Hospitality industry, state brace for eclipse crush

Eclipse tourists are set to descend upon the region in the middle of mudseason, when many of the dirt roads that give the area its pastoral charm become vulnerable to deep ruts and become even soup-like.

The onset mudseason will merely be an exclamation point on a winter beset by a cyclical warming and cooling that has already wrought havoc on the area’s dirt roads. Early April could see conditions ranging from muck to a snowstorm.

Staff within the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has been preparing for months, game planning how best to deploy its limited resources to protect the incoming horde of off-season tourists from the hazards of nature, but also how to protect the natural world from a glut of flatlanders during a particularly vulnerable season.

Claire Polfus, a recreation program manager, said the agency has been focusing on safety messaging and best practices for eclipse visitors who may not be as familiar with northern Vermont’s early spring climate.

“It could be a totally beautiful day and things are pretty dry. It could be rainy, and no one wants to come here, but it’s important even for locals to understand that this is an event,” Polfus said. “It will be like leaf peeper season, but just in one day.”

Polfus and the agency hope visitors will be content viewing the eclipse from the valleys, on village downtown streets or from the myriad eclipse-themed events at restaurants, bars and ski resorts.

While the path of totality extends in an arc across the United States, however, it’s clear many eclipse visitors chose Vermont because it gets them a little closer to the action in the sky.

At a December meeting of the Barre Stewardship Team, a group of agency employees that manage lands in north-central Vermont, it was agreed that visitors should be directed not toward areas like Little River or Waterbury Center state parks, but to Elmore State Park. Trails will still be closed for mudseason in those areas, but the parking lot at Elmore is spacious and consistently plowed.

Polfus said the agency has been working with the Green Mountain Club and other organizations and guides to provide clear information about trail closures and to advise against hiking during the eclipse.

Most agency employees will be assisting rescue squads or emergency responders in case any visitors do find themselves injured or stuck. A contingency of employees will also be deployed, particularly at higher elevations, to help protect flora and wildlife from damage. Polfus said there is particular concern about ensuring visitors are safe around bodies of water and any lingering ice.

Vermont Emergency Management is also planning to deploy mobile cellular phone towers throughout the region to bolster the state’s sometimes patchy service in anticipation of an onslaught of photo and video uploads, according to WCAX-TV.

“People need to just understand that it’s coming,” Polfus said. “If they want to view the eclipse, make a good plan, be safe, be prepared and have extra layers if they go outside and be kind to each other because everyone wants to have a really good experience.”

Cashing in

From the mountains to the valley, from Stowe and surrounding towns, everyone has an eclipse event scheduled to cash on a once-in-a-lifetime bonus tourism season.

“We know there’s a lot of interest in and excitement around the solar eclipse, particularly here at Stowe Mountain Resort where we’re in 100 percent totality on Vermont’s highest mountain peak, so we’re expecting an influx of visitors to the area — maybe more than we see in the fall during peak foliage,” Shannon Buhler, general manager at Stowe Mountain Resort, said.

An exclusive Cliff House party on the summit of Mt. Mansfield, with tickets ranging between $150 for Epic Pass holders and $205 for others, has already sold out, though gondola rides are still available.

Lifts were scheduled to cease operation on April 7, but the resort decided to keep them running through the eclipse, Buhler said. Due to regulations that prohibit the operation of some lifts in darkness, only the Mansfield gondola and over-easy gondola will continue to operate after 3 p.m. until the sunlight returns.

Buhler noted that skiable terrain off the gondola will be assessed closer to the date of the eclipse and that Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol will be on hand to ensure safety. Since it’s a Monday, and not a holiday, paid parking won’t be in effect at the resort, but the lots are guaranteed to be crowded.

For those who didn’t snag a ticket for the Cliff House, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find an eclipse party. Every jam band’s favorite record spinner DJ Logic will be joined by nineties rapper G Love at the nearby Lodge at Spruce Peak. A band will also jam all afternoon at Trapp Family Lodge, where its trademark beer will flow.

Stowe Cider is teaming up with parking lot neighbor American Flatbread for a Daytime Blackout event, where enough libations will be on offer that many may end up forgetting the once-in-a-lifetime event.

In Cambridge, Smugglers’ Notch Resort will encourage visitors to stay off the mountain during the meeting of celestial bodies and spend their time instead at their eclipse winter carnival in the village. With many visitors likely booking their stay for a long weekend, several days of family-centric events will precede the carnival.

“We are cautious putting people up there when we are not available to provide any safety services, if needed, during that small window of 2 to 4 p.m. when visibility might be negligible,” Steve Clokey, chief marketing officer at the resort, said. “Our signage will discourage uphilling while making note that those travelers will be at risk similar to times all season when we don’t have patrol on site.”

Clokey noted that, while it’s still unclear exactly how many people will be drawn to the resort for the festivities, the resort’s shuttle system is ready to accommodate large crowds and the resort regularly hosts large events.

“It will be interesting to be part of a high-level influx of visitors if what is being predicted comes true,” he said.

No vacancy

At the Barre team’s December meeting, it was noted that, according to experts, anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 visitors could be arriving in northern Vermont for the eclipse event.

Many of these visitors will be staying in Stowe, the obvious epicenter of Lamoille County’s tourism industry with the highest density of hotels and short-term rentals in the region, as well as the greatest visibility nationally.

According to the Stowe Area Association’s most recently available occupancy survey results, most of the town is already filling up. After polling 741 of 1,443 hotels, motels and other traditional lodging businesses, the association found the occupancy to the rate for the week of the eclipse is already at 52 percent. The occupancy rate for the same week last year was 20 percent.

The Lodge at Spruce Peak is already near maximum capacity in its 300-plus rooms for the extended weekend, and Trapp Family Lodge is near capacity, expecting over 1,000 guests.

The association’s survey of Stowe’s 1,082 short-term rentals found that 48 percent of them had already been booked up for the week of the eclipse and 62 percent had already been booked up for the weekend leading up to the celestial event.

Eclipse tourists are filling up the resort town on the other side of the Notch as well. According to short-term rental market analysis company AirDNA, short-term rentals in Cambridge are already seeing an occupancy rate of around 72 percent for the week.

According to Clokey, the 3,000-bed resort village is completely sold out.

There are far fewer short-term rentals outside of Stowe and Cambridge, but every town in the county, from Morristown to Johnson to Eden, is already over 60 percent capacity, with Hyde Park topping 70 percent and the handful of rentals in sparsely populated Belvidere over 80 percent booked.