COVID-19 Hurdles For Wyoming Skiing Tourism

Above, Corbet's Cabin at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Ski season has arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The season will not be "business as usual" due to the pandemic, but Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is adapting to the current reality.

I visited Jackson Hole Mountain Resort last year and even took the aerial tram up to Corbet's Cabin, a mountaintop cafe and "jumping off" point for skiiers. As I visited the resort during the summer, there was no skiing going on. The views of Jackson Hole were spectacular.

Above, a view of Jackson Hole and the Snake River from the mountaintop. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Buckrail has an article on the changes that the pandemic forced upon the resort and the rest of Wyoming's tourism industry.

It begins with:

WYOMING — On Thanksgiving Day, skiers loaded the lifts at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for the first time since the resort closed March 15 — an end nearly a month ahead of schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Like it does most years, Thanksgiving marked the kickoff of Jackson and Wyoming’s winter tourism season. And like most other traditions, it looked different in 2020. Skiers were required to wear face coverings, lift lines came with new spacing requirements and restaurants operated at limited capacities.

The biggest engine of winter tourism in the state — JHMR reported 715,000 skier visits in 2018/19 — prepared for the season as COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths surged in Wyoming and the U.S.

Resort staff have learned many lessons in the nine months since the mountain abruptly closed, JHMR Communications Manager Anna Cole said.

Along with adapting on the fly to accommodate large crowds of summer visitors, JHMR has spent the time modifying and planning. The resort is implementing COVID safety measures at every level of winter operations, Cole said, from new skier limits on its tram to reengineered lift lines. The resort plans to be flexible, she said.

To read more, go here.