Vail Resorts recently announced updated COVID safety protocols at all of its ski resorts – including 13 here in the Northeast – for the upcoming 2021-22 ski season.
While the new protocols relax some COVID rules that were in place last year on the slopes, they still require safety measures where people gather indoors.
Vail’s resorts will not require reservations for skiing or snowboarding this year, and they plan to load lifts and gondolas at normal capacity.
Lifts at Vermont’s Mount Snow. (Mount Snow/Facebook Photo)
Face coverings will be required in indoor settings, including in restaurants, lodging properties, restrooms, retail and rental locations, and on buses. Face coverings will not be required outdoors, in lift lines, or on chairlifts or gondolas, unless required by local public health officials.
Like last season, guests will be required to book a reservation to eat at many on-mountain restaurants. However, based on current regulations, the company is expecting significantly more seating and dining capacity than last season, and intends to open reservations one day prior, versus the day-of last season.
Guests will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations to dine at indoor, on-mountain quick-service (cafeteria-style) restaurants. Proof of vaccination will be required for guests ages 12 and over at those locations. This requirement includes those guests 12 and over in ski and ride school programs that include lunch.
Additionally, all Vail Resorts employees will be required to have COVID-19 vaccinations for their safety and protection as well as the safety and protection of guests and resort communities, and in compliance with the recent rules announced under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Indoor face coverings, enhanced hygiene practices, daily employee health screenings, and other health and safety measures will also continue.
Northeast resorts owned by Vail include:
-In Vermont, Stowe, Mount Snow and Okemo
-In New York, Hunter Mountain
-In New Hampshire, Mount Sunapee, Attitash, Wildcat and Crotched
-In Pennsylvania, Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail, Jack Frost and Big Boulder