In March, 2020 Vail Resorts made the bold decision to close all 34 of its ski resorts in North America in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. That was no small decision with over a month of spring skiing left. The closure also included all of their resort properties including lodging and other recreational facilities.
Vail’s EPIC Pass provides access to all of its 34 mountains in North America as well as access to skiing in Japan and Europe. In reports to investors, Vail reportedly hope to sell over 900,000 Epic Passes for the 2019/2020 season. Those passes listed for $939 each.
Now, a class of pass holders has brought a claim against Vail for closing the mountains without refunding at least part of the cost of the passes. This will be interesting to see play out. As a lawyer and a skier, I can certainly see both sides on this one. Pass holders traditionally bear the risk of purchasing a pass in years where there is no snow or conditions force late openings or early closures. Although the cause is different here, the result is the same.
However, as it turns out Vail’s decision to close its mountains was a difficult one. The decision probably also helped stop the spread of COVID 19 and hopefully helped save some lives. Hopefully, the only thing passholders have to worry about next year is snowfall.
As a follow up, the lawsuit against Vail resorts for it’s early closure due to the COVID 19 pandemic of it’s resort in Vail, Co was tossed out by a judge. The judge felt that since the closure followed the Colorado Governor issued a “statewide stay at home order” the resort’s closure was keeping in line with that mandate.
Here’s a link to the story on Unofficalnetworks:
https://unofficialnetworks.com/2020/04/20/lawsuit-against-vail-resorts/
For more news visit Epic Law’s blog.