BUFFALO, N.Y. — In an update Sunday morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that ski resorts will be able to open starting November 6 at 50 percent indoor capacity.
Masks will be required for those visiting ski resorts, but they can be removed when eating, drinking, or skiing.
"Ski resorts will be allowed to reopen with limited indoor capacity, which will allow New Yorkers to have some outdoor activity this winter without having to quarantine when they come back," Cuomo said.
The state will also require the outdoor capacity of the mountains or hills to be reduced by 25 percent during peak days or if other trails are closed.
Other changes skiers and snowboarders can expect to see on the slopes this year include:
- Lifts will only take one party at a time
- Parties will be required to socially distance
- Lessons will have no more than 10 people
- Rented equipment is expected to be thoroughly disinfected
- Any shuttles or food on site will follow existing NYS guidelines
Holiday Valley officials say they plan to reopen Black Friday, as they always do.
That will only be if the weather allows for it.
"If you live in Western New York, you never know because the weather can change all the time. We're hoping sometime around the middle of the month we can start making snow," said Jane Eshbaugh, marketing director at Holiday Valley.
Even without the snow right now, she says the ski resort has been doing pretty well this year.
COVID-19 has forced more people to get outside.
As a result, Holiday Valley has had more visitors from Western New York than ever before, whether it was for golfing or leaf peeping on the ski lifts.
"That gives us a lot of confidence going into the winter that people are still going to want to continue to get outside, be out in the fresh air, recreate. So far our ski programs are selling well. We're not done yet so we'll see how that goes," Eshbaugh said.
