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As winter approaches, ski areas have been working with provincial health authorities in Alberta and B.C. to come up with safe and efficient plans to keep guests safe.
They’ve also been collaborating together through the Canada West Ski Areas Association and have developed standards for things like gondolas, and where face coverings will be mandatory.
At Sunshine Village, they won’t be reducing gondola capacity at peak times but will always keep the windows of their gondola open.
The Banff resort has also secured two 4,500-feet “Sprung structures” to provide additional seating for guests to eat and rest. The old gondola building at the top of the resort will be turned into a temporary picnic and bagged lunch area, and there are two new restroom trailers.
Lake Louise Ski Resort is taking similar precautions. They’ve reduced capacity in their indoor facilities to ensure physical distancing but have added temporary space elsewhere.
“Obviously, we’ve pulled a lot of capacity out of the lodges,” said Dan Markham, director of brand and communications at Lake Louise. “We’ve arranged for some external tents with Parks Canada so we’ll likely have at least one in the base area, one at Temple Lodge and potentially one up at Whitehorn.
“We’ve had Alberta Health Services out to review the processes that we’ve done and followed the guidelines with them, so we feel comfortable that we’re on track there but we continue to work with our AHS rep to make sure all of that is set up.”
