Dear BOC Community,
This is the letter I was hoping that I would not have to write. As many of you are aware, the BOC Board and staff have been working tirelessly these past few months to try and put together a weekend program for you, our BOC families. We have explored numerous structures, contingencies, and formats but unfortunately the closer we came to the start of the season the more new, and higher, hurdles emerged. Last week, we received State of Vermont guidelines from Governor Scott that were stricter than many had anticipated. On Tuesday of this week, the State suspended their Covid map, requiring all non-essential travel into Vermont to satisfy quarantine requirements and furthermore announced the undertaking of compliance checks, including at ski resorts. In response, Bromley which had previously cancelled all seasonal and group programs, updated their private lesson structure to now only permit families or travel groups. In conjunction with that approach, the Mountain has informed us, and we are in agreeance, that the BOC will not run our weekend programming this year.
I can assure everyone that we nor Bromley took this decision lightly. While not the outcome any of us had hoped for, our long-term relationship with Bromley is a key component of our club’s long history and success. At the end of the day, while the BOC is a member run, non-profit organization, we operate at the generosity of Bromley Mountain – whether dedicated race trail access, early opening times or discounted passes for racers – the support has always been beneficent. The Mountain, along with the BOC, has determined that the State guidelines and rising Covid rates put too much risk on everyone were we to allow athletes to congregate weekly from different schools and regions. If over the course of this winter the situation changes please know that we will do all we can to quickly put together programming, and perhaps even racing, accordingly.
Given the impact this will have on many of us who were hoping for a weekend program, I am sharing this information with you now. Please know that the Board continues to discuss and plan around what this means for the club and impacts it will have on our organization. We will have a town hall zoom meeting on Monday November 23rd at 7:00 PM where we will further update the BOC community on where we stand as well as answer any questions that you may have.
Again, I am sorry to have to share this news. As I have said before, the BOC has been around for 69 years and we intend to be around for many more. Over the course of this winter we will aim to put out regular ski training suggestions and look to have some casual get togethers when the guidelines permit (at this point Vt only allows outdoor gatherings of no more than 10 people). Amy will also send out under a separate email information about purchasing BOC branded Skida neckies to help support the BOC. We hope you use this winter to spend time skiing with family and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to full training next winter.
Respectfully yours,
Randolph Randolph
President, Bromley Outing Club