Summit County government is turning a blind eye to the enforcement of the mask mandate and controlling the coronavirus at our local ski areas. The worst offender is enforcement at Keystone Resort. The same locals day after day, again and again, refuse or are unwilling to wear masks. Employees ignore or are unwilling to mention to guests to correct the deficiency. When I mention to employees to please ask the people next to me to wear their mask, employees grumble, then walk away and try to pass it off to someone else.

Summit County government needs to take a look at our local ski areas and figure out how to enforce the mask mandate. Otherwise, with the onslaught of the new variants of the virus, we all could be in big trouble. These locals are brazen with their flaunting of defiance. An easy solution would be for the county to require an employee at each lift maze asking guests to wear masks properly. When a guest reaches the ticket scanner and they are not wearing their mask, they would be asked to go back to the end of the line and wear their mask properly. Repeated violations would result in loss of use for the day. I guarantee guests would wear masks properly.

This is a public health and safety issue that Summit County ski areas should take seriously. It is not appropriate for ski area guests to take up the task of enforcing the mask mandate while in lift lines. It is also irresponsible for Summit County government to claim, as they have in past Summit Daily News articles, that they have no idea why COVID-19 outbreaks are happening. You need look no further than the lift lines at Summit County ski areas.