Today I woke up and began getting that late fall itch as to
when the ski season will start. Now that pandemic is the only life, stretching uninterrupted into the distant future, one must drill down on survival strategies. I am
relying on skiing to break me out of the house and restore my quarantined mind
to equilibrium.
Mt. Hood Meadows, the premier ski hill serving the Portland
area, will open with certain guidelines restricting use.
The tools Meadows will use to manage visitation will be limiting
sales of lift tickets and multi-day passes and dynamic pricing. A weekend
ticket will cost more than a weekday one, incentivizing lower use times. Also,
one can purchase a single-use daily ticket for a limited number of hours, such
a three-hour window in the afternoon.
The goal in all of this is to keep the number of skiers on
the mountain below 3,000. The above graphic shows peak day visits. Interesting
to note that even on peak days, the afternoons are not crowded, as most skiers choose
to get their runs in early. This just makes sense, as who doesn’t want fresh
tracks on a powder day or beautifully tracked groomers in the morning.
Fun fact: The record for skiers at Meadows at one time is
5,400.
The fly in the ointment will be bad weather, when the higher
lifts will not be in operation. Then the 3,000 skiers might be on just a few chairs
or crammed into the lodge.
I’m planning on eating lunch in the car and only going to
the lodge to use the restrooms. Face covering is not a problem.
With that I will now pray for snow.
Ski Stoke!
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