visitors was praise for the early-season conditions.
“The smiles and the whoops have been great, so I am thrilled about that,” Ertl said. “And we have just been very lucky that everyone is conscientious about physically distancing and keeping their face coverings. That’s what is going to get us through the season day by day.”
The additional terrain also allowed for SkiCo to make available additional day passes for today’s Thanksgiving holiday. Day-of tickets had previously been sold out, but Ertl said the system is set up to react to the changing variables of crowd size, compliance and terrain available.
“It allows us flexibility, so if we feel that things are going well, we can flex to the side of allowing more lift tickets to be sold,” she said. “We are just finding tools and triggers to be able to manage the crowds so that people can have a great time.”
Foot passengers will not be allowed today. Hanle said it was a hard decision, especially during a holiday that in the past has gotten a boost from visitors who are only interested in the sightseeing aspect of the gondola ride.
“It’s hard because there are a lot of people in town this time of year who are not skiers that just come here to enjoy the mountains,” he said.
Charlie Cope throws his arms up in the air on the Ajax Express Chairlift in excitement for Aspen Mountain's opening day on Wednesday.
And while Ikon pass holders need to make a reservation for the days they will be using their Aspen Snowmass punches, Ertl said SkiCo is doing its best to avoid a reservation system for local pass holders.
“We are working hard to not have that happen so that pass holders can have the freedom to show up and go ski and ride,” she said. “We want to make sure there is a balance with our pass holders, Ikon Pass holders and lift tickets.”
SkiCo’s new touchless system allows those visitors who are purchasing day-of lift tickets to do so online. Some of Wednesday’s longer ticket-office lines were attributed to last-minute locals exchanging their chamber pass vouchers, as well as those visitors who did not go through all the steps online necessary to use the digital kiosks to receive their Aspen Card.
“They should sit in the comfort of their home, make sure they do everything they can. It’s going to really get them on the hill a lot quicker,” Hanle said.
Dryer- and warmer-than-preferable conditions have stalled snowmaking in some places, though Highlands and Buttermilk will both — for the first time — also spin their lifts today in an effort to further spread out the Thanksgiving crowd.
Hanle said the ticketing and gate teams did an excellent job reacting to all the kinks bound to come up on opening day any year, and particularly one that came together amidst a pandemic.
“Normally, we roll out our regular pass products and everything else in August, and we have time to make sure everything works,” he said. “Well, we were delayed by months on getting that out, and we have new pass products and new procedures, so today was Day 1 of working through all of that.”
SkiCo leadership is evaluating each day as it comes for the time being and will continue to update the public on policies such as foot passengers, reservations and uphilling.
A group of Snowmass locals cheers at the New Belgium Ranger Station in Snowmass after taking runs on Snowmass for opening day on Wednesday.
“What we learned today is we need to stay flexible; we need to evaluate how things work every day and make changes where we have to,” Hanle said.
And it’s a two-sided coin banking on public participation.
“If everyone behaves with the idea of everyone’s safety in mind and we can all stay healthy, that is what is going to get us through,” said Ertl.
“We have the snow, we have the lifts. We are going to get all the terrain open as the snow starts to fall more and our snowmaking expands, but if people can manage their situations and have patience around one another and tolerance, we are going to have a great season.”
"behavior" - Google News
November 26, 2020 at 05:00PM
https://ift.tt/2V5M8aw
Open season: Good behavior, good snow credited for release of additional lift tickets - Aspen Daily News
"behavior" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2We9Kdi
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Open season: Good behavior, good snow credited for release of additional lift tickets - Aspen Daily News"
Post a Comment