Dear Sipapu Family:
First of all, we want to thank you. We want to thank you for a really great season at Sipapu, filled with snow, sunshine, powder days and amazing skiing. It was a solid year that ended abruptly with the new reality of COVID-19. We hope that you are well, and that this virus has stayed away from your family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are hurting and have been affected by this pandemic in one way or another. We are so grateful to those of you on the front lines of this epidemic. To all the healthcare workers, first responders, truck drivers, grocery store workers, and other essential workers, THANK YOU.
Over the last three years, we have weathered a terrible snow season, the threat of wildfires and now COVID-19. Despite these storms, we have worked to fulfill our mission “to give people the freedom to ski” and do the absolute best we can for our guests, employees, vendors, business and nonprofit partners. We continue to monitor and respond to this crisis minute by minute, while trying to anticipate this summer and winter will look like. We wanted to take a moment to summarize some of the things we are doing at Sipapu to support our community.
- Although all seasonal employees have now ended their winter employment, we are continuing to offer work and pay to our year round staff to perform essential duties, work from home or use accrued holiday and vacation time should they elect not to work due to the pandemic. A handful of employees have elected to take advantage of CARES Act programs as well if they qualify.
- We have applied for financial assistance through the CARES Act Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loans programs, with the hope to keep our year-round staff employed for the foreseeable future.
- If local and federal health guidelines allow it, we will offer a vibrant summer season, opening for summer as soon as we can.
- We expect to launch our 2020/2021 season pass sale very soon, including new products, added incentives and values, and updated terms and conditions to reflect the new “normal” we all are forced to face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy and our businesses. We are excited to announce 1% of pass sales will go to supporting local small businesses affected by COVID-19! The beneficiaries will be named at a later date.
We can’t thank you enough for joining our community in 2019/2020. We had 113 days of operation, with our earliest opening ever on Halloween 2019. We had almost 12 feet of snowfall. We love snow around here, and know that the flakes will fall again, turning our mountain into the winter wonderland you know and love. We know that you’ll be eager to get on the slopes again and we promise to continue to provide a place to find hope, community, and skiing. We believe that better days are ahead and we hope you do as well.
We look forward to sharing more information with you about next season’s passes in the coming days. In the meantime, we hope that you and your loved ones are doing well and staying safe. There are many more great times and great memories ahead, and we hope you’ll join us in creating them again soon.
On behalf of our entire team of 108 winter seasonal and year-round employees and managers, we sincerely appreciate your business. We would not be here without your continued support and shared passion for skiing and riding our great mountain.
Best Regards,
John Paul Bradley
General Manager
Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort
