Vail Resorts holds firm to vaccination requirement for cafeteria dining
Adventure_Photo (iStock)
While Vail Resorts Inc. isn’t requiring reservations to ski, nor skiers to be vaccinated to access lifts and sit-down restaurants, it is requiring visitors to its “cafeteria-style restaurants” to show proof of vaccination.
That’s got at least one unvaccinated Epic passholder and his friends upset, saying Vail (NYSE: MTN) should have disclosed that before they paid more than $700 for an Epic pass. They want a refund, but Vail is saying “no.”
“If they had made that information available beforehand, I would not have purchased the pass,” said Preston Thomas, 36, of Smyrna, Georgia. “It doesn’t seem fair.”
But a Vail spokeswoman said the Epic Pass terms and conditions specifies: “pass holders are not eligible for refund based on the operating guidelines of our restaurants or because of a vaccine requirement.”
“Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is not required to ski or ride at our resorts, or to ride on a lift or gondola – only in our indoor, quick-service, cafeteria-style restaurants,” said Lindsay Hogan via email. “It’s also not required to eat at outdoor restaurants or indoor full-service restaurants.”
Thomas said he and his three friends have bought Epic passes for the past seven or so years, and make the trip to Colorado at least five times a season to ski around 15 days. They have no problem with masking or social distance orders, he said.
First snows spotted throughout Colorado this week
“I would think that Vail would understand that requiring an individual to take a vaccine to have access to all the benefits of the pass that they paid for is much different than requiring them to wear a mask or social distance and that it should have been disclosed to customers before purchase,” Thomas said.
Thomas declined to say why he would not get the vaccine, just that it’s a personal decision he and his wife made. The surgeon in the group is vaccinated, only because his employer required it, Thomas said.
For those unfamiliar, the cafeteria-style restaurants are a large indoor space with picnic tables where throngs of skiiers come in for lunch, or the end of the day, to take a break and get out of the weather.
In a Sept. 20 email to Epic passholders, Vail stated: “Consistent with many other large-scale indoor activities and venues, we believe the vaccine requirement is important for the protection of our guests and our employees, given the number of people using these facilities and the fact that guests will not be wearing face coverings while eating and drinking. This is currently the only part of our experience that will require proof of vaccination, unless required by local public health.”
In a recent announcement from many resorts that their employees would be required to be vaccinated, Aspen officials said personal choice stops when the health and welfare of others is jeopardized.
“We all value autonomy and freedom of choice in this country,” Aspen Skiing Co. President and CEO Mike Kaplan said in an email sent to employees, according to the Aspen Times. “However, when our individual choices affect the wellbeing of our fellow employees and community members, as an organization we must look through a broader lens that prioritizes our collective safety and wellbeing.”
LIST: Opening 2021-22 dates for Colorado ski areas
Thomas said access to the bathrooms and “grab and go” options isn’t the same as being able to sit indoors and warm up, away from the cold and potentially stormy weather. And he said they can’t afford the pricier sit-down restaurant options that don’t require customers to be vaccinated as they’re more spaced out seating at individual tables.
Vail officials also said with the ever-changing impact of the Delta variant, they might have to shift policies to reflect local health orders quickly.
“The dynamics and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been fast moving and constantly changing, and we are doing our very best to ensure we align our operating practices to the most up to date information and recent developments,” Hogan said. “The surge of the Delta variant in August and September has triggered many new regulatory requirements and changes in business practices and our hope is to set our winter operating practices with the most recent developments, and with enough time for guests to prepare for the winter.”
Thomas said he hasn’t decided whether or not to boycott Vail this season.




