Hello Everyone.
This is my last Snow News Is Good News column of the year and it puts a period on a season that will be remembered for COVID-19 and also for the positive weather conditions for about 90 percent of the season. It will be remembered for the extremely strong visitation throughout the region, as skiers and snowboarders decided to stay closer to home.
I will also remember the season for being able to get on the slopes with my son on ten different days. With that said, I have once again, come up with Joe’s sixteenth annual “SNOWY” awards or “SNOWIES” whichever one you like the best. True to form, the same three-person committee (me, myself and I) picked out ten categories and spent way too much time tabulating the results. So, drumroll please, here are the 2020/2021 season “SNOWIES”.
1. Most Indecisive – Season Pass holders, on whether or not to shell out the money for a pass. After the capacity management procedures were announced, the decision was made easier.
2. Most Valuable – Every ski resort employee who made it through the COVID-19 season. They were beat to a pulp by the end of the season. Have a great and safe off season.
3. Unsung Hero – The various local health departments that finally stepped up and realized that ski patrollers were actually first responders and provided vaccination shots to those that wanted one.
4. Most Overrated – Again this year, early season forecasts. Hey, we reach out every season to see what the experts think is going to happen and all of them do their best to make a prediction of winter snow, many months out. This year, most thought a warmer winter and yep, they were off base a bit.
5. Go For It – Skiers and snowboarders who decided wearing a face covering and social distancing weren’t going to keep them off the slopes.
6. Fighting To The Bitter End – Those skiers and snowboarders out there that made that extra trip of the season, when conditions softened a bit in March, but the skies were clear and the skiing and snowboarding fun.
7. Most Patience – To every employee who had to put up with verbal abuse when asking a visitor to mask up.
8. Going The Extra Mile – To every ski resort operator who did their best to make the season safe for every visitor and employees.
9. Cy Young (Best Pitch) – National Ski Areas Association’s Ski Well, Be Well Playbook for the season. It worked!
10. Stepping Up To The Plate and Hitting It Out Of The Park – This one goes to Mother Nature for providing one of the best weather seasons in recent memory. The good weather made a lot of us forget all of our other troubles while we were on the slopes.
That’s it for the 2020/2021 season – it’s been fun being with you again this year and watching my son and his friends learning to have even more fun with the sport, especially in the terrain parks, learning to put gravity to the test a little. He got his first true grab in.
Finally, remember to always be patient as whether it be cold or whether it be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather will be. Think about it! Time to get everything tuned up for the 2021/2022 season, my 37th in the industry. Check the calendar, we are only eight months away from making snow. I can’t wait.
