Survey Finds 31% Colorado Skiers Considering Not Skiing Due To COVID-19 Concerns/Reservations

Denver7 reports a survey conducted by the Louisville based Magellan Strategies shows that 31% of Colorado skiers and snowboarders are considering not hitting the slopes for the 2020/2021 season due to coronavirus related issues. Of the 788 adult skiers and snowboarders surveyed in early November, concerns centered mostly around others guests not following health guidelines and resorts’ reservation systems being inconvenient. There’s an extensive breakdown of the survey including individual written responses from skiers to certain question (FIND HERE) but here are the key findings per Magellan Strategies:

Thirty-one percent of adult skiers and snowboarders are considering not skiing at all this season due to the coronavirus, with 14% strongly not considering skiing or snowboarding at all and 17% somewhat not considering. Female respondents were more likely to consider not skiing at all than male respondents.
Respondents who were considering not skiing or snowboarding at all were asked to describe their reasons why. The most common themes that emerged were concerns others will not follow the health and safety guidelines, frustrations with resort reservation systems, and money being “tight” because of lost hours or income due to the coronavirus.
Sixty percent of respondents were very (23%) or somewhat familiar (37%) with new rules and safety procedures at their primary ski resort. Not surprisingly, local residents who live in mountain communities were much more likely to be familiar (76% very or somewhat) with the new rules compared to respondents who live on the Front Range.
One interesting observation is the familiarity of the new safety rules appear to be correlated with people who have purchased a ski pass (67% very or somewhat familiar with rules) compared to respondents who have not purchased a ski pass (49% very or somewhat familiar with rules).
Sixty-nine percent of respondents were very or somewhat confident the new rules and safety procedures will keep themselves, family members, and employees safe from the coronavirus. Only 11% of respondents were not confident at all the new safety procedures would keep them safe from the coronavirus.
Respondents were asked to describe rules and safety procedures that would give them confidence they were protected from the coronavirus. The most common suggestions included social distancing in lift lines, cleaning and sanitizing bathrooms, lodges, lifts and gondolas and mask wearing (covering the nose and mouth). Other suggestions included expanding outdoor seating, tables, and food service, limiting numbers of people on shuttle busses and only allowing friends and family on the lifts. Finally, some said having a zero-tolerance policy and not being afraid to enforce the rules should be encouraged.
The survey attempted to measure skier and snowboarder awareness of their preferred ski resort’s reservation policy. Just under half, 49% of all respondents were either very familiar (21%) or somewhat familiar (28%) with their preferred resort’s reservation policy. The 50% of other respondents were either not too familiar (25%) or not familiar at all (25%) with their preferred resort’s reservation policy.
Respondents were asked if they trusted elected officials to make the right public health decisions regarding keeping resorts open or closing them down for a period of time. Among all respondents, 62% said they trusted elected officials to make the right public health decisions and 31% did not.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they were either very likely (24%) or somewhat likely (20%) to eat lunch, dine, or drink indoors at a ski resort when the weather turns cold and outside seating is not an option. Twenty-two percent of respondents were not too likely to eat indoors in cold weather and 32% were not likely at all.
The survey measured interest in attempting a backcountry experience for the first time. Among all respondents, 62% said they had skied or snowboarded in a backcountry area and 38% had not. Among the 38% of respondents that had not experienced the backcountry, only 17% said they had a strong interest or plans to experience backcountry this season.
Among respondents who intend to experience the backcountry for the first time, 26% intended to take an avalanche safety course, 12% intended to buy avalanche safety gear and 42% plan on doing both. Sixteen percent of respondents did not plan on doing either.