tedede;c-42987 wroteKeep in mind that Vail had to come up with a plan for dozens of resorts across the globe. It's not perfect. While it's great to get 50+ ski days in a year, it may not be possible for everyone. This situation is not unique to Vail, and it's hardly fair during a pandemic when they are trying to do the right thing to argue semantics about the word "unrestricted". All major mountains offer unrestricted passes and will be capping capacities. While your home mountain idea sounds good for Snow, it doesn't work for the fly-in destinations.
Totally understand the scope of planning that ALL areas have had to (and will continue to) go through but so far Vail has failed to impress me.
First in March when they abruptly shutdown all of their resorts on Sat. afternoon when in reality only Colorado required it. Many areas in N.E. went one more day and if Vail had, people could have used their "paid for" weekend AND been able to take their gear out of resort properties instead of having to file for refunds & travel hours back in the future to get their gear. Second, their summer schedule is a joke! No lift service mountain biking or on-mountain dining. Several other areas in VT & around offered lift service mountain biking (safely) along with on-mountain dining. Even area restaurants & breweries were offering service and all was done per state regulations and were safe. Third, Vail doesn't offer a "no reason option" to roll your 20-21 pass to 21-22 where as Ikon & others are. Then instead of really recognizing the resort passholders by giving them first crack at reservations before the mass of others on a Epic pass we now have to hope & pray we can get up when we want to while still paying full "unrestricted" pass prices!
Of course none of this matters if the virus cases spike this winter and the states close down skiing. Fortunately my wife & I are exploring other options for winter fun so we don't have to depend on skiing or Vail this winter.
