GONDOLA GOSSIP

by: Staff Writer

A lot has changed in many mountain communities during the pandemic. The one thing most agree on is the noticeably larger crowds, longer lines and more traffic. This happened during the pandemic when people sought recreation during shutdowns at many other entertainment and travel options. The entertainment and hospitality sectors were hit especially hard during the pandemic and are just now beginning to reboot bookings and dates. Even the X-Games went without concerts to begin 2022. So some might say there's still a long way to go, but we're all hoping that it's gaining momentum and heading in the right direction.

As the outdoor recreation, hospitality and entertainment landscapes adapt to the new normal it is important to distinguish between special events that add to traffic & congestion versus events designed to mitigate existing congestion and resulting demands. At one-time mountain resorts and communities sought to deploy special event strategies to "put heads in beds" during other seasons to complement their winter business. But in light of all the changes taking place at resorts and in communities it is critical that data driven solutions and innovation look beyond the same old under-performing and obsolete event strategies.

Although resorts may have sold more season passes… maybe even a lot more season passes… they didn't add more roads, parking, buses, lifts, dining capacity and so on. But don’t forget employees lived in their cars in parking lots before anyone ever heard the word pandemic... so let's stop letting businesses and politicians use the covid crutch as an excuse. Concerts at small venues holding less than 1,000 people were never considered adding too much traffic, congestion etc. compared to a typical weekend or powder day. It seems local governments and resorts became more focused on micromanaging selective economic recoveries in re-action to personal or business financial loses recorded during the pandemic or to combat ongoing inflation.

Look closer and you may suspect local cronyism and small town politics. Does it benefit the local economy or just businesses owned by local politicians? Is it a sport or band that local officials and their donors like and want to see? Are they friends or partners with promoter? And what ever happened to all the talk about socially responsible events and including local promoters? That is how more and more locals and second homeowners view some festivals and bike races that close streets while complicating access to parking and local businesses. It is imortant to note that defunding of popular local events is NOT what is being advocated for here, instead what is being suggested is a common-sense balanced approach that complements established event programs by including more diverse events and socially responsible local promoters too.