Ski areas are cheering a decision by a federal judge in California that suspends the Trump administration’s ban on workers using temporary non-immigrant visas. The National Ski Areas Association is telling its more than 300 ski resort members to immediately begin taking applications from J-1 and H-2B visa workers and submitting paperwork with the federal […]
ski resorts
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Newsletters, Outsider, Transportation
With winter travel to Colorado resort communities very unclear, airlines are showing “unprecedented” flexibility
By the end of a typical September, skiers are booking flights and planning winter vacations. And resorts that depend on those jet-setting skiers — like Aspen, Crested Butte, Steamboat, Telluride and Vail — are seeing hotel reservations filling up by the arrival of fall. But this is not a typical fall. Nor was it a […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Struggling ski resort industry frets over Trump’s ban on immigrant worker visas
The ski resort industry, reeling from early closures in March, suffered another major blow this week when President Donald Trump extended a ban on visas for immigrant workers through the end of the year. Citing soaring unemployment, Trump’s proclamation applies to H-1B visas used by technology companies, H-2B visas and J-1 visas. The resort industry […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado could stop tourism marketing as budget writers look to slash $3 billion in spending
Budget-slashing in the governor’s economic development office is calling for a sweeping reduction of Colorado’s tourism and marketing budget. The Joint Budget Committee is weighing an 87% cut to the $18.5 million Colorado Tourism Office budget as gambling revenue evaporates under COVID-19 closures. Nearly $15 million of the state’s tourism promotion fund comes from gambling […]
Posted inNewsletters, Outsider
Owner of Wolf Creek ski area wants to reopen this weekend. But first he has a major hoop to jump through.
Updated at April 30, 2020, at 11:28 p.m.: Gov. Jared Polis orders Colorado ski areas closed until at least May 23. Davey Pitcher wants to open Wolf Creek ski area this weekend. His limited opening plan won unanimous approval from boards of county commissioners in Archuleta, Rio Grande and Mineral counties. He got approval from […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors
The day skiing died: Inside the historic day coronavirus forced Colorado’s ski industry to shutter
On the morning of March 14, Gov. Jared Polis studied data on coronavirus infection rates in Colorado’s ski towns, which were 20 to 30 times higher than the rates on the Front Range. It was Saturday and the busiest day of the season for ski areas — the day when Colorado’s $5 billion resort industry […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Hundreds of international workers at Colorado ski resorts are in limbo as countries close borders, airlines cancel flights
When Gov. Jared Polis ordered the state’s ski areas to close on March 14, he also launched Ana Panessi into a frantic race to get home. It was a race she did not win. “So many people, they were able to run away very quickly. We did not have the same opportunity. So we are […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors
The ski resort industry is hoping for federal relief from its $2 billion in coronavirus losses
Dave Byrd has spent the past two weeks dispelling the notion that ski areas won’t feel the pain of the coronavirus shutdown because they pulled the plug so late in the season. “This is roiling everyone,” said the director of regulatory affairs for the National Ski Areas Association, which last week estimated the country’s 460 […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: An open letter to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis about closing ski resorts
Dear Gov. Jared Polis: I voted for you in 2018 over that troglodyte Republican (whose name I’ve already forgotten) that you crushed, and would vote for you again 100 times out of 100. You seem capable and rational — nice qualities for a leader in the executive branch of government. Still, I wonder if you […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Thousands of seasonal workers told to leave their housing as Vail Resorts ends ski season early
VAIL — When Vail Resorts early Tuesday announced it was closing its North American ski resorts for the season because of the new coronavirus, hundreds of workers in Eagle and Summit counties also learned they had 10 days to vacate their employee housing. “It kind of sucks how they are kicking us out with all […]