Tip to tip is legit! As many of you know Arapahoe Basin opened for a few weeks and closed this last Sunday. I sent my VPs Scott Pressly and BL Holdinghaus to check it out and see how they were getting along with things. They hooked up with our good friends there and were given a grand tour. The team at “The Legend” was well prepared, if not overly so. They were, for some reason, limited to allow only 600 skiers. Maintaining distancing was a breeze and it comes all but naturally. When one stands behind another in the lift line, the front of one’s tips plus the back of the other’s tips pretty much creates a natural 6-foot distance from one another. Thank you, Ski Gods, for that. Of course, skiing in the open air is great for everyone and as it turned out at A Basin, there could have been many more they could have easily accommodated. Over and over again we are hearing the term “limited capacity.” It’s understandable to think this way when thinking of enclosed areas, but to apply it to the great outdoors is illogical. I don’t even know what our maximum capacity is, so if they were to limit our capacity to, say, 50% like the restaurants currently, what number would I apply that 50% to? This is a rabbit hole that we do not want to go down. As long as we can keep our systems in line with the local authorities’ prerequisites, then we should be able to accommodate all that wish to visit. The only reason we will use the word “capacity” when it comes to outdoors, is when we say how much capacity we have to welcoming you all back this coming season. Look, I have faith that our hard-working local officials will listen, as they have already have been doing just that very well. Please give a shout out to Director of Chaffee County Public and Environmental Health, Andrea Carlstrom and Commissioner Greg Felt for all they have been doing through this crisis. What they have accomplished is pretty remarkable. In their hands, the future looks bright.
