COVID Policies

Updated 4/21/2025

COVID Policies and Procedures

The Covid policy for the 2025 Denver event is:

  • We will not require testing or masking for the event this year. We understand that this is a change from previous years, and we encourage attendees to take the proper precautions based on their personal risk profile. It is possible that we will require masking if circumstances change. In the event that it happens, we will provide standard surgical masks to all attendees.

Please do not register for the event unless you are willing to wear a mask if required and comply with all other COVID-19 policies. Under no circumstances will we issue refunds to individuals who did not read the COVID policies or are unwilling to follow them.

While we are not requiring additional precautions in the time leading up to the event (such as masking or avoiding crowded indoor spaces), we do request that you be mindful of your COVID-19 exposure in the days leading up to the event. If you are traveling to the event, we recommend taking a home COVID-19 test two days prior to travel and again immediately before traveling, to reduce the risk of attendees contracting an unknown infection and becoming ill. We also recommend that each attendee be up to date on their yearly COVID-19 vaccinations, as recommended by their doctor.

Why these policies?

In setting our Covid policies, we try to balance the following considerations:

  • Covid risk is an accessibility issue for people who are at high risk of complications from Covid. There are people for whom NARIX is the only rope convention they feel safe attending.

  • Masks create accessibility challenges for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

  • Masks are uncomfortable and make the event feel less intimate.

We set policies for each event based on current Covid risk, in consultation with an epidemiologist who specializes in Covid.


Guiding Principles

We are guided by the following principles, in priority order:

We believe in science

We follow the current scientific consensus. When the data we need are missing or ambiguous, we make reasonable extrapolations based on the available data.

We are a community

As a community, we take care of one another and sacrifice for the common good. We make decisions about risk based on what is best for our community and our world as well as our personal risk tolerance.

Inclusion is one of our core values, so we work hard and sacrifice to make our events safe and accessible to our most vulnerable members.

We are transparent

Informed consent is one of our core values, so we are open and honest with each other about our risk profiles and our exposure levels.

As an organization, we publish detailed Covid policies and procedures as well as risk estimates for each of our events, so that attendees can make informed decisions about whether or not to attend.

We are autonomous

Within the bounds of being responsible members of our community, we are autonomous individuals who have the right to choose our own risk profiles and make our own decisions about risk.