Both Vail and Alterra were sued over COVID-19. Who won and who lost?

It's the tale of two lawsuits, with two very different outcomes.

One lawsuit was against Vail Resorts, owner of Stowe, Okemo and Mount Snow ski resorts, and the other was against Alterra Mountain Company, owner of Sugarbush and Stratton Mountain ski resorts. The Vail lawsuit was dismