Covid Restrictions Prompt Disgruntled Epic Pass Holders in New England

Seems that Vail Resorts has a number of disgruntled customers in the New England area, per press reports in the region. The company now owns a half dozen resorts across northern New England. It is facing backlash from customers who say the company is forcing them to either violate state pandemic travel restrictions or lose a significant amount of money they paid for ski passes purchased before those restrictions were put in place, according to wcvb.com.

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Earlier in January, the New York Times ran a letter sent by one of those dismayed customers. The resident of Massachusetts complained to the Times Travel section that, due to Vermont’s Covid guidelines, he could not ski regularly in that state and, despite Vail’s “preseason assurances of risk-free booking on seasonal ski passes”, he was not able to get a refund. Vermont’s travel restrictions – which require a 14-day quarantine or a seven-day quarantine plus a negative Covid test, either completed at home or in Vermont – have reduced the number of skiers and snowboarders coming into the state this year, noted the industry weekly newsletter The Ski Industry Letter.

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The Times responded by explaining that “Vail Resorts, one of the biggest players in the ski industry, has more than 30 resorts across 15 states. Eight of those states, Vermont included, currently have quarantine or testing mandates — and sometimes a combination of both — for out-of-state travelers“.

While Vermont ski resorts have been getting positive reviews for their handling of the pandemic guidelines, the MLK weekend that brought snow to the region also brought out huge crowds. The result? Photos of long lift lines especially at Mt Snow.

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On the other side of the country, Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain decided to shut down its twilight skiing and snowboarding MLK weekend due to abuses of Covid restrictions. “I will not continue to tolerate the verbal abuse that has been directed towards our staff as they have attempted to enforce our safety requirements. We hope this will only be a “pause” but we will need to reassess our approach to twilight skiing before we commit to any future dates,” said Schweitzer’s Tom Chasse.