NH Covid Ski Area Recomendations

[JustJoe]

I sincerely hope so! But...

Mid-week hiking traffic has increased significantly in the Covid era. I thinks it's a combination of furloughed folks, fully unemployed folks, work-at-home folks taking advantage of "flexible" schedules and families with kids who are not in the classroom.

Why, it downright negates the benefits of being a retired old outdoor fart!

I was just saying that exact thing today. I'm seeing way more people on weekdays. And I'm sure it's because of all the reasons you mentioned.

[Mac]

Why, it downright negates the benefits of being a retired old outdoor fart!

Shoot. I was planning to retire next summer. What's the point, now

[jfb]

I sincerely hope so! But...

Mid-week hiking traffic has increased significantly in the Covid era. I thinks it's a combination of furloughed folks, fully unemployed folks, work-at-home folks taking advantage of "flexible" schedules and families with kids who are not in the classroom.

Why, it downright negates the benefits of being a retired old outdoor fart!

I'll probably do a recon trip to a couple local resorts during the Thanksgiving weekend to get a feel for the changes, then return midweek to ski.

[hikerbrian]

It would be interesting to see the impact of Covid on season pass sales. My guess is a significant drop ?

We've forgone our season passes to Waterville this year...

[skiguy]

More detailed information here. https://www.covidguidance.nh.gov/sit...-ski-areas.pdf

[jfb]

Looking at the VT travel restrictions, it seems that residents from MA (except Berkshire County), CT, most of NY, NJ, RI, PA and southeast NH will not be able to ski in VT without quarantine.

[JustJoe]

Agreed -- but, from our experience over the past couple of months, it seems to be that most folks are funneling into already popular destinations, and not so much the more remote options.

This is true but I'd been enjoying said popular spots during the week until the sh*t storm hit.

[jniehof]

Looking at the VT travel restrictions, it seems that residents from MA (except Berkshire County), CT, most of NY, NJ, RI, PA and southeast NH will not be able to ski in VT without quarantine.

Right now nobody can ski in Vermont; there's no snow. The map is updated every week; a few weeks ago basically all of NH was fine; things will be different again (how, who knows) by ski season.

[David Metsky]

Backcountry skiers are still going to do their thing. Are you suggesting more people are going to take up backcountry skiing because they can't use the lodge? I seriously doubt that would happen.

That's exactly the discussions happening right now on the ski forums. People are buying new AT setups and skins and are asking about where to ski in the backcountry.

[ChrisB]

We've forgone our season passes to Waterville this year...

Here's a question for season pass holders:

Is it possible to have a seasons pass and not be able to ski on a given day due to the area being at its max quota?

If so I would think that puts a damper on pass sales!

[jfb]

Here's a question for season pass holders:

Is it possible to have a seasons pass and not be able to ski on a given day due to the area being at its max quota?

If so I would think that puts a damper on pass sales!

Yes, at some areas. Check out Mount Snow for an example of how complicated it could be. https://www.epicpass.com/info/reservation-details.aspx

[Alex_NH]

Backcountry skiers are still going to do their thing. Are you suggesting more people are going to take up backcountry skiing because they can't use the lodge? I seriously doubt that would happen.

Ski touring is already the fastest growing segment of winter sport activities. I don't think it will be solely the lodge situation that makes people venture out, and obviously families aren't going to bring little kids to steep and deep tree runs, but I expect a pretty big increase in the number of people skiing the backcountry this season if for no other reason than the uncertainty. People will take that money they were going to spend on their season pass and buy an AT setup.