# Why is Vail forced to close so early?



## Suburban Blend (Feb 23, 2008)

*my 10 cents*

Most resorts feel that once the tourists stop coming then it's not "worth" it to keep it open for local passholders.


----------



## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

If the forest service does it, it's probably because they are sick of the yuppies :laugh: j/k. I would be willing to bet the reasoning behind it would have something to do with environmental impact/snowmelt or something along those lines. The forest service usually has reasons for what they do. I have lived here my whole life and never have heard that as a reason for them to close early, I just figured it was how it goes.


----------



## Guest (Apr 5, 2008)

Forest Service / Park Service has very little to do with it, but they're a convenient excuse for the resorts to lay the blame on. Resorts pay close attention to seasonal traffic patterns. Between Christmas, MLK, President's day, and spring break, most families have spent their winter vacation time money by the time April rolls around, so most of the people riding are season pass holders. Season pass holders don't provide enough ongoing revenue to justify keeping the mountain open. Some resorts, like A-Basin and Loveland have created a market around being open early and late season, and they're closer to Denver, so they take a lot of the drive-in traffic from Denver anyways.

The resorts also have to deal with staffing issues. A large percentage of ski resort workers come from other countries and are on work visas that expire, requiring the workers to go home. As the lift and food service employees go home, the mountain has a harder time keeping lifts open. Some big resorts, like Vail, are at an additional disadvantage because they're so spread out, it requires more employees to keep enough lifts open to enable people to navigate the mountain.


----------



## Guest (Apr 5, 2008)

So I guess just a few smaller resorts are the ones that decide to stay open.


----------

