In a surprise announcement, Big White Ski Resort says it will close a week earlier than normal.
The resort will close for the 2020-21 ski season on Monday April 5 at 4 p.m. – one week before the scheduled closing on April 11.
According to Michael J. Ballingall, Senior Vice President of the resort, the new shutdown date is not due COVID-19 Concerns after a big party at a restaurant there earlier this week.
Rather, he said it had to do with the provincial decision this week Temporarily close Whistler BlackcombThis led the residents of the lower mainland to want to ski in the Okanagan instead.
Sorry after a “frenzied” party in the BC ski resort restaurant
“We decided to close the resort on Monday, April 5th, Easter Monday, as there is unprecedented demand in the lower mainland for people inquiring about accommodation and tickets,” Ballingall told Global News.
The story continues under the advertisement
“We’d be the only resort west of Revelstoke to open in British Columbia this week, and we know Big White is a magnet for people who want to ski and snowboard.
“And we’ve just decided this is not the time to travel. This is not the time for Airbnbs and couch surfing, as well as for people visiting friends at the resort. We know that if we turn off the elevators we can prevent people from traveling to our resort and hopefully other parts of BC when it is just not safe to do so. “
2:08
The BC circuit breaker shutdown surprised Whistler
The BC circuit breaker shutdown surprised Whistler
Ballingall noted that last June the resort decided to stay open until April 11th.
Trend stories
-
“I am free”: charges against Collingwood, Ont, withdrawn. Man accused of killing 2 intruders
-
Announcement next Thursday of potential new COVID-19 restrictions in Ontario: Doug Ford
“It was a very different province and COVID-19 was very different in June,” he said.
The story continues under the advertisement
“Now that the number of cases is increasing in the province of British Columbia and we have variants that seem to be spreading across the province, we are afraid and our employees are afraid and our customers are afraid.
“And we just don’t have to stay open an additional six days, and we believe that by closing we can contain the spread of COVID-19.”
4:43
COVID-19 cases are increasing in Whistler
COVID-19 cases increase in Whistler – Feb.7, 2021
Ballingall said he believes the resort’s action is twofold.
“It’s obvious that there are some people who just don’t obey the provincial health officer rules. We saw that in the incident at Charlie Victoria on Monday night, ”he said.
“We also saw an unprecedented number of people from the lower mainland searching our website at 1-800 for accommodation and lift ticket deals for the week after Easter.
The story continues under the advertisement
“And we’ve just made it clear that it’s not safe to travel and with the number of calls we’ve received we’ve decided to close the resort.”
4:01
The data shows COVID-19 by age group in BC
The data shows COVID-19 by age group in BC
Show link »
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65):fill(FFF)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/ZGHKPDYCHVGOFFEJWEMXFNRLWA.jpg "Might marks first month since pandemic Orange County didn’t must dip into tourism tax reserves")
