ABR plans for safe opening this winter

Fri, Sep  4, 2020 - By Eric Anderson, Angela Santini

ABR Ski Trails is working on our plan for a safe opening this winter. With many unknowns we are going to error on the conservative side. We are going to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

First, and most importantly we plan to have all 78 km of ski trails open and groomed for skiing as usual. We will also have the 10 km of snowshoe trails open.

We will be selling tickets from a ticket booth on the driveway during busy days and will have a walk up window on the ski chalet for skiers to buy tickets without entry. We are encouraging season passes to be purchased and will continue our reduced price for the passes throughout the season.

We will have the ski shop open with limited capacity (3-4 people at a time for example) and social distance rules and mandatory mask wearing. Sneeze guards, hand sanitizer stations and other safety precautions will be in place.

We will have the center room / retail ski area open for sale of retail skis and rentals, but no warming area and no change area and no bag storage. Same social distance and mask rules apply with limited capacity. The back room of the ski chalet with concessions and indoor restroom will not be open at all.

The wax barn will not be open. An outdoor water faucet is available for filling your water containers. Day skiers and campers need to bring their own water containers.

We will have the small building to the south configured with 2 spacious open men’s and women’s change area, unheated.

We will have 6 porta potties in the unheated shipping barn including 2 larger handicap units. 3 designated for men and 3 designated for women.

The 3 warming cabins on the trail will be open for emergency use.

The Trailside houses and Rustic ski in cabins will be rented as usual. The cancellation policy will be revised for COVID.

The wood-fired sauna use is still under discussion, however if it is open, it will only be for lodging guests and BYOT (bring your own towel).

So in conclusion: When you drive up to ski you will have two options for purchasing tickets outside, indoor/unheated porta potties in the warehouse, an unheated open change area, a ski shop for shopping, a rental shop for renting equipment, and a water spigot for filling your water container. You will not have a warm area to eat lunch or hang out, no concessions, no duffel bag storage and no heated indoor wax area. You will have the entire ski and snowshoe trail system to enjoy and social distance!

This reminds me of our early ABR years focused entirely on skiing …but 6 times the amount of trails to enjoy!

Thank you for your cooperation,

Eric Anderson, Angela Santini