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Colorado ski resorts remain open, but change chairlift rules and dining options to avoid coronavirus spread

Large gatherings have been banned in Colorado ski counties to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but lift lines aren’t included so resorts are still open while mountains across Europe and Asia close for the season

Jason Blevins
The Colorado Sun
Steamboat Resort remains open amid increasing COVID-19 cases.
Derek Maiolo

Increasing numbers of cases of the new coronavirus in the high country prodded health officials in Summit, Eagle and Pitkin counties to ban gatherings of more than 50 people.

But the health orders in ski country exempted “lift lines,” making sure not to sever the economic lifeline that supports mountain communities in March.

The count of presumed positive COVID-19 cases climbed in Colorado to 77 on Friday, including a new case in Gunnison County. One person, a woman in her 80s from El Paso County, has died.



But Colorado ski resorts remained open for business this week, while making adjustments. On one mitten, resort social feeds were trumpeting new snow late in the week. On the other, resorts issued rare disclaimers asking older and immune-compromised guests to stay home. 

And they were tweaking policies for gondolas and chairlifts. In Pitkin County, where Gov. Jared Polis said transmission rates for COVID-19 are the highest in Colorado, Aspen Skiing Co. fired up its venerable Little Nell chair to give skiers alternative access up the hill if they were averse to riding the Silver Queen Gondola. Aspen Skiing has three gondolas at its four resorts, which includes the super-short, open-air people mover at Snowmass. 



Read the rest of the story at The Colorado Sun.

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