John Gilmour

Oh Jack, Laguna Beach currently has test results with the highest per capita rate in Orange County positive COVID-19 rate in part because a higher percentage of people were tested, and tests were free. I called one place at Caldeus 333 Thalia Laguna Beach at a time when there were only 17 cases in OC. I explained I could not stay in Aspenany longer and was returning to Orange Country (6th most populated county in the USA) from a Colorado Cluster Area and was going to stay away from housemates for 7 more days but wanted to know if I should take more extreme measures if I were tested Positive (like not going out at all- having others shop for food for me etc. ) . With Orange County wanting to do as much as they could to identify positive cases and quarantine (this was well before Shelter in place) they also felt it was worth testing me as the Aspen Cluster was the biggest in Colorado. I also wore masks starting on March 13th and people looked at me like I was nuts and continued to wear them after March 20 even though I was Negative . Now everyone wears masks. BTW- this is a ridiculous small sample size- normally if results were mixed I'd disregard it entirely... however all the results skew one way and by a good amount. Again just looking at the fate of the National Brotherhood of Skiers.In that most were shorter domestic flights but again, these flights are pressurized to 5000-8000 feet more to the high end. https://www.powder.com/stories/news/are-ski-areas-responsible-for-the-spread-of-covid-19/ As if March 19 40% of Norways cases can be traced to this resort" (Ischgl) a high one well over 14,000 feet. So you fly in pressurized to 8000 feet and then ski over 14,231 feet. That would completely destroy my ability to breathe without slow acclimatization ...whcih is why I find Aspen's 4 separate areas manageable incrementally. For me arriving in Aspen I ski Buttermilk the first day 9,900 feet , then Aspen AJAX 11,212 for a week or more before considering Aspen Highlands 11,675 chair access ...top of bowl 12,392 feet and lastly Snowmass at over 14,098 feet. It might not seem like huge difference but physiologically it is. For me its the difference between staying in Aspen or taking the next direct flight to Phoenix or LAX to stop my altitude sickness from becoming HAPE. You pass a threshold and suffer. I think Covid-19 likes what altitude does to a non acclimatized person and people with genetics that react to altitude differently. I'm not going to blame it all on ski resorts, but you might think that those with larger capacity Gondolas might have more transmission but Sun Valleys gondola is not bigger than Aspens. However Ischgl has a much bigger gondola like Squaw Valleys. Just saying that non acclimatized people under altitude duress even if mild might be more likely to contract and suffer from Covid-19 which will infect a weaker immune system (yes we have no immunity for this, but likely there is a viral load threshold for infection that could be lower for those under altitude duress ) and possibly propagate faster and shed more virus as a result. Drinking isn't likely to help as AMS and HAPE are easier to get if you drink, and the prevalence of smoking in European resorts with deep inhalation probably kicked it up a notch .Lots of smoking in many Asian countries too. Smoking and drinking go hand in hand. My concern is: IF high altitude ski resorts do prove to have more transmission....and COVID-19 (which apparently has already mutated) is something you can get next year in a new strain.... oh shit.

To answer that, at first I didn't believe it affected people at altitude like I do now. I also thought at ski resorts where you could ride alone on lifts WITHOUT gondolas you would be as safe as playing golf. I was still going to self quarantine in my car for 5 days before sharing any space as I had already self quarantined several days in my car in Aspen . I was looking for just 1-2 other people to join my GF and her son (they aren't car campers) who had already quarantined for 10 days . And we didn't know the high asymptomatic rate at that time. I self quarantined for an additional 7 days in my car when I arrived back in the Orange County and got tested as soon as they could take me a few hours after I woke up. I did not end my quarantine until I got a negative test result- just stayed in the driveway, not fun. My exposure in Colorado was almost zero because my turtles were banned this year from Apres ski. I was living in my car for every single night in Colorado and did not eat in any restaurants in town (very low budget this season-camping stoves etc.) and only ate a single dinner at a friends house . SO compared to other snowboarders in Aspen my exposure was about the least possible. But I still don't take chances. I even bag my footwear in the car and spray it. Having the typical western 50-200 feet between skiers in the open air, while you ski with a Ski face mask (maybe a mask under that) and goggles and gloves and you wipe down everything with sanitizer before you go in your car IMHO, probably not that risky. Watch out for kids wiping snot on the chairlift bar. Being on third? Not even close... behind in EVERY possible bill like the rest of America...COVID-19 totally screwed me including my off season income.

