By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

The pandemic has complicated but not deterred skiers and riders from the slopes this winter.

It is a bit different this year from last with some protocols being relaxed at some areas to allow for added on hill and on lift capacity.

I’ve been enjoying some nice skiing across New Hampshire, recently and I am not alone.

The vacation week saw huge crowds of mostly COVID-19 masked skiers and riders queuing up to lift lines and long lines in the lodge for food.

One thing that surprised me is that this year they are fully loading to capacity all chairs regardless of whether you are skiing and riding with that person or not.

So mask up, regardless of your vax status. Keep the face-covering on until you are on the trail.

I am up to date on my vaccines and had my booster and had no negative health consequences despite being on cramped shuttle buses and in lodges.

Last year, many ski areas limited chairs and gondolas to same-household or if you came together.

But that meant longer lift lines and time is money when you have spent $100 to ski and snowboard.

This year, it’s mask up and buddy up with strangers or go find a J-bar or skin up or something.

The six-foot rule does not apply on an outdoor lift whizzing along at 1,000 feet per minute, apparently.
To get around that stranger danger concern, I suggest a weekday option to ski and ride.

That is when you will find the most space on the lifts.

Ski NH, the statewide lobbying and marketing organization for the industry, has a pretty informative website at https://www.skinh.com/covid-19-consumer to help skiers and riders understand what the deal is before they get to the mountain.

 It has links to individual member resorts on what is expected. The bottom line this year, as last, is to know each resort’s protocols before you go and be prepared for some changes.

Expect to boot up in your car and keep your contents there instead of stored in a cubby in the lodge. Expect to get on a crowded shuttle bus to get to the lifts on weekends. Expect to wear a mask on the bus and the lift line and the base area but not necessarily while on the hill carving turns.

Indoors, you can expect bathrooms to be busy and lines to buy food and drink, too, but mostly on weekends.

If you are organized, bring a backpack and have a picnic on the side of the hill to avoid that base lodge scene.

I have skied at both Loon and Sunapee in the past weeks.

When I was skiing at Sunapee in the Sunbowl on Dec. 29, I noticed that skiers were taking off their skis and crossing them, as if coming upon an accident scene to let folks know they were having their on-piste lunch.

Nice to ski by that and know that instead of people in pain they are enjoying a bit of sustenance and a view to boot.

Before Friday’s snowfall, which is coming down heavily at this writing in Center Harbor as a nice, light blanket, ski areas were only averaging between 25 and 50 percent of their terrain available.

The exception is Pats Peak in Henniker at almost 100 percent and obviously using its snowguns to aid in the natural snow.

Base depths ranged on Friday morning from under a foot to almost 60 inches in places like Cannon in Franconia Notch.
Those numbers are going up by this weekend and it should be great skiing Saturday and Sunday across the Granite State.

Next week expect intense snowmaking and added terrain to gear up for the Jan. 17 Martin Luther King/Civil Rights holiday. It is a big three-day weekend for resorts across the state, really, their biggest.

The long-term weather forecast looks like we are finally settling into winter mode and across the nation if you have plans to ski, it’s looking pretty fine.

A link to look at where the snow is and what to expect nationally is https://www.onthesnow.com/
Enjoy the snow!

InDepthNH.org’s Paula Tracy learned to ski at Pats Peak in Henniker in 1972 and has been looking for ways to fit it into her work life ever since. Her first ski column First Tracks was for the Salem (Mass.) Evening News. She then wrote one for the New Hampshire Union Leader and later for WMUR. Paula now writes for InDepthNH.org when she is not busy on her State House reporting.