As you are all aware, a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 is rapidly spreading in the United States. This is impacting pretty much every facet of everybody’s lives, and many of you want to know: how will it affect Highland?
As of today, Highland is still scheduled to open for the 2020 season on Thursday, April 30th. Season Pass Holder Opening Day is still scheduled for Wednesday, April 29th. We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely, and will reassess as Opening Weekend gets closer. We are currently closed to all riding—including in the HTC and XC network—and will remain closed until at least the end of April.
We are still six weeks away from Highland’s scheduled opening. It should be said: a lot can happen in six weeks. It is our hope that by then, much more progress will have been made to discourage the spread of the virus and restrictions on gatherings will be relaxed or lifted. Right now though, we simply don’t know.
For our staff: we’re in the off season. We rarely have more than twenty employees onsite on a given day in the winter months, many of whom work outdoors, so we are all at a lower risk. In accordance with the CDC’s guidelines, we are taking precautions to further lower that risk. All non-essential office staff are now working from home, and will continue to do so for at least the suggested two weeks. While outdoor operations and trail work are continuing, staff are adhering to best practices regarding handwashing, sanitization, and social distancing.
We’ve been working on a lot of upgrades around the mountain this winter, including several major construction projects and some pretty sweet updates to the lift. Right now all of these projects are still on track, but as we’ve seen in the last few weeks, there’s no guarantee that will remain the case. Our priority is to maintain the health and safety of our staff and their respective communities, and to do our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19. If that requires us to delay those infrastructure projects, and ultimately postpone opening, we will do so.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to practice social distancing and encourage those of you who are able to do the same. We’re looking forward to riding with all of you in just a few short months! There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
So go wash your hands, mute your conference calls, and pull up your favorite bike videos. We’ll see you soon.
