Made my first turns at Bryce on Monday, December 21. My friend and I found very good conditions and great coverage on three TTB (top-to-bottom) runs: Redeye, Bootlegger, and White Lightning. The main chair and two magic carpets were running. We arrived shortly after rope drop at 9:00 a.m., skied 'til noon, took a break, and then skied again until we got tired and the snow softened up around 1:45 p.m.
The new terrain park, named "Thunder Jug," has snow guns mounted, snow on the ground, but was not yet open. It drops away from Redeye just past the junction with Bootlegger. No lift service to get back up yet.
Signs were everywhere about masks and social distancing. Good spacing and mask compliance at the lifts, but the longest wait we had was only a minute or two so no problems in any case. We tailgated in the parking lot to avoid indoor dining. (The Shenandoah Room was set up with tables and chairs for way more than 10 people, although there was spacing. Nevertheless, I've been avoiding indoor anything besides groceries and other essentials for the past 9 months.). Nice table setup out on the patio facing the ski runs. The ski shop was open.
I used my Indy Pass, which, at Bryce, means simply going up to the regular ticket window, presenting an ID and your pass number, and receiving your ticket.
A couple more notes on adapting to the 'rona virus for 2020-21. The two of us rode together about an hour to Bryce, with masks on and all four windows cranked down a couple of inches. Whew - things got cold quickly (d'oh!) so we each added a ski cap and warm jacket to our car-riding outfits. Going out and returning home were OK in the 30-to-35-degree weather, but I think we'd travel in separate cars - windows up - under colder conditions. My left shoulder (I drove) was rather chilly and numb when I got home. A folding chair, food, beverage, and welcome mat came in handy for managing a tailgate lunch.
With an Indy Pass in my pocket and travel restrictions for PA and points north, it looks like I'll be seeing more of Bryce this season than my usual 1 or 2 visits. Looking forward to it!
Woody
Thanks for the report.
What's the world coming to when you can't ride to the mtn with a friend:-( I will have to face the same dilemma. I might try to get to Bryce on a weekday after the Holidays and will probably just drive myself.
Wow, I did this trip on Tuesday! Same exact comments. Only COVID thing that surprised me was the number of diners in Shenandoah Room. I thought that Bryce made the most of their hill. I had the same comments about might be back too. Wonder what will happen to coverage with this storm!!
Argent wrote:
Also went the 21st, since I didn’t want to worry about Pennsylvania travel restrictions. It was pretty nice, but the chairlift was so incredibly slow. Like high speed chair in the loading station slow. If there was a line, I don’t think it’d be worth it to take a 9 minute chairlift ride for a 90 second ride down.Is that normal for Bryce, or are they just running it slower so the chairlift operators don’t have to hold the chair for riders?
Bryce was perfect size for 1st time grass skiing but way to small for skiing for other then beginners, novices and small kids imo
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