Ski2Live Live2Ski

Brattleboro is also a steal for lodging in VT - if you are willing to drive 60 min to Snow or 90 min to Okemo. Crappiest hotel in Ludlow costs twice what a reasonably nice one in Brattleboro does. $80/nt with 2 queen beds Xmas week at a motel I stayed in and was happy with last year. I value personal positive experience somewhere over *s or reviews. The 2x more expensive one in Ludlow we stayed at last year was bad enough I will not go back. Also named Colonial. Dirty room that smelled like smoke and mildew and rude staff. Those cleanliness standards won't cut it in Covid era.

2nd trip at Sun & Ski Inn at Stowe and then skiing Snow and Okemo out of Colonial Motel in Brattleboro. I prioritized finding places that allow free cancellation as late as possible given uncertainty this year. And some hotels are requiring proof of negative test even though law does not - cancelled one of those after being notified of that. Haven't booked for 1st trip yet as I think lodging will be easy to find midweek next week - and just made those reservations on Epic last night. Other than the priority reservation days (we could book 7 in Nov - which I used for Holiday periods) reservations can only be made a week in advance. And I wanted to make sure they were likely to have enough open to warrant the trip.

This is definitely a year I will be wishing success in drawing crowds to the competitors of my preferred mountains. PA ski area lift lines could get real ugly Xmas week with the combination of - Fewer people flying anywhere over break - Fewer driving to VT to ski - Vail properties requiring reservations - Lift capacity cut in half - Very few indoor recreation options Biggest thing limiting PA crowds is fewer New Yorkers will be coming to PA to ski - but that will impact Camelback more than Blue

My Ski plan for next 4 weeks Quarantine 13th drive to Stowe 14th Stowe 15th Okemo 16th Snow and drive home Quarantine 23rd drive to Stowe 24th Stowe 25th Stowe 26th Snow 27th Okemo 28th Snow and drive home 1st Hunter 2nd Hunter For 11 days of VT / NY skiing by end of winter holidays.

Yeah none of the Peak resorts got fully integrated last year. Lots of changes at all of them this year.

Could mean just Freedom for all I know - that is how BB often open. Certainly 6 days is ample time to get something open if theybhace the weather- and they typically have colder weather there than Blue (who are making snow for a tentative Friday opening) as they are at higher altitude.

Reservations required and being accepted now. While generally you can only reserve at one Epic Mt per day - a single reservation will be good to ski both JF and BB (as with their interchangable lift tix in past seasons). A positive development as I had read earlier reports that you would have to reserve for one or the other - so this is nice for those who want the better day time skiing at JF and somewhere to continue skiing after 4. I have seen rumors that BB is not going to have as much of a park focus as before. We shall see.

I think it makes good sense. My girls decided they would rather take the safe course and continue schooling from home for now even once hybrid becomes an option. Hard to argue with how well they are doing this way. Between the two of them in Q1 the only mon A grade was one of them got a B in Accelerated Math (Algebra). And of course it makes itbeasier to quarantinenat home between our VT ski trips.

Of course. I considered switching to ORDA pass based on that. But decided to stick with Epic and do VT instead.

And yeah herd immunity via vaccination programs - likely requiring mandates to work - may well not happen. In which case we will need to limit ourselves to outdoor masked distanced activities til we either die or decide we are willing to commit genocide.

Virtually. No 8th graders have had any in person schooling in our district yet. They are currently calling for a Hybrid option (4 hrs a week in person) to start Jan 25. But I don't believe it. It was supposed to be Nov 30 til a week ago they moved it back 8 weeks.

Thing is exploding exponentially again. When hospitals are completely overwhelmed the "no lock down" tunes will likely be changed. I suggest skiing every day you can til then.

Yes you can get it if vaccinated. Just a smaller % chance. The only real protection is if enough of society gets it to leverage that % into herd immunity. That is when virus stops spreading as it can't find enough welcoming new hosts. Most likely we only get there if schools, work places, transit, restaurants etc are forced to require proof of vax to enter.

Yeah doesn't appear VT is enforcing it either. But Salty pledges to self enforce. My bigger concern is how long til states shut down skiing and we go back to lock down. Quite possible that occurs before Xmas break IMO.

Yep - get it while you can for sure (even if it means bot complying with all restrix). I am not that optimistic about ski season lasting more than a few weeks this year with current trends.

Because the only way vaccination truly protects is if you remain within a population that achieves herd immunity via 75% or more getting vaccinated. We will all be masking and distancing til US reaches that threshold. I have flown many place in the past before there was a pandemic.

Here you go. PA has most stringent requirements in US I believe. If you leave for over 24 hrs for reasons other than work or medical you must present proof of negative test or quarantine on return. https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Travelers.aspx

And NJ when returning. But to the extent I care about obeying state requirements I care more about those of the state I live in. So you will get Covid tested in Utah before returning to PA? Far more likely to enforce those requirements on folks arriving via air. And would require proof of test not just affidavit. And if you tested positive you would have to extend your stay in Utah til you recovered (or died).

For sure VT ain't Utah but it still does it for me in a way that PA or even Hunter doesn't. And I would face quarantine requirements for skiing anywhere but NJ NY or CT. Glad to have made about a dozen Western ski trips when it was safe and hope to do more once only people with proof of vax are allowed on planes.

To me there is way more risk in spending 6 hrs on a plane with my head a foot away from someone who could be infected than there is in driving in my own car to VT and confronting the possibility of getting arrested for having signed a false affadavit.

Now I will avoid putting myself and others at severe risk by doing anything as dumb as risking a plane trip to ski any time soon. Following common sense precautions seems more important to me than obeying every law.

You are an upstanding citizen sir. Kudos to you. Hope I never find myself driving behind you in a no passing zone. But won't be much of a sacrifice skipping skiing Hunter again before going to VT in ~8 days if I choose to comply with the law

You have to quarantine at home for 14 days to go to VT. Or for 7 days and get a test. Much more relaxed rules than PA has (everyone coming from out of state must be tested). Really not an issue as I am working from home. I last went anywhere the show I played on the 29th so 14 days will be up in 8 days. Might be willing to sign an affidavit whether or not that were the case though. And might also exceed the speed limit while driving there. Do you obey every law to the letter?

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