Will the CDC’s Recommendation on Double Masking Affect Skiing?

Liam Abbott | | Post Tag for Industry NewsIndustry News
An employee at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadow’s is shown wearing a single cloth covering over her mouth and nose. Will we see this change in the near future? Image courtesy of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadow’s Facebook.

Around a month back, the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) made the recommendation that people should wear two masks in public compared to one. They recommended that one of the masks should be a surgical-grade mask with a cloth mask going on top.

This week, the state of California joined the CDC in recommending that people wear two masks in public. With this news and other states also beginning to urge the same thing, we at SnowBrains wondered if this new recommendation might transition to the slopes.

Recommending vs. Telling People

As of writing this article, both the CDC and the state of California are only recommending that you do this. That means they are not forcing anyone to, nor are they forcing businesses, including ski resorts, to update their safety guidelines.

The reality of using the word recommend is that most people, and businesses, with not listen. We have seen many stories and reports throughout this season of how hard it is already to get people to wear one mask and keep it on in lift lines and other busy areas. Making it mandatory to have two masks while skiing seems as though the ski resort would be putting themselves through an unnecessary amount of work and enforcement to succeed.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the CDC, at a press conference last month recommending that people start wearing two masks. Image courtesy of CNBC.

Should You Wear Two Masks When You Ski?

If you want to take all of the safety precautions then you should listen to the medical experts and wear two masks. But at the same time, many people have been curious at finding out the risks of being exposed to Covid-19 while skiing. After all, it is a sport that takes place outdoors in the mountains.

Until governments make it mandatory for businesses to enforce double mask-wearing, it seems as though we will not see these new recommendations transition to the slopes. But who knows, maybe one ski resort will take the initiative to do it. Regardless, whenever a ski resort may try, it seems as though they will have their work cut out for them.

A poster on Whiteface’s website is a common example of the current standard on required mask-wearing at ski resorts. Image courtesy of Whiteface.

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3 thoughts on “Will the CDC’s Recommendation on Double Masking Affect Skiing?

  1. During the the 1918 Spanish flu wearing a mask was the law , not following the mask requirements meant going to jail. We need stronger enforcement of the mask requirements and for the president and governor’s to exhibit a little more backbone and make it a federal law with consequences for not following the mask requirements. Masks do slow the spread of covid-19 .

  2. Hi Liam. As difficult as it may be to wear a mask in line (I’m talking about pulling a mask on after ripping a difficult run and breathing heavily), we are all doing it. Mainly b/c we want to ski and there’s no reason to hassle the areas for just doing their jobs. Doubling up on masks is a tough call, mainly b/c of the above example.
    I’m a “double tapped” senior, so I’m not too concerned about myself. I also believe being outdoors with a breeze blowing, the exposure has to be less.

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