I never implied ideas were practical.... haha. I'm saying for those travelers who COVID-19 at high altitudes- they should probably return to sea Level ASAP to increase the O2 for their lungs . It isn't practical to use byperbaric chambers or submarines for a number of reasons like quick access by medical personnel. Though in some cases, it might be a better alternative. And I'm not saying everyone should go on Nuclear submarines with medical crews- and if you want to stay under for weeks at a time. haha. But they do make some pressure bags, that they use for people that need a portable hyperbaric chamber for AMS. Covid-19 is a weird disease that might need unconventional treatment for a minority of some of threatened 02 compromised patients to have better outcomes since ARDSnet isn't working out so well for a lot of the patients. Different therapies for different patients who present with different symptoms , not one size fits all. I could say if a hyperbaric bag were an option and I could avoid a vent, I'd probably go for the bag.. less chance to damage alveoli . Plus you have the benefit of being able to move a patient around without infection to others, as you can control and filter provided that the patient looks stable . http://hbot-therapy.com/durable-easy-to-set-up-compact-hbot-chambers-by-oxyhealth-llc/ https://www.chinookmed.com/06001/gamow-bag-hyperbaric-chamber-civilian-model.html

https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/220301/coronavirus-updates/protocol-driven-covid-19-respiratory-therapy-doing I didn't go to medical school I was just pre-med at Boston University. I'm no respiratory therapist either. But I bet when this shakes out for some patients the body thinks it's at altitude when you get the virus and actually being at high altitude in addition doesn't help. Not for all covid-19 cases but for those that can breathe well and have low 02. And for those of carvers either on long haul flights to ski areas or even driving to ski areas quickly changing altitude over 8000 ft it might change our infection suceptibilty . My ER friends on the east coast think there might be something to my theory. So whats your take on it? I'll take your skilled opinion or Poloturbo over mine . Have you treated many COVID-19 cases? If so thanks. Here's the interview of several people treating COVID-19 that made me think it was HAPE. https://rebelem.com/rebel-cast-ep79-covid-19-trying-not-to-intubate-early-why-ardsnet-may-be-the-wrong-ventilator-paradigm/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rebel-cast-ep79-covid-19-trying-not-to-intubate-early-why-ardsnet-may-be-the-wrong-ventilator-paradigm

We have been looking at acute respiratory distress or ARDS as the result of Covid-19. A Cytokine storm happens , essentially a over reaction of our immune response that fills our lungs with fluid and drowns us. Something happened over the past few days that got me concerned. For years of going to altitude quickly in Colorado...I have suffered from Altitude sickness. My first experience was winter camping in 1990 a few hundred yards the road from Alta about 8500 feet. That night I suffered from chills, diarrhea, weakness (my aerobic instructor GF hauled all the gear up the hill in the dark). And when we drove to ASPEN bright and early the next morning and ended up at Aspen Highlands (base elevation 8,040 feet peak 12,392 feet) I quickly found myself gasping on an Oxygen tank compliments of Highlands ski patrol . The symptoms didn't really stop until I returned to sea level on a. connecting flight through Phoenix. I suffered near HAPE ( High Altitude Pulmonary Edema). It doesn't hit you instantly, it takes a bit of time for your blood chemistry to change to a threshold level. In my case overnight. But sometimes it can hit sooner if I haven't slept, or haven't been to altitude in a. long time. I deal with this every season. I think people's immune systems think they are prepping to fight HAPE and that is what causes the symptoms of ARDS. (Acute respiratory distress) But here's the thing... if you suffer from AMS (Acute mountain sickness) that could turn into HAPE well the body has the response of breathing more rapidly (which changes your blood chemistry) and that also can turn into tachycardia. Part of HAPE is your blood chemistry, which as it changes PH ,it can exacerbate the effects of HYPOXIA as you slime your own lungs. So when you start to hyperventilate, just like when you might hyperventilate to try to free dive deeper (a dumb idea as this causes "shallow water blackout") you don't really increase your O2 level much but you end up purging your C02 and as dissolved C02 falls... carbonic acid falls and your blood PH changes. You ability to get 02 is partially related to the partial pressure of 02 at altitude. Which you can't change . So hyperventilating speeds onset of HAPE when you get past a certain low point of 02 saturation in your blood. SO WTF does this have to do with us , ski resorts, and carving? Turns out... a shitloard. I was noticing that it seemed that the primary infectors were travelers from airplanes. Now ..... it is accepted that you are 100 times more likely to contract a respiratory infection aboard an aircraft than on the ground. But there were certain flights that seemed to do this more... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8159323/Member-Colorado-coronavirus-cluster-breaks-silence-illness-spread-Melbourne.html I got tested as soon as I called it quits for the snowboard season- reentering Orange country. I tested negative. Whew. But, a few days ago. I had some aches in my calves, a few fevers (not unusual for me actually) headache, and then something alarmed me. Something that I keep careful tabs on ...when going to altitude. I got a numbness/tingling in my 4th and 5th fingers in both hands . And this spread to my shoulders . And these are alarm signals I am acutely aware of because it means I have to fly out of Aspen right away and get to Phoenix or LA immediately to avoid HAPE... (drinking alcohol will also accelerate this). EXCEPT I wasn't at Aspen highlands or even at 7,945 feet at the base of the Aspen Ajax Gondola.. I was at Sea Level. in Southern California's Dana Point. (About midway between LA and San Diego) Something was tricking my body into thinking I was near HAPE. So Covid-19 , I believe has more leverage on your body at altitude. because then the tipping point to reach HAPE is easier. So why airplanes? Because airplanes at cruising altitudes from 25,000-35,000 are typically only INTERNALLY pressurized to 5000-6000 feet and in fact many times it is closer to 8000 feet which is why you feel both cold and drowsy until you start to descend and get warmer (PV=nRT). 5000 That's somewhere near Denvers altitude the mile high city at 5,280 ft. . You are not breathing sea level pressure air abroad aircraft . But a lot of aircraft are like Aspen at close to 8000 feet. Thats not a big deal on a. short flight...say 90 minutes, because you spend some time climbing to cruising altitude and again a good amount of time in descent mode BUT.... in a long haul flight from say Sydney to Aspen SYD--SFO-DEN-ASE you are aboard aircraft for a long time. Its a 13 hour flight. plenty of time for your blood chemistry to start changing . And then you land in Aspen at 7,945 feet. You are exhausted , jet lagged, likely dehydrated, and you might have had a drink or two. If you stress a population you make it more susceptible to infection. This Aussies were stressed. They were easy to infect. Possibly by a German couple that had symptoms. But just as easily by a Chinese person fleeing Wuhan and now on his way to SFO or LAX. Understand that there are a lot of Chinese that live in Australia. And many were fleeing Wuhan. Some went back and forth regularly from Australia to Uhan on business and now were on their way to a ski holiday... could be Aussies doing business in Wuhan now going skiing too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Australians Stressed populations are easier to infect. The virus can incubate even while they are adjusting to altitude and getting over altitude sickness.. Your immunity goes down when it is not in homeostasis. So lets look at the COVID -19 Idaho article posted above. As it so happens while I was living in Boston I taught Rollerblading (inline skating) to a student, Linda Sharp. who worked for Lotus and was a super smart super elegant black woman who enjoyed my classes as a way to cross train for skiing. She liked it so much that she put together at least 2 classes every season for 7 years with mostly Black employees from Lotus , who would learn too skate and then either cross train for ski season or then prepare to learn skiing as Linda was Boston's chapter Head of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, a multi city organization , the largest ski club in the world. Mostly black members, all who love to ski , snowboard and carve. This took some adaptation of my Inline teaching. mostly because the students were not used to tight fitting heavy footwear. And a lot were not comfortable with the chilly late fall classes . There are other adaptations. First off, people of color have been hit hard by Covid-19. There are reasons. Only 2.5%-35 of the world exists above 3000 meters. Kilamanjaro aside, Africa isn't a national at altitude like Switzerland. Africans are 6 times more like to suffer from hypothermia than whites. But Africans have some advantages...like they re less likely to become alcoholics because of this. Different body chemistry. