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Well, that is a welcome change, why talk about it? Now, if they decided to convert one of the mountain to skiers only, and the other to boarders only, that would be interesting.

You're terrible at math. I just said that being closed on weekday nights is gonna cost some more than half of their skiing, and you're throwing some $50 at me. They milked people in spring by selling them passes at their regular prices, so I expect regular operation hours. Pandemic or not, they're not being ordered to shut down, they seem to be choosing not to stay open to save their $$ after I've given them my $$. So if they do it, they'll be doing it at my expense, and that is something that I feel every right to complain about. But enough of this, let's wait for the official announcement.

Don’t get me started on people measuring how much they’ve saved over window prices.

Dude, it’s not just some random day or night we’re talking about here, it’s ALL weekday nights. Like Salty said, it amounts to half or more of skiing for some. It is a big blow, no matter how much you’re trying to show otherwise. And why? Not because of weather, broken lifts, but because of school buses, sheesh. IIRC the lifts were spinning when the crowds were extremely thin during spring time, no problem. No buses? Suck it up and stay open for at least three nights besides the weekend. I know of places that got hit hard in Apr-Jun, didn’t open at all until July and they carried over passes to the next year. So yeah, if lifts are not spinning at night, I sure expect something back.

This is extremely bad, the lack of night skiing. Driving in the weekday mornings is a nightmare due to traffic, way too much time wasted, and is a bigger pain taking time off. IDK how they can even consider it without giving partial refunds on the season passes.

So we couldn't resist and went to the Big Snow last Monday night. Some pretty stressful driving during rush our, then looking for a place to park and even a way to get to the right place in that Big Ghost Town, but when we finally got to the slopes... Big smiles! It's white, it's cold, it's pretty laid back, and it looks steeper than in the pictures! No lines, not many people, 90% boarders. Luckily half of them go straight for the terrain park, which is thoughtfully separated from the main slope. It's a little steeper on top, I guess to allow to get up to speed faster, and is gradually leveling off while you're reaching the bottom. Takes about 25 seconds to go down and 3.5 minutes to go up. The session is 2 hours long, but on a Monday night nobody seemed to care, so we spent a little more. Before you get in, they'll take your temperature and then make you wait for your time slot outside. Once you're in, you get a bracelet, which is used both to lock/unlock their hi-tech lockers and to get access to the slopes. It's a little tighter in the lockers area than I'd like to see these days, and if you bring your own equipment there seems to be no good place to put it to other than to drop it on the floor, and then it gets in the way of others. Changing rooms are a plenty, and they come handy when it's shorts weather outside and 28F inside. Overall impression is very positive. Snow's great, nice touch with snow-covered trees, feels like you've jumped forward to Xmas time except there are no crowds and no rush. Snacks are waaaay overpriced though, so bring your own. Oh, and there are restrooms there, so previous references to piss & park are puzzling.

Know a guy who just flew to SC and FL over the last month and is still breathing. Same guy was scared shitless in April and wouldn't show his face out. Go figure.

Yeah, that's about 2x of what I paid in Italy last year with breakfast and dinners included. Stupid Chinese virus! Absurd prices too.

I'm looking for a plan of how to go somewhere in that direction without breaking the bank. Salty is not disclosing where he's getting his deals this winter. Are you going somewhere West?

Funny. And what's your plan for Utah?

Salty, did you get a pass this year?

Holy cow, where to ski this season?? American resorts went bonkers with their reservation system. Suuure, buy a pass before 07/14, and if you can't use it, we'll allow to carry it over to 2021. Flights and hotels are all your problem. Yeah, you window paying suckers, not only will we ask for $200 to stand in ever long lines while chairs are leaving half empty, but we'll roll a dice before admitting you, because there is a herd of pass-holders who can't wait to justify their passes in 3-4 visits, and they all have a priority. Do these Vail/Alterra monsters have a feedback form somewhere? I'll suggest to raise window prices to $400, so that most folks will sleep soundly thinking that their pass will pay for itself in less than two visits, almost in one. Plus, should they decide to close again, it's psychologically easier go over "less than two" missed visits than a whole blown season. Brilliant. Totally lost touch with reality. I like someone's idea here about going to Brighton and also stopping by three other resorts nearby. But will he be able to, with his single odd tickets, on the days he wants/planned/reserved? European resorts appear to be all out of reach to US citizens. If before I was just envying those EU passport holders who after a short brake on the runway continued their flight through the automated passport control while I had to stand in a long line, right now I'm borderline hating them for not having to procure any reason to cross into Italy, Austria, France or whatever. Even local skiing is screwed. CB asking to pay for parking?? Go to hell. PSAA school ski passes suspended for this season. Pocono Cards likely following the suit thereby making it more $$ visiting places of other color or just taking someone along to Blue. I bet even Blue's triple cards will not be available. Yeah, go ahead, look into your crystal ball and reserve your visit month in advance. No? Well, window price then! That is if we have any windows open, because, you know, COVID... And btw, good luck with thinking that New Yorkers or New Jerseyans will sit the season out and there will not be mile-long lines at Blue because of fears of COVID. Nobody fears COVID in real life except for government and businesses that were forced to fear it. People take their masks off the moment they're not forced to wear them, and radio stations are actually calling to everybody to revolt. So the first snowflakes fall, they'll all just say: "Screw you, Murphy, I'm going skiing!" But where to ski and how??

Seriously, "emergency fund"? It's so typical for this country. Think about it. People who made over $75K a year ($150K really for families) were likewise paying shitload of taxes, so surely can too expect a hand rather than a finger in a dire situation, right? Perhaps even proportional to their past contributions or a last month pay because hey, that's what they're gonna be missing these days, the last month pay. The other extreme, a bum leaving under a bridge hardly experienced any dramatic change in his life. He didn't work, he doesn't work. So what again is he supposed to be compensated here for? Plus, gross income reported in 2018 or 2019 tax years may not really be an accurate indication of a person's current living situation.

That's a stupid calc. It uses past tax return data and has a phase out. Poors will be happy to get a free hundred, but what about people who had income, still have matching expenses, but now have to sit w/o a dime due to the closures and apparently get nothing? Want to compensate everybody for shutting everything down? Do it fairly.

Why did they take those tests?

Everything is beautiful about this sign. Cardboard, clumsy letters, arrogant wording and a one-for-all signature. If it's not just for trolling on FB, the person who wrote it is pitiful.

Are you wearing a mask?

That was an early start for a happy hour!

This is worse than the virus.

What to do in a quarantine:

Speaking of Big Brother. How do ya all feel about e.g. this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/06/more-scary-than-coronavirus-south-koreas-health-alerts-expose-private-lives?

It's a beautiful day to be outside today. I biked. Quite a few people on the trail with dogs or running. One of the perks of working from home.

Some of my most favorite seasons of Survivor are those with James, the big macho grave digger. I'll say for those who didn't watch it that he struggled a lot initially. Might explain why I'm so concerned of how you eat, live and don't run out of cash.

Here's a fresh thought: "Once interventions are relaxed (in the example in Figure 3, from September onwards), infections begin to rise, resulting in a predicted peak epidemic later in the year. The more successful a strategy is at temporary suppression, the larger the later epidemic is predicted to be in the absence of vaccination, due to lesser build-up of herd immunity."

I'm bored of this topic. Let's watch something cool instead.