Is anyone else seeing this trend that doing anything at all is socially unacceptable EXCEPT skiing vacations?
We are moderately COVID careful meaning we do not go anywhere or mingle socially with anyone but we do send our kids to in person school. So I feel like I'm about middle of the road cautious here in NYC.
When I see or hear of other people going on vacation, there seems to be a general distaste for it. As if any travel at all is irresponsible. I can see both sides of that issue so I don't really care one way or another. The thing that I find odd is the very same people who are SUPER COVID careful (no in person school, wash down groceries, won't order take out, etc) seem to be the very same people that are all going skiing. The explanation being "skiing is outdoors". As if walking through a hotel lobby or getting gas or any of the in person interactions you must do to "go skiing" doesnt count. Those same people get annoyed when someone goes to Mexico or Florida. Isn't sitting at the beach and the pool also equally outdoors? If anything you can be more socially distanced in warm weather than you can in cold.
Anyone else feel this is the most bizarre double standard?
Skiing does seem very safe. Day trips are possible, otherwise rent a villa. No hotel necessary. No restaurant necessary. All outdoors AND masked (ski resorts require mask over face and nose). Gas stations? Who doesn't pay at the pump. altogether, skiing seems safer than beach resort.
Most resorts have the same requirements. Not to mention you can easily rent a house in a warm destination just as you do for skiing. I don't understand how its different.
If you rent a ski villa and eat there you have to stop at the supermarket. No different than you would in Florida. It's the same thing.
To be clear I don't mean a day trip to go skiing locally. I mean NYers going to Vermont or Colorado to ski.
maybe so, but almost everyone going to FL is flying so that’s a huge difference
To get to Florida or Mexico you usually get on a plane. Most people I know going on ski trips are driving.
I know people who drive to Florida (which Im still not convinced is so safe) and people who fly to ski. Colorado ski resorts are filled with NYers.
@Anon No one was blinking an eye when people drove to the Hamptons or Cape Cod this summer. I think the real difference is getting on a plane or not. Yes, some people drive to Florida in the winter. But the vast majority of people going to FL are flying. And no one is driving to Mexico. I have no idea how many NYers are in Colorado, but I don’t know anyone who has flown to VT or the Berkshires to ski.
@Anonymous This is not true. SOOOOO many people were giving lectures to people with summer houses and how they should 'STAY THE F HOME'. I don't even disagree with them - that would be the safest option in terms of COVID. Every decision is a risk/reward play but I do not think winter sports are any safer than any other activity that can be done socially distanced and masked.
(OP) I see the same double standard is alive and well here too so that answers my question.
Vermont skiing mom. Skiing itself doesn't seem inherently risky. It's the shuttle buses, the lodges, the gathering in the condo, etc. Vermont has some of the strictest, if not THE strictest, regulations on out of state visitors - and the regulations went up just before ski season, when our case counts rose in November. Enforcement seems variable, but I know of ski patrols, mountain ops, and resorts themselves pulling passes on those who have not followed quarantine requirements.
And just to add to that, the on-mountain experience is pretty strict here, too. Those from other households couldn't ride up the lift together until a week or two ago (now it's loosened to "trusted households" can ride up together). Not sure how that applies to instructors giving lessons. I suspect they all have to ride single with their classes. I know they can't pick up kids who fall on the ground, so parents have to stick around to help with that if kids are in lessons.
But on the flip side, and to answer the original question... we have not been allowed to gather informally between households in Vermont since November. So it is frustrating to have people sauntering in here like they own the place (a quick perusal of instagram photos tagged at ski mountains will show some many people flouting pre-arrival quarantine guidelines), staying in multifamily units no less.
OP: I did not say skiing is more dangerous. I said it's a risk. Just like doing anything. If someone criticizes people for 'NOT STAYING THE F HOME', you can not go skiing and pretend to be morally superior. Personally I'm going no where so it doesn't matter to me. I just think its a weird self justifications that many people I know (and now on this board) are making.
If you cram into a small gondola with 8 others, you bet skiing is dangerous. I think your friends are hypocrites. A beach vacation seems much safer. Also, there are more beach houses to be rented than villas at small ski resorts. Most of your friends obviously stay in hotels.
OP: The point I was making is that neither option is perfectly safe. Staying home is the best option if you want to limit risks. If you are willing to take some risks, either option can be more or less safe depending upon how you implement it. I don't understand why one is fine and one is terrible.
I agree with you OP. Travel is travel. I don't think it matters how you get there or what you do -- it's all a risk. I do think there is a lot that people can do to minimize the risk and hopefully they are doing it. I think given we are almost a year in it is useless to continue to implore that people take no risk. It's like sex. Are we really just going to continue to preach abstinence? After a while, we are going to have to realize that the better thing to preach is safety.
@Anonymous the flaw with that argument is that failure to use contraception (as opposed to abstinence) only affects the two engaging in the risky activity. People flouting public health measures affects others on a far grander scale. I don't think you can compare the two quite so easily.
Well, even after reading this thread, I bought lift tickets for next weekend. What can I say. It's been a f**king year.
Ask yourself, OP, why you're calling out people for going skiing, a remarkably Covid-safe activity, after what has been an unbearably horrible year and a dark depressing winter.
I’m not calling out anyone for going skiing. I’m calling out people who call other people out for leaving home while they go skiing.