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4682545/ And africans have another interesting thing. Sickle cell traits and a high incidence of sickle cell anemia. In Africa Malaria doesn't infect sickle cells people and propagate well. So Sickle cell homozygous people won't die of malaria but they won't thrive well because their 02 uptake in their hemoglobin is severely limited by the sickled cells. Africans without Sickle cell historically died of malaria. But Heterozygous sickle carriers (one parent has sickle cell one does not) had only slightly sickled red blood cells that could still carry 02 well enough not to kill their hosts, but still not as good 02 carriers as non sickle gene carriers. The Malaria drug might help sickle cell people suffering from COVID-19 even more than regular people. And because we have so Manu acute ICU cases of people of color.... Another thing to consider is that Africa has more 02 because the rotation of the earth causes a bulge on the sphere shape of the earth at the mid section making it thicker pulling in more 02 . So evolutionarily speaking africans are not selected for lower 02 environments or altitude. So we had 700 mostly African Americans , traveling from mostly gateway cities with high air traffic . Boston, NYC, Detroit, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, Newark and Nearlby NJ, Dallas, SFO, Washington DC etc. and some from London and further arriving in Sun Valley to party like the rockstars they are..They have totally off the hook parties....like insane dance parties, drinking, and well from what I saw a bunch of hook ups. They look forward to this trip all year. Not all of them ski at altitude because the local mountains near their urban areas are quite low in altitude compared to the Rockies. For instance Detroit has low peak elevations , as does West Virginia , DC area etc. and a good chuck of east coast accept ME,VT, NH. So very few were at all altitude acclimatized.Not all can afford multiple Rocky MT. ski trips a year. They arrived likely with at least two airline connections. Some would have flown out of SFO, many out of NYC. And could have easily had a COVID-19 positive person on either one of their two flights. 126 showed symptoms at the end of the ski trip. Figuring 20% -80% show as symptomatic. That means (USING THE INFECTED symptomatic number of 126 anywhere between 441-504 were infected and asymptomatic and contagious to some degree. So we have anywhere between 567-and 630 that flew home tired and likely shedding virus to the cabin crews going to multiple airline hubs and final destinations lily urban ones.. The cabin crews would likely have stronger immune systems (more altitude acclimatized as they fly all the time) but some Likely would get infected due to COVID-19 virulence and go on to infect the frequent business travelers who infect others and so on. Further up this thread is mention of a Skagit church choir. The elevation of Skagit county is 8,967 feet. Massive infection rate in just 2.5 hours of 49 of 60 participants. So I don't know if the choir members traveled from low altitude to high altitude, but it would seem altitude MIGHT just favor infection. Could have something to do with temperature inversions, fog layers etc and of course aerosolizing from singing like in South Koreas church and New Rochelle.. So how do you treat HAPE? You don't increase the frequency fo breathing... because that will increase your body response to slime the lungs. You do increase 02. But the best thing is to return the patient from altitude back back to sea level ASAP. LIKE IMMEDIATELY! What about Covid-19 people already at sea level ..... uh like me and my symptoms. Well I think the best thing is to pressurize people to at least 2.0 Atmospheres in a hyperbaric chamber (like scuba divers use for decompression sickness. That will simulate a "return to sea level" and hopefully reverse the chemical reactions. If I go scuba diving for two tanks for 2 hours at 33 feet and my symptoms disappear I will know. Agressively ventilating a patient who is getting close to ARDS or just a patient with a low 02 blood saturation of under 705-50% (like someone with HAPE) will just change the body's reaction and induce the conditions of HAPE faster. A cytokine storm will brew much faster overwhelming the body. I'm no doctor, but I know when I am experiencing the symptoms of AMS or HAPE at sea level and what makes them go away when I'm at atltitude.... increasing the partial pressure of 02 in my lungs without breathing harder. IE going to higher pressure.. So oddly COVID-19 is related to carving as we go on Snow trips, we stress our selves out in altitude adjustment on the flight out and further stress ourselves when we land at even higher altitude than the internal cabin pressure of the planes. People of color with sickle cell, or pre existing high blood pressure, coronary disease etc... are even more susceptible . Also scar tissue is harder to get rid of for people black people as the inflammation response to injury is different making healing more problematic. My heart goes out to those NBS who died and suffer permanent injury from CoVid-19 because there is a statistical likelihood that some of them were my students and they were a totally cool bunch of guys and gals, and I love snowboarding with them blowing their minds that their rollerblading instructor can also cut good turns in the snow.

