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Letter: Let’s have a fun, safe closing weekend at Vail

As we enter closing weekend, on behalf of the resort, I want to say thank you to our staff, community and guests for an incredible 2018-2019 ski season. We experienced a legendary start to the season with enough natural snow to open early and with a significant amount of terrain. Those phenomenal snow conditions continued throughout the season, with fresh snow falling at just the right times.

Similar to how we started the season, we want to finish the season strong and on a positive note. With that in mind, we’d like to encourage our guests to be mindful of their behavior on the mountain during closing weekend.

Closing weekend at Vail is a great tradition and everyone is welcome to participate in the festivities both on and off the mountain. It is important to celebrate closing day and something we want to maintain moving forward, and we need everyone’s cooperation.



The safety of Vail Mountain’s guests and employees, as well as the public servicemen and women, remains a top priority, and inappropriate behavior that may jeopardize the experience of other guests is not tolerated.

U.S. Forest Service and local law enforcement officers will be on the mountain Sunday to help facilitate a safe end to the ski and snowboard season. Guests are expected to abide by the laws and rules of skiing and snowboarding and risk fines or arrest for irresponsible behavior and violations of federal laws. Skiers and snowboarders must continue to abide by the Colorado Ski Safety Act and “Your Responsibility Code” and observe all posted signs and closures.

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Guests are reminded that using any ski lift or trail while impaired by alcohol or controlled substances such as marijuana is prohibited under the Colorado Ski Safety Act. Guests are also not permitted to ride lifts, ski or snowboard on Vail Mountain with open containers or exposed quantities of alcohol, coolers, suitcase-like carriers, barbeques, amplified sound equipment or similar items.

We hope to not be put in a position where we’ll need to impose consequences. However, we’ve learned that we need consequences to inspire guests to behave appropriately.

As in recent years, violators who are ticketed or arrested will lose skiing and snowboarding privileges for the 2019-2020 season. Those who disobey posted signs and closures or engage in other inappropriate behavior could lose skiing and snowboarding privileges for up to the entire 2019-2020 season.

Given the variable spring snow conditions and limited egress routes off the mountain, downloading early at the end of the day to get ahead of the crowd is strongly encouraged.

We ask everyone for their continued cooperation with ski patrol and other Vail Mountain staff during closing weekend. Please be mindful and respectful of other guests enjoying their day on the mountain, and please stay safe. Thank you for your cooperation.

Doug Lovell

Chief Operating Officer, Vail Mountain


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