CORONAVIRUS

Snowbasin To Bypass Reservation System For Upcoming Ski Season

Nov 12, 2020, 8:55 PM | Updated: 8:56 pm

HUNTSVILLE, Utah – Snowbasin is taking a different approach to the upcoming ski season, saying they’ve worked out a way to avoid using a reservation system.

Managers said they spent months trying to figure out how to social distance this winter, and they believe they are uniquely positioned because they have space and conditions that will allow them to open safely.

“We’re excited to have the season begin. It’s going to be here pretty soon,” said Snowbasin General Manager Davy Ratchford. “We don’t have hotels and we don’t have traffic from people coming in from out of state like some of the destination resorts do.”

Snowbasin General Manager Davy Ratchford said they have plenty of space to social distance during ski season. (Mike Anderson/KSL-TV) Snowmaking machines prep the mountain for a social distanced ski season. (Mike Anderson/KSL-TV) Snowbasin will open on Nov. 25. (Mike Anderson/KSL-TV)

 

He believes when they manage the crowds just right, they will rarely need to cap off the daily ticket sales.

“Everything is signed out to six feet. All of the adjustments we’ve made, we went down and met with the Weber-Morgan Health Department months ago and presented our plan and got two thumbs up,” Ratchford said.

The resort is now set up to keep more people on the mountain, he added. That includes yurts that will serve as warm-up areas and a place to dine so people don’t have to go inside the lodges.

“During the pandemic, we’ve learned that staying open is just critically important too,” Ratchford said.

Since other resorts will be using reservations, there is the chance that more skiers will decide to try Snowbasin once the other places get busy.

Ratchford explained they can still manage.

“There’s a thing called a comfortable carrying capacity at all ski areas,” he said. “And it’s the number based on terrain and lifts and Snowbasin has never come close to maximizing that comfortable carrying capacity.”

After six months of planning, they’ll see how it pays off, starting Nov. 25.

“It has been a bit of a mountain to climb, but it’s been a great mountain to climb because it’s allowed us to be more innovative,” Ratchford said.

If things do get crazy busy, Ratchford said they will cap off daily ticket sales and give priority to season and epic pass holders.

They’ll let people know when that happens online, through email and with signs before they get to the gates.

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Snowbasin To Bypass Reservation System For Upcoming Ski Season