Members of the Miramar Ski Club are gearing up for the New York City-based club’s return to some degree of normalcy for this ski season with group bus trips from the New York and New Jersey area to the club lodge on Bridge Street in Waitsfield.
“The Miramar Ski Club is very excited to return to Waitsfield this season. We are cautiously optimistic that we will be running our usual bus trips and providing chef-cooked meals to our guests. For the safety of members, guests and the community, anyone staying at the lodge must be fully vaccinated and additional COVID protocols will be followed. We’re looking forward to seeing our friends in town and skiing at our favorite mountains! Think snow!” said Steve Questore, secretary of the Miramar board of directors.
Last weekend, the lodge was a buzz of activity with members present for a work weekend to get the lodge ready for the coming season including redoing the dining room.
Last year the club paused its regular weekend bus trips and aggregate cocktail parties and meals at the club due to COVID, but club members were able to travel on their own to the lodge and manage their own meals and skiing, which many members did, Questore said.
“Last year people appreciated being able to come and we did have a fair amount of people staying there, abiding by the state of Vermont guidelines. People who were working from home especially seemed to enjoy being in Vermont. They went up there and stayed for extended periods of time,” he said.
The capacity of the lodge is about 50 to 52 people and in a regular ski year many of the trips are full. Last year, while many did visit the lodge, the numbers were below regular ski seasons. Club members also didn’t get bulk ticket prices which they typically do from Sugarbush, Mad River Glen and Killington.
Asked how club members who couldn’t adhere to the Vermont quarantine requirements handled the ski season last year, Questore said a number of people skied in New York state.
“I know I did, just for that very reason, because of the travel restrictions. It was great. I skied White Face Mountain which I hadn’t ski in years,” he said.
He said club members generally ski Mad River Glen, Sugarbush and now Killington. Miramar members had in the past skied at Stowe as well, but with the advent of the Ikon pass they now ski Sugarbush or Mad River Glen on Saturday, then take the bus south to Killington for Sunday skiing before returning to New York. Stowe is not a resort that is included in the Ikon pass.
When the bus shows up for the club’s first trip of the year, December 10-12, all participants will be vaccinated for travel. They will enjoy aggregate dinners and the club’s well-known and much-loved pre-dinner cocktail hour with club members serving as bartenders.
If children too young for vaccines, or people ineligible for vaccines participate, they will be masked and adhere to social distancing.