Oh yeah forgot about her. Amy Rhodes (Rose) was another fav- that girl had guts- but she broke her back.

Ruthies -Ajax Ruthies lift. Extended layovers Gunbarrel - Aspen Highlands -Cloud 9 lift What a squirrel on a snowmobile looks like on crack Centennial -Beaver Creek... it's some soft of bizarre dance of speed and line Showboating? Guiltier than OJ.

Petra Mussig..I think. Burly beefy German Chick. Andy Coghlan ran in softies for a long time. I was at a US open Banked slalom (maybe 1997 )and Terje was the forerunner and slaughtered everyones qualifying times by well over a second. Everyone in HB was like "****ing, Terje just give him the trophy and cancel the race!" So funny. Here are my 2019/2020 soft boot racing results. https://skiracing.nastar.com/index.jsp?pagename=results&page=comp&compid=1002169 The gear....not haha race optimized except look a Booster Strap! Boots: 3 season old 32 Binary Boa 9.5Mens with booster Straps, and 2005 Superfeet custom cork insoles, 2019 Icebreaker Merino Men's Ski+id OTC Socks (totally love these! They grip inside the boots and never seem to smell like anything than delightful fresh laundry). Bindings: 2015 Union FC forged carbons with 2018 carbon highbacks- running "Gilmour bias" 1/4" inset on front toe. 45-42 degrees front foot and I think 26 degrees rear with 1/2" toe overhang rear. 21" stance Board: Jones 156cm Hovercraft (with a pathetic 122cm of effective edge) 3 degree side 1 degree bottom bevel, shit loads of detuning ...or the nose grabs and shimmys like crazy....to make it really feel like 105cm of effective edge). Pretty short powderboard to run NASTAR GS on. I was bummed I didn't get any Hardboot race times in this season for the ranking as the Snowmass finals were canceled and they will have to run off my slow Powerboard results....still might be ok since I still got Platinums which was not easy- I had to hop turns, set very high and early, and then get into saving bacon mode once it started to get out of hand . So this year was ALL SOFTBOOT POWDERBOARD RACING... a new category....might need a new handicap. Better runs were at Snowmass as some Aspen runs were late in the day and heavy rutted. Now earlier I had been misclassified as a Telemark skier (at Aspen MT.) , had to redo those runs,,,, so if they have different classes for skiers (of course also for handicapped skiers on mono) why not a race equipment vs recreational equipment (soft boot) for snowboarders?

They likely settle quickly, but they could settle on stairs or handrails ( which you should not be touching) but if someone were to sneeze at the top of a stairwell and a minute later you enter from the next landing down , you could still be within falling droplets . Also the air currents in stairwells in high rises can be gusty. If we were just talking about level ground with only 6 feet to travel to ground I would be less anxious . i do look at urban centers with high rises as being especially problematic. You have a main lobby entrance with many people entering and exiting the same space .

In larger populations isolation simply is not possible. Like forget it.. shared ventilation systems in high rises, even the bathroom vents.... just forget it. The very things that gave NYC THE LOWEST CARBON FOOTPRINT per capita, electric elevators , skyscrapers, vertical population density, mass transit are the very same things that make containment impossible. You aren't going to walk up 40 flights of stairs and even if you did, you'd be walking through other people's vapor clouds. Every single major walkable city in the USA will become overwhelmed in hospital capacity. The single driver commuter bedroom communities have a much better shot. They can accumulate enough supplies to reduce exposure. In 3 months there will be a lot fewer male smokers over the age of 75 in our city centers. And a lot smaller populations in retirement communities and assisted living which will almost become like assisted dying centers with weaker immune systems spreading this like wild fire, Dr. Kevorkian is obsolete. The real question is , can older people self isolate until,most of the herd has it and hospitals have ventilators? Or self isolate until a vaccine is found? If I was a senior and had a boat I'd be sailing to places with single palm trees until,hurricane season. And I'd take my chances with the hurricanes over this. we can not manage a lock down like this.

Yep saw that after the fact

https://www.bridgerbowl.com Last night a friend was trying to convince us to go here. But they just closed yesterday.

https://www.bridgerbowl.com

She likely went to BLM land. Her parents own cruise AMERICA - So they’re probably rolling out the fresh RV to her every week or so

A work partner of my friend just grabbed an RV and headed to the desert. Now that's a airtight quarantine.

