At Crested Butte Mtn Resort, we have for years, enjoyed some of the best skiing in North America without the hassle of waiting 45 minutes just to get halfway up the mountain, let alone, then hike up headwall or the NFL. This is one of the many things that attracted me to this quaint little oasis. The Front rangers had the I-70 Resorts, we had our resort, Aspen had their own etc. etc.

I for one was a proponent of Vail buying CBMR from the Mueller's, seeing how the Mueller's only cared about real estate. But in the Mueller days at least we had the Brown Lab, you could "actually" Apre at 66 and if there was enough coverage, the NFL and High Light were cranking! Now Vail, they operate primarily from a Ski operations basis. Promised improvements to the ski area new jobs, better paying jobs.... I WAS excited, the excitement has turn to Dredd and disgust. 

For years we have seen aggressive over expansion of tourism in the Gunnison Valley without the proper leadership, infrastructure and workforce to accommodate HIGH VOLUME tourism. Vail knows this town can only support "so many" without imploding, yet I do not see a decline in advertising to bring MORE and MORE people here. Not that everyone shouldn't have the opportunity to experience this slice of heaven hidden away from civilization, we just can't support the influx of bodies. The shelves are bare at Clark's every day, as a local who would like to enjoy the night life and dining in Crested Butte, you simply can't anymore, well unless you fancy a Beer/shot and frozen (albeit yummy!!) pizza or pool at Club K. Every restaurant (with an exception) on Elk is no where near fully staffed, can't get fully staffed and therefore cannot operate full time, which in return: for the avg. tourist makes for a not so "Epic" experience. This is symptomatic of the clientele, I believe. Vail Brings in millionaires, they buy all the real estate, dont not give back too the community, take houses that have been LTR's for decades and make them Air BnB or VRBO, so now we as a community do not have the proper accommodations to even think about bringing in a workforce to help handle the influx of tourism. Yet, I don't see Vail even attempting to help the situation. They only care about their bottom line so their CEO and Corporate employees can enjoy those hefty bonuses at the end of the year. I used to be one of you scum bags, I know how it goes. 

Then, the employees that they can retain, they low ball them and pay them poverty wages and hold their passes hostage as motivation to stay employed. Individuals in leadership and lifesaving positions are getting paid less than most Mcdonald's staff. There is no excuse for this. 

Pass sales are up 76% percent from the prior year, meaning more skiers daily. Yet Vail refuses to staff their resorts across the nation, using COVID as a mask for their ineptitude. 

This is a quote taken from the Stevens Pass Petition that has now garnered over 30k signatures!!! I think this is also very very applicable to our situation:

As skiers, snowboarders and customers who purchased Vail Resorts "Epic Pass," we are utterly taken aback and disgusted with the mismanagement of the ski area, the failure to treat employees well, or pay them a livable wage, and the failure to deliver the product we all paid for and bought with hard-earned money during a pandemic.

I would like to see all Gunnison Valley Locals who bought the Local Epic Pass, fully refunded and an apology letter written to all employees of CBMR, acknowledging their hard work and announcing they will now be paying all employees (not just at CBMR) a livable wage, not minimum wage.

Immediately reopen all high lift and NFL access via the T-Bars.

 Effective pay and training for Management to mitigate lift lines and wait times. 

Last but not least, I would like to see Vail engage our community leaders to find a way to accommodate a local workforce and tourism.