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Instructors, what have you heard from your ski schools?

James

Out There
Instructor
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Dec 2, 2015
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24,431
Well, I was interested until that last line.
Yeah, no doubt. They are complex. Some years ago I was close to getting one. Solves a lot of issues in winter. If one is going to car camp in winter they’re pretty nice.

There are some Chinese clones these days.
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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May 2, 2017
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4,328
OMG. I just looked up no idling laws. Here's MA:
The law states that a car cannot be idling more than 5 minutes unless it is being serviced or it is being used to deliver or accept goods where engine assisted power is necessary. If someone is caught, they can be levied with a $100 fine for the first offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses.

In NH it's more reasonable:
New Hampshire regulations help to minimize the health and environmental impacts of idling by establishing a limit on the amount of time that engines are permitted to idle. ... If the outside temperature is between –10°F and 32°F, maximum idling time is 15 minutes. Below –10°F there is no limit.

This is what I found for VT:
Motor Vehicle Idling Law (V.S.A. Title 23 Chapter 013 Section 01110). Act 57 was signed into law in May 2013 and includes a provision that, effective May 1, 2014, limits all motor vehicle idling to five minutes in any 60 minute period with some exceptions.

Then there's this. Puts a damper on Your Car is Your Baselodge.
View attachment 113228

Fat chance they start enforcing idling laws anytime soon.

Either way those are some tough working conditions. What is Bretton Woods doing with the big vacant building near 302? That would be a good spot if you can get a ride
 
Thread Starter
TS
LiquidFeet

LiquidFeet

instructor
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New England
Fat chance they start enforcing idling laws anytime soon.

Either way those are some tough working conditions. What is Bretton Woods doing with the big vacant building near 302? That would be a good spot if you can get a ride
It stands empty and unmaintained. It's an abandoned athletic center for condo and home owners on the mountain, as I understand. I have no idea if there are plans for ever using it.
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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It stands empty and unmaintained. It's an abandoned athletic center for condo and home owners on the mountain, as I understand. I have no idea if there are plans for ever using it.

That was my understanding. Plenty of space for staff to break.
 

hrstrat57

Skis guitars Mustangs
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Nov 13, 2015
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337
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Yawgoo Valley RI
Drove a school bus after I retired for a couple years which of course required a CDL which schooled me that idling here in RI is a huge deal. Bringing that up as a concern for ski school management ordering staff to the parking lot could be a issue. I’m pretty sure Massachusetts has same rules as RI if not stiffer.

Good call James.
 

James

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24,431
Fat chance they start enforcing idling laws anytime soon.
Hah, definitely. But if you’re in a state where the ski school requires you to wait in the car, yet you legally can’t idle for long, there’s a good case for just complaining to a state rep or labor board.

How absurd is it to make people take 30 minutes of shuttles and wait in their car when they could just ski?
 

hrstrat57

Skis guitars Mustangs
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Yawgoo Valley RI
If the police in RI enforced it when idling to keep 70 kids warm I would expect 25 ski instructors sitting in their running car for 30+ minutes would be a problem.

Again, great call by James. I have zero doubt that the “Commonwealth” will be all over it. Otoh plastic bags were allowed again so maybe several hundred cars idling at ski areas, hockey rinks etc etc will be cool - covid19 environment be damned!

:)
 

rustypouch

Getting on the lift
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Jan 30, 2018
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168
For my hill, every lesson will be prebooked. Mostly privates. Some group lessons, but only mutli-week sessions, and no young kids.

The locker room will still be available, but we're being encouraged to spend as little time there as possible.

For the public, they won't be allowed to leave bags in the lodge, except if they pay for a locker. Plus all the standard measures.
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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4,328
If the police in RI enforced it when idling to keep 70 kids warm I would expect 25 ski instructors sitting in their running car for 30+ minutes would be a problem.

Again, great call by James. I have zero doubt that the “Commonwealth” will be all over it. Otoh plastic bags were allowed again so maybe several hundred cars idling at ski areas, hockey rinks etc etc will be cool - covid19 environment be damned!

:)

RI can be a weird place.

Without all the parents idling to pick uo their kids at school we all have to do our part to support the oil industry. My kids walk to my parents house after school so i drive the suv to Maine as much as i can.

Getting back on track what types of accomdations would be appreciated?

We the consumers are used to being treated like cattle with money utters and are suffering similar issues.
 
Thread Starter
TS
LiquidFeet

LiquidFeet

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6,697
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New England
Instructors must have heard by now about protocols their ski schools are putting into action to minimize transmission of the virus between instructors and guests.

Anybody want to say what's changed and new at your ski school? Do you think the new rules are going to work?
 

Wendy

Resurrecting the Oxford comma
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Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructors must have heard by now about protocols their ski schools are putting into action to minimize transmission of the virus between instructors and guests.

Anybody want to say what's changed and new at your ski school? Do you think the new rules are going to work?
I taught last year and was asked to return this year. No go. Like @LiquidFeet , the area where I taught is owned by a hotel chain (Southern Management) so they develop a lot of the Covid protocol.

When contacted by the ski school director, she initially didn’t provide any Covid protocol. When I asked, she said it was the same as over the summer, with limitations on the break room/locker room. No food preparation, no storage of belongings. Without that space (even though it’s very inconveniently located up 2 flights of metal exterior stairs), there’s just no place to go to add/shed layers or grab a drink or lunch. Ski school employees were not allowed to eat in the lodge eatery anyway, so that’s not going to change, nor would I want to eat there during the Covid era.

I don’t know how it will all work. It may, but it will at best be awkward with no indoor gathering place. I’m just trying to picture a socially distanced lineup and even that seems comical.....the amount of space needed to accommodate the instructors would far exceed what’s available if everyone is 6 feet apart. Since the lesson reservations system is the hotel’s, they aren’t changing things up to allow for no-touch reservations/check in.

There are just too many monkey wrenches and uncertainties to commit to a season, so I opted out. A few friends are as well, but there are diehards that will return. I will ski this season, on weekday mornings, and if it appears sketchy, I can just drive home. I want maximum flexibility in my decision making and no pressure to commit when circumstances are uncertain.

But wow, LiquidFeet’s ski school rules are so restrictive that it appears as if they want the ski school not to operate at all.
 
Last edited:

James

Out There
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Dec 2, 2015
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24,431
Going to hear next week.
VT has been having Indian Summer.
It’s 65 today, Monday was like 70. It’s in doubt if post Thanksgiving will even be open.
 

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