And ... it was restricted to Irvine in SoCal but now there is at least one confirmed case in Laguna Beach . Nothing in Dana Point yet. My results should be available tomorrow. here we go...

well we won’t get long term immunity but unless they are releasing new strains this season we should have immunity for this season ... except of course for immunity compromised populations like HIV+ For instance . Maine’s Camden snow bowl in the 1980’s had a just one single person chairlift - no real lodge, no housing in site. They also had about zero snowmaking ( no aerosolsized water) you could see the grass through wavy ice. Definitely the most difficult snowboard race conditions next to glare ice and thick fog at one US open in 1992. Let’s not have a return to small scale mom and pop single left resorts... Haha

Test results seem slower than expected. After leaving Aspen, Colorado’s largest cluster of coronavirus cases. I got in my car and headed towards Mammoth because my client(s) said they would follow. Didn’t even get halfway there before all the mountain shut down. With the exception of Brian head Utah - which is now closed as well. I arrived back in SoCal a four days ago and within hours I got tested . They said results could be in z48 hours even though 3-5 was the norm, now they changed that to 4-5 days. My only guess is they are processing tests from older people and people with symptoms first - so I am fine with this extended wait. My GF WENT TO A Costco in Eagle county . So both of us have been near the virus. My feeling was leaving Pitkin county and Aspen with its population of about 2600 when I left and 13 cases made its per capital infection rate about 1 in 200. My risk is lower than most Aspen people, in that I really only went to one big IAprès ski party during the beginning of the outbreak. And even then I didn’t stay that long . So my chances are probably less than 1 in 2000 in that I was only with an American wedding party . Nonetheless , we both decided to try aggressive Self -quarantine if nothing else but for PRACTICE as you really only have 1 chance to totally blow it. She has a mentally handicapped so. And if both of us were to get it at the same time along with her daughter ( also a caretaker) it would be difficult to keep him out of a group home. So the last 4 day of Tesla camping have been extra hard with the rain . It’s Ike being in a Round trio Coast to Coast cross country drive in the rain without the scenery. I thought of visiting the loudspeaker company I design for - but SEATTLE is a huge cluster . I now treat everything that I could possibly touch and everything as virus laden . Normally I wouldn’t be as concerned but after double pneumonia twice in my life , former punctured lung and a respiratory inemfect that until recently lasted over a year ... this could wipe me out. The TV Character Mink is now our example . The only difference is I use a Vodka and bleach solution instead with a bunch of St. Regis bathroom napkins . So practicing EXTREME QUARANTINE has been hard- but at day 4 we have made Zero mistakes . Everything entering the house is sprayed down - all Public places are visited using a mask . I even wipe down the supercharger handles ,my steering wheel, and my phone 4 times a day. All dishes go in bleach and all laundry has at least some bleach and is dried on high. Yesterday - the entire day was spent doing something I didn’t think I would have to do... prepare the car for summer camping from winter. Camping . . Got rid of anything for temps below 60 degrees . Changed to low altitude 2 burner stove. Both Yeti bags went to the inner trunk sub floor compartment (usually they are in the FRUNK which lets THE YETI HOPPER act like a refrigerator (the zipped one , and THE YETI HOPPER 24 act like a freezer the partially zipped one when temps are below freezing Aspen nights . Now the SUNNY SoCal frunk would just melt ice faster. The frunk is still the make shift kitchen .Mr. Heater Big. Buddy moves to the frunk , clothes move to the rear seat. Exped Megamat duo gets a lighter comforter (The Runpl down Blanket for two) though I might convert over to the Exed Synmat Duo ( slightly less warm and less comfortable but compact. Thank goodness we put in an outdoor shower just in case. I am going to run a Costco delivery service for seniors. Spray everything with disinfectant and put it in plastic bags and leave it on peoples doorsteps . Costco has so far the best anti germ program of the markets . So much for my food stand at farmers markets . Time for some projects (electric skateboard , slalom practice , wiring up new car stereo , building outdoor tub and bathroom , adding on to Sea shed , design custom snowboards for customers ). What’s disturbing is now I know a friend if a friend who has it ... and initially when he was tested he said he was negative, but then two or three days later he said he was positive. He’s showing symptoms apparently in a self-imposed Quarantine. if not for the limitation of beds in ICU and ventilators I would have said the best thing would have Been to leave all bars restaurants and ski resorts open, but restrict the age to everyone under 54 That would result in rapid infection of about 75% of the people WHO WILL LEAST LIKELY need ICU and give doctors a lot of practice in dealing with this virus using a population that doesn’t have a high mortality rate and shorter infection duration .THEIR USE OF VENTILATORS would be less and of shorter duration .Aggressively quarantine everyone over 54 For the first month . Then with 75% recovered about 1 month later older people would be less at risk of catching it and then elderly could be assigned workers and caregivers who could no longer become contagious ( hand sanitizing still required though- but no face masks .jst as an anti vaccine person benefits from the bulk of the population being vaccinated so would the elderly .

