As we look ahead to the transition from a successful summer season to what’s expected to be a winter season that is different from recent years, I thought I would address a few of the questions that arose after our first message about the 2020/21 ski season.  

Our goal is to be as open and as transparent as possible as we plan for this winter. We are looking at our winter operations in several “buckets” – lift tickets, lessons & rentals, restaurants/bars/après, lockers & bathrooms, parking/RVs/transportation and special events. At this point, I’d like to share more of our thoughts on how we will approach daily lift ticket sales due to Covid.

Our season pass sales are currently pacing at record levels, which will certainly require daily limits on available lift tickets in order to maintain social distancing expectations. As I mentioned, I don’t expect any limits on passholder visitation. We have years of historical data broken down by day and by ticket/pass type, that will help us determine daily limits. Our methodology is driven by the percentage of passholders on any given day compared to the percentage of day lift tickets for that day. Once we feel comfortable that we can support the typical passholder visitation for a particular day, the remaining balance of our capacity will be pre-sold in advance through our e-commerce platform.  

We plan to launch date specific ticket inventory on Nov 9th after our Oct 31st fall season pass deadline with the potential of adding additional date specific inventory as the season progresses. We want to wait until after our pass sale deadline so we have the most accurate picture of the coming winter’s passholder numbers before selling any day lift tickets. We do NOT plan to sell any open-ended/flex tickets this winter (non-date-specific single day, 2-packs, SKI3 packs, etc).

We WILL always accommodate anyone that has booked lodging through Schweitzer Property Management with the ability to purchase lift tickets. That being said, if you typically book your lodging through AirBnB, partner hotels in town, or are possibly renting a unit of your own throughout the winter, you will NOT be guaranteed access to lift tickets outside of our pre-sold inventory that will be made available in early November.

I realize that some of these changes will be an inconvenience, but ask for your patience and understanding as we adapt. We feel it is better to start the season with more restrictive measures in place and loosen those measures as we feel comfortable with how the season is going and in keeping with recommendations from the Panhandle Health District. Our commitment to safety is a top priority for our staff and all of our extended Schweitzer family members. Our goal is to get the resort open and KEEP it open for the season.  

Thank you for your continued support.

Tom Chasse
CEO Schweitzer Mountain Resort

For more information about 2020/21 winter season passes, click here.