Letter: Isn’t it a little early to close lifts?
Hey, Vail: While appreciative of your improved early season “strategy” to opening the mountain this year, I am dismayed by your late season “strategy” of closing down lifts for the season. Closing chair 10 on Monday eliminates an important portal to get up the eastern side of the mountain and accessing the Back Bowls that are still open this week. It severely clogs the important artery which is chair 11.
Keeping chair 26 open another week is appreciated; closing chair 39 is not. Keeping Chair 26 open until the end of the season would also be greatly appreciated, and would dramatically improve the skiing experience and reduce crowding at Chair 2.
It makes Vail seem insensitive to the quality of the guest experience by creating more crowded conditions at Chairs 11 and 2. It is still busy on the mountain. You pushed back the closing date by a week, but did not push back lift closures appropriately.
Obviously, spring weather can quickly deteriorate the snow conditions, which is difficult to manage. However, it would seem you can improve how you manage these aspects of mountain access.
After working so hard to successfully minimize the effects of the pandemic and maximize your customer’s access to the mountain, it seems shameful and short sided to shortchange your customer’s “experience of a lifetime” prior to closing for the season on April 18.
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Ron Rusnak
Golden
