Martin Luther Who?

I heard several stories this week about Edge Card holders who drove up to Whistler on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 18 to ski for the day.

Due to the poor weather and high volumes, they endured a very tedious and tricky three-hour drive on the Sea to Sky highway. They then had to wait in line for [more than] 30 minutes due to the incessant problems the mountain is having with painfully long and intolerable lift lines.

After surviving all of this and finally getting to the RFID gate, these loyal pass-holders were declined access to the hill and told to purchase a day-pass at full price (or go home!).

Apparently, Vail Resorts includes Martin Luther King (MLK) Day with Christmas break and the Family Day weekend as a "holiday" during which access is restricted.

I am a season's pass holder (so this didn't directly affect me); I am also (obviously) a great admirer of MLK. However, I find it totally unreasonable and insensitive of Vail Resorts to expect local Canadian residents to know when this holiday falls (at least email a notice to these pass-holders) or, for that matter, to restrict access to the mountain on this day.

For Canadians, this is just a normal weekend for skiing. Imposing this restriction is just another example of the Americanization of our beloved Whistler Blackcomb and further proof that Vail Resorts is out of touch with the local community and Canadian customs.

Fail Vail.