@Jack MWell some people were unaware of the mountain closures . So I thought at least for a week or two it should be in the most visible area. I do think it should eventually move here . Some ski resorts did not list closures on their main page until this morning . such a shame al this good snow going to waste . Realistically the lifts might be closing to protect staff which often lives In Close quarters dorm style . So anything that protects the lifties is certainly warranting a closure now we have social distancing in place . My GF was in Eagle and I was in Aspen ( two different clusters ) so oddly I am living outside in my Tesla until I get my results from 2 days ago back . I figure my chances are about 1-2500 but that’s not a lottery I want to win . My GF s chances are likely lower . But for now it’s good practice everything gets wiped down before t goes into the house .

Well Normally I would think Aspen pass will be OK except I totally shafted us by shutting down the mountain. It’s not like Aspen didn’t have enough money to put out a bunch of Porta potty stalls and just run the chair lifts and stop the gondola. But I guess part of the reason might be the dorm style housing for the employees is just too close to have social distancing. normally I would think Aspen pass would be OK except I totally shafted us by shutting down the mountain. It’s not like Aspen didn’t have enough money to put out a bunch of Porta potty stalls and just run the chairlift and stop the gondola. But I guess part of the reason might be the dorm style housing for the employees is just too close to have social distancing. Whatever the case I never got to use the icon part of the pass for Mammoth which is usually my late season go to Mt. after Aspen ski conditions become corn about mid to late March. In the end you didn’t miss much this year it was a very strange year in Aspen not many bluebird powder days, not much sun and a lot of fog and cloudy days plus the snow grooming was simply sub par for Aspen

I know it sounds a bit like Nero fiddling . Trying to snowboard in the middle of a Sheeeeeet storm. Here is what China did to flatten its curve as effectively as it did. Watch the entire thing or you won’t understand what people did to get those numbers down . It is no surprise to me that this cleared protests in Hong Kong at an oddly convenient time - and that any dissident could be picked off the street with a bogus thermometer reading and then easily infected by staff who already had the virus and now have some level of protection. It is also odd that China is so prepared for a bioweapon attack so fast when they are probably not nearly as equipped for many other emergency situations . after that on YouTube you can watch the 60 minutes tv show about the virus in Hong Kong.

Odd topic for a snowboard forum but our members are quite resourceful . I already I configured my Airsense 10 CPAP with humidifier to run on dual lithium ion batteries for 10 hours and retrofitted the filter with a N95 mask, and encased the entire machine in a HEPA filter and then surrounded by more filter material In a back pack. This now allows for safe air travel from Covid-19 , and as a mobile facemask /gas mask that is considerably easier to breathe than an n-95 mask alone. The resmed airsense 10 comes out of the box with A protocol for an adjustable “air ramp “ to make it gradual to adjust to the positive pressure ... so for instance you could sleep before the pressure increases. it occurred to me if you can control ramp via software (you can using the app that doctors use) you could prescribe a “repetitive air ramp” that would mimic the pressure ramp of a ventilator . This is IDEAL in the case of a ventilator shortage SO you won’t die waiting for a ventilator to become available . Given that the vast majority of carvers are not millennials and are likely to be tail end baby boomers and Gen X and are at risk for pneumonia complications. This is important . If you think there are few carvers on the snow this season ... wait until next season after a ventilatior shortage . Losing even 1 of our carvers is huge loss .... even if they are an annoying troll (I know some of those), they are still a carving brother. why would there be a shortage ? OK let’s assume that the hospital has 10 ventilators. And the average initial patient needs to use a ventilator for two weeks before they can be safely taken off of it and they are on their way to recovery this is a relatively short estimate given the severity of the disease. Considering 7488 people in South Korea were infected, and that this class of infected people were younger women who are more likely to recover faster, even a month after the outbreak only 118 or if you do the math 1 in 63 has fully recovered. Given that that’s the best case scenario with the majority young women, it’s likely that some people need chronically to use the respirator for an extended period of time. Maybe even several months, there also be some that don’t need it as long but still have an EXTENDED temporary need for it. Errr...so after a few weeks of statistical accumulation of a variety of longer term users the turn over if available ventilators will go DECREASE to 1-2 every 2 weeks while huge lines begin to accumulate ( with many dying because of lack of the ability to breathe well enough on their own to improve their condition) . so If anyone wants to tackle hacking the softwares of an auto set or adjustable CPAP with built in heater, humidifier, and heated air hose best choose is the resmed airsense 10 (these greatly reduce the likelihood of respiratory infections EVEN WHEN USED AS A REGULAR CPAP. In part because of the heated moist air from the humidifier ) and hacking it into a respirator/ventilator that would be a huge help towards giving people a chance to Iive when these scarce resources run out. Estimates are between 100,000 and 160,000 available respirators NATIONWIDE! NOW let’s put this into STARK perspective let’s assume that 1/4 of those over 65 who got infected need them to live. In New York City’s five boroughs alone there are 1.3 to 1.4 million people over the age of 65. That means the elderly residents of Brooklyn alone could consume the entire countries stock if for respirators and still over 1/2 would die . Since we can’t snowboard now and have time off, anyone up for my little pet project ? We snowboarders and skaters AND like an “impossible challenge “ and I enjoy thinking outside the box. Surely using 6 degrees of separation someone could refer the right person to me. and to keep this snowboard relevant - so many of us live at higher altitudes that the need for this is even more likely amongst us carvers. JG 347-263-7238

I have taught sports now for well over 40 years. it’s always been my opinion that safety of the participants should be one of the most important directives in any sport. Even if that safety involves discussing social distancing, sanitizing, and anything else to protect yourself from bodily Injury or sickness. therefore discussions like this should probably remain in areas where they will be seen by the most members. if we were discussing what high performance carburetor we like to use to get to the mountains I totally understand things would be put in this forum but this particular situation it’s an exception. In no way do I say this to undermine Jack, or to support Barryj it’s just that I think this is an exceptional Situation . and toBarryj in particular . The drive to Mammoth from Orange county is about six hours. The drive to Brian Head Utah is about 7 hours. ikon and epic pass holders get a discount along lift tickets about $35. Furthermore the base elevation in Brian ahead is the highest in Itah making corn snow and mashed potatoes A non issue at the bottom or simply a better ratio of packed powder to slush at the bottom . lodging around that area is very affordable- and I am considering splitting costs near the mountain and making a carving condo. text me at 347-263-7238

Send me your email or iPhone number and I’ll send you inspiring video. johngilmour at rocketmail dot com

Alterra is using this Covid-19 as an excuse to shut down the unprofitable running off its lifts late season . CURRENTLY:There are ZERO cases of Covid -19 in Momo county ( where Mammoth is) . Given that 40-70% of the population will likely get infected in the first wave - having a few people take up a few Mono county respirators would slightly lighten the INEVITABLE respirator load elsewhere in less rural areas. Frankly if they put a bunch of portapotty stalls spaced 15 feet apart with Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer and some spray disinfectant and a bunch of food trucks and sandwich wagons. They could have honored our season passes at zero Covid-19 risk just by not running the gondolas and using the chairlifts and having a bunch of sanitary wet wipes Iike in the supermarket to make sitting in a chairlift no more risk than pushing a shopping cart . In fact it’s safer than going to the supermarket because your chance of contracting Covid-19 outside with large spacing is almost impossible . The more hours you spend on the slopes vs being inside the less likely you are of contracting Covid-19 or passing it asymptomatically to someone else ... which is how young people are infecting elders.... keeping young people inside with elders is a very bad bad bad idea. This taking away our ability to ride the lifts ultimately puts us at greater risk than staying inside in closer quarters.