Industry News
Social media posts put out by Vail Resorts’ Summit County, CO ski areas reveal that the company has submitted a request to the Summit County Public Health Department to have the current capacity restrictions at ski resorts removed. Both Breckenridge and Keystone posted the message yesterday.
While capacity limits have not been made public (they’re trade secrets), skier capacities at Summit County’s four resorts were further reduced on Wednesday, November 25, to slow the rising covid-19 case count. This further reduction was mandated by Summit County and restricts the resorts over and above the state-approved winter operating plans that all ski areas submitted.
Summit Daily reports that the matter was discussed at a Summit County Board of Health yesterday. New cases, positivity rate, and hospitalizations have all decreased or stabilized in Summit County recently.
“I have seen some alarming pictures of lack of distancing. If we were to increase any capacity, it would be worse. We know there will be so much pressure in the next week. And if we’ve already had problems in recent days, if we increase capacity, we’re asking for problems and higher transmission rates.”
– Summit County Commissioner Karn Stiegelmeier
Vail Resorts said they would maintain some capacity limits but ask the county to relax the current restrictions somewhat. No changes were made ahead of the holidays, but officials agreed to discuss the matter again in the New Year with the learning experience of the holiday period behind them.
