Red Mountain Resort has laid out its health and safety protocols around COVID-19 for when it opens up this winter.
Resort president Don Thompson said one of the biggest protocols will be to require all visitors to the resort to wear face masks.
“People will have the ability to buy a mask at the resort if they’ve forgotten one on their trip,”said Thompson.
“We will also likely hand out face masks during the first few weeks of opening to help remind people to wear them when they arrive.”
Parking attendants will greet visitors to ensure they have masks and visitors won’t be able to board a chairlift or enter a facility if they aren’t wearing them.
All guests aged two and older will be required to wear face masks and the only time they won’t have to wear them is after they’ve been seated in a restaurant or while they’re skiing or snowboarding.
When going up a chairlift, family and friends will still be able to sit next to each other. Visitors who do not know each other will have to sit at opposite ends of a quad chair or go up by themselves on a double or triple chair.
Thompson believes visitors will do their part to comply with the safety protocols on the chairlifts.
“Based on what we’re seeing right now and what other operators are experiencing at their bike parks and restaurants, we believe that these physical distancing protocols will be easy to put in place,” said Thompson.
“In terms of group settings, people seem to really understand now who is in their social bubble and who they’ve been spending a lot of time with.”
While indoor facilities at the resort will be operating with a reduced capacity, it’s now exactly known yet how many people will be allowed inside each building.
“We’re currently doing physical distancing mock-ups inside all of our facilities, which include Rafters Lounge, Sourdough Alley and Paradise Lodge,” said Thompson.
“That’ll will help determine how many people will be allowed inside each space. We’ll be putting these numbers on our website as they become available.”
Directional arrows and physical barriers will also be placed inside resort facilities to help visitors reduce contact with each other.
Thompson is confident that the COVID-19 protocols will ensure a safe and fun experience for everyone at Red Mountain.
“We’ve got a great operations team and we just feel that all of our visitors will understand the challenges that we all face right now,” said Thompson.
“While there might be some difficulties, we’re feeling good that we’ll be able to follow these protocols and have a good winter.”
You can view all of the COVID-19 protocols on Red Mountain’s website.
Whitewater Ski Resort has also outlined its health protocols around COVID-19 for when it opens up this winter.
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