{"id":2455782,"date":"2020-03-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=322625"},"modified":"2020-03-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T06:00:00","slug":"kaplan-aspen-skiing-co-staying-open-with-precautions-is-the-right-thing-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/kaplan-aspen-skiing-co-staying-open-with-precautions-is-the-right-thing-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaplan: Aspen Skiing Co. staying open with precautions \u2018is the right thing to do\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Aspen Skiing Co. weighed the moral, legal and business implications of operating during a pandemic and decided its best course of action is to keep the slopes open, president and CEO Mike Kaplan said Friday.<\/p>\n

Kaplan said he didn\u2019t want to overstate the importance of skiing, but felt it could be a welcome respite for dedicated skiers and snowboarders from the Roaring Fork Valley and customers still coming from out of town during a tough time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it is the right thing to do,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201cWe see it as a vital public service to stay up and running.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that Skico is following expert advice from health officials on how to keep its facilities clean to prevent spread of the coronavirus. That includes daily disinfecting of the cabins of the Silver Queen and Elk Camp gondolas and allowing customers to ride the gondolas as individuals or small groups without sharing the trip with strangers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf we shut down, think of the impact to small business owners here.\u201d \u2014 Mike Kaplan<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Kaplan noted that Skico\u2019s operating assumption is, \u201cIf we can, we will.\u201d That applies to opening early, extending the season and operating during tough times whenever possible.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little doubt that times got tough with the disclosure that 10 people tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus this week and that a community spread is anticipated in the Roaring Fork Valley. One ski instructor said it was like flipping a switch this week \u2014 it went from busy to virtually empty starting Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The timing is unfortunate because full-time instructors have reached the number of hours where future lessons pay them at a higher rate, the ski pro said. This is the time of year where they make the money that gets them through offseason.<\/p>\n

Skico officials have said the number of canceled bookings leaped this week. The exact implications aren\u2019t clear yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to forecast,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201cWe were pacing ahead for the last two weeks of March and the first weeks of April.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cancellations started rolling in with the cancellation of the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village, scheduled to start March 29. The clinic has been held annually in Snowmass for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

In addition to bookings, ski school has seen a \u201csignificant\u201d amount of cancellations, Kaplan confirmed. He doesn\u2019t anticipate that business will be picked up.<\/p>\n

Ski pros who want to continue working will be offered positions in other departments in the company, he said. Some openings will be created shortly by the departure of foreign workers here on J-1 visas. In many cases, those workers are students in South American countries.<\/p>\n

Many of those workers must undergo two weeks of isolation once they fly back to their home countries, said Jeff Hanle, Skico vice president of communications. Their sponsors \u2014 the companies that Skico works with \u2014 are advising the J-1 workers to return home sooner than they planned so they can start school on time after their two weeks of isolation, Hanle said.<\/p>\n

Kaplan estimated Skico has 100 J-1 workers in a variety of departments. Despite losing employees and customers, Skico\u2019s intent right now is to keep all four of its ski areas operating until their scheduled closure dates.<\/p>\n

Buttermilk is set to close April 5, Aspen Highlands on April 12 and Aspen Mountain and Snowmass on April 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we shut down, think of the impact to small business owners here,\u201d Kaplan said of the prospect of pulling the plug on the season.<\/p>\n

In a news conference Friday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis credited the state\u2019s ski industry for taking precautions to try to prevent the spread of coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ski resorts are taking steps to ensure that skiing parties are not mixed with other skiing parties in a close gondola and additionally, as feasible, taking that step on chairlifts,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

He said enjoying outdoor recreation in Colorado remains \u201ca great thing to do\u201d during the virus pandemic. \u201cWe encourage that in coming days and weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis has drawn some criticism on social media for advising people 60 years and older to avoid the Colorado mountains. Kaplan said he had no beef with the comments by Polis and would defer to him and his experts in the health field.<\/p>\n

The spread of the coronavirus is affecting the entire ski industry and putting an abrupt damper on what was shaping up to be a second consecutive stellar season. Overall occupancy in 300 properties was up about 1% in February and advance bookings were solid for March and April, according to DestiMetrics, which tracks occupancy and bookings trends for multiple clients, including Aspen-Snowmass. In addition, revenues were up 5% year-to-year through the end of February.<\/p>\n

There would have to be a drastic collapse in business for the remainder of the season to reduce revenue below last year\u2019s level, said Tom Foley, senior vice president for business operations and analytics for Inntopia, the company that operates DestiMetrics.<\/p>\n

Occupancy, on the other hand, will fall compared with last season, he said.<\/p>\n

Foley stressed that ski business might not tank because of dedicated day skiers and snowboarders that will still want to hit the slopes. Destination business \u2014 customers who come for an overnight stay \u2014 could be another story. Consumer confidence edged up in February, but conditions have obviously changed drastically since the last week of February, when the stock market started its rollercoaster ride.<\/p>\n

Foley said he wouldn\u2019t speculate on the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. DestiMetrics will compile data on occupancy trends next week.<\/p>\n

Last season was a record for Skico and the Colorado ski industry and the fourth best for the national ski industry. This season was right on par. Foley said \u201cthe snow was fantastic,\u201d particularly in places such as Colorado and Utah, \u201cthe economy was epic\u201d and \u201cvisitation was great.\u201d The only downside was dry conditions in the California mountains. Now, the great start to the season appears to be a long gone memory among the property managers, marketers and analysts he has talked to.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo a person, I think the mood is chaotic,\u201d Foley said.<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen Skiing Co. weighed the moral, legal and business implications of operating during a pandemic and decided its best course of action is to keep the slopes open, president and CEO Mike Kaplan said Friday. Kaplan said he didn\u2019t want to overstate the importance of skiing, but felt it could be a welcome respite for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 10:48:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}