How to run a BC Lodge next winter??

[XXX-er]

I had a bic lighter in a BC repair kit flying into niseko and that guy behind the screen found it made me put it in my pocket

At Burnie the expediter will pick you up at the airport the night before (5 minutes from town) expedite you to the hell of a copter base in the am and drop you back at the airport at the end, I' ve taken people skiing at the hill a whole group of telemark tipsters back in the day, they presented me with a "telemark skiing is stupid " sticker

The guide at dezaiko was telling us about flying into Katmandu, there are 4 guys looking at the screen, so Craig goes to take a piss and he can see the screen, there is nothing on the screen cuz its broken

[skifishbum]

will my teams saftey needs be dankly attended to?
cause thats a brofessional courtesy
that matters in my choices
im gonna come fish or ski yur hood someday though
its quite destination worthy

[LHutz Esq]

A lot of international flights arriving at YVR on a daily basis-hmmmm- they must be empty?

https://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/fli...riving-flights

A mtb buddy is a pilot for a major Canadian airline - he told me what the numbers were but I was trying to keep up with him on a long climb - so I might have missed the math- but I think it was something like 2-5% compared to this time last year.

He has had a lot of time to work on his fitness lately - fkr.

[XXX-er]

will my teams saftey needs be dankly attended to?
cause thats a brofessional courtesy
that matters in my choices
im gonna come fish or ski yur hood someday though
its quite destination worthy

can probably do that but not this year

[nickinbc]

A lot of international flights arriving at YVR on a daily basis-hmmmm- they must be empty?

https://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/fli...riving-flights

The cargo holds are probably full. Reportedly air cargo is still doing good business - not just for the dedicated cargo operators. The FAA has even approved loading cargo on seats https://www.freightwaves.com/news/br...assenger-seats

[SB]

I herd winter was canceled because of the Wuflu.

[nickinbc]

The ACC have cancelled our booking for the Asulkan Hut in November.

"Today, I am writing to inform you that the ACC has made the difficult decision to cancel all future hut bookings, including yours. I understand that all of our guests will have been looking forward to returning to the backcountry after a difficult spring and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Any monies that you have paid to date will be automatically refunded and you do not need to contact our office. If you are one of the few who were given a credit during our first round of cancellations, we will be in touch individually.

In the coming days we will begin with a limited re-opening of many of our huts and we will make an announcement regarding new guidelines for hut stays and new booking procedures for all of our facilities. These new policies will take into account the guidelines of the different jurisdictions in which we operate and will be put in place to provide the safest experience for you, our hut guests.

In general, you can expect to see reduced density in our huts and new sanitizing protocols in between our guests’ visits."

I don't see how it is practical to sanitize huts. I suspect that just leaving them empty for one night between bookings would reduce the risk of infection close to zero (even though small numbers of viruses can be detected on damp surfaces for longer).

[XXX-er]

I don't think you can rent out a facitlity that is dangerous and would be covid or the hut getting hit by an avalanche

[nortonwhis]

Blanket Chalet is saying they have been working out a way to be open for the winter according to their IG.

[glademaster]

They're (BLBCA) just putting a new clause in the waiver about infectious disease that absolves operators of any responsibility for you catching the 'rona on your hut trip and then they're gonna send it.

[panchosdad]

The ACC have cancelled our booking for the Asulkan Hut in November.

"Today, I am writing to inform you that the ACC has made the difficult decision to cancel all future hut bookings, including yours. I understand that all of our guests will have been looking forward to returning to the backcountry after a difficult spring and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Any monies that you have paid to date will be automatically refunded and you do not need to contact our office. If you are one of the few who were given a credit during our first round of cancellations, we will be in touch individually.

In the coming days we will begin with a limited re-opening of many of our huts and we will make an announcement regarding new guidelines for hut stays and new booking procedures for all of our facilities. These new policies will take into account the guidelines of the different jurisdictions in which we operate and will be put in place to provide the safest experience for you, our hut guests.

In general, you can expect to see reduced density in our huts and new sanitizing protocols in between our guests’ visits."

I don't see how it is practical to sanitize huts. I suspect that just leaving them empty for one night between bookings would reduce the risk of infection close to zero (even though small numbers of viruses can be detected on damp surfaces for longer).

Leaving them empty for one night means separate flights for incoming and out going parties, doubling the heli cost for each group (and the carbon impact). Seems like there ought to be a better way.

[glademaster]

Leaving them empty for one night means separate flights for incoming and out going parties, doubling the heli cost for each group (and the carbon impact). Seems like there ought to be a better way.

Those both seem like minuscule impediments. People travel from all over the world to go skiing at these places, who gives a flying fuck about a few dozen more gallons burned in the heli to get the lodge. It's rounding error in terms of the overall carbon footprint per guest if you want to really analyze one of these trips.

[nickinbc]

Leaving them empty for one night means separate flights for incoming and out going parties, doubling the heli cost for each group (and the carbon impact). Seems like there ought to be a better way.

Yes that is an issue for Fairy Meadows and Kokanee Glacier. Most ACC huts are NOT usually accessed by helicopter (and for the ones in National Parks helicopter access is not permitted)

I was mainly thinking about the Asulkan and Wheeler huts at Rogers Pass. Would also be difficult to leave gaps between groups in the Wapta Huts too - especially as they are usually occupied by multiple groups some doing the traverse and some based at huts for more than one day.

I guess they are going to have to stock the huts with an awful lot of bleach and just tell people to spray it about liberally before they leave. And probably not allow part-hut bookings.

[LeeLau]

Those both seem like minuscule impediments. People travel from all over the world to go skiing at these places, who gives a flying fuck about a few dozen more gallons burned in the heli to get the lodge. It's rounding error in terms of the overall carbon footprint per guest if you want to really analyze one of these trips.

It would be between 600 -1000 CAD extra per trip in cost ie approx 30% extra per trip

[DougW]

It would be between 600 -1000 CAD extra per trip in cost ie approx 30% extra per trip

yes a big cost not being able to fly back to back, doubles the heli cost even before spacing people out on flights if that happens.

Just looked at the group invoice for the GAH trip next year and its 43% heli costs. Have no idea if custodian is included ?

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

I guess they are going to have to stock the huts with an awful lot of bleach and just tell people to spray it about liberally before they leave. And probably not allow part-hut bookings.

The logistical and financial situation for every backcountry hut system is different, (although I don't know of any here in the US that are doing it to get rich, I'm not even sure that's possible), and I don't have any experience with heli-accessed huts, but for backcountry foot/snowmobile accessed huts the above is probably what most will go to. The reality of employing and deploying enough staff over a potentially huge backcountry area to sanitize every hut between every group, and that's assuming they have gone to a single-party booking system, is just too much for many systems. I can't speak for Canadian huts but most in the US are non-profits or mom & pop operations running on shoestring budgets; the lost revenue from this winter and this summer and the cost of additional restrictions, all of which result in more lost revenue, could be the end of some smaller operations, especially if this next winter is more of the same.

[ShakeMeUp]

Our group heard from GAH this week. Due to the pandemic/border uncertainty, they gave us the option to roll the deposit to the following winter (which in our case would involve a different lodge) or take a refund minus administrative fee. If we want to forge ahead with this winter, pay in full by September 1 and no refunds if we cancel for any reason. Seems like a bad bet on our part to stay the course without some pretty serious trip insurance. It is what it is, sigh.

[XXX-er]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/can...aska-1.5670867

Given the death and infection rates down thar

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?

[ShakeMeUp]

^ just read that exact article prior to posting. Even if the border is "open", hard to imagine there wouldn't be some serious quarantine requirements upon arrival in Canada. Hard to see a scenario where I get north of the 49th parallel this coming February...

[glademaster]

Our group heard from GAH this week. Due to the pandemic/border uncertainty, they gave us the option to roll the deposit to the following winter (which in our case would involve a different lodge) or take a refund minus administrative fee. If we want to forge ahead with this winter, pay in full by September 1 and no refunds if we cancel for any reason. Seems like a bad bet on our part to stay the course without some pretty serious trip insurance. It is what it is, sigh.

Thank you for sharing this, that is a steaming load of horse-shit and piss poor customer service to boot. I had 2 weeks booked with two different BC ops for winter 20/21, and both of them handled the situation far more professionally. As much as I want to ski GAH's terrain, I won't ever be giving them any of my business after hearing about how they handled your reservation.

[ShakeMeUp]

Thank you for sharing this, that is a steaming load of horse-shit and piss poor customer service to boot. I had 2 weeks booked with two different BC ops for winter 20/21, and both of them handled the situation far more professionally. As much as I want to ski GAH's terrain, I won't ever be giving them any of my business after hearing about how they handled your reservation.

I don't know, what else can they really do regarding the border and the upcoming season? If we cancel/roll to the next winter by September 1st, they probably have a good chance of filling the lodge, and we aren't out any significant coin, whereas if we want to gamble, the risk on us. I'm sure they've done their due diligence and the writing is on the wall regarding the border situation...

[waxman]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/can...aska-1.5670867

Given the death and infection rates down thar

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?

I'm more worried about the quebecois coming for the winter than USA travelling up for a ski holiday (at least to the kootenays).

[glademaster]

I don't know, what else can they really do regarding the border and the upcoming season? If we cancel/roll to the next winter by September 1st, they probably have a good chance of filling the lodge, and we aren't out any significant coin, whereas if we want to gamble, the risk on us. I'm sure they've done their due diligence and the writing is on the wall regarding the border situation...

Hey man, if you want to tolerate shitty customer service, you can vote with your dollars. I'll vote with mine for companies that understand the unprecedented nature of this situation.

[Toadman]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/can...aska-1.5670867

Given the death and infection rates down thar

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?

Luck's got nothing to do with it.

[XXX-er]

betting on the border being open next winter, I'm pretty sure thats ^^ what " Dirty " Harry Callahan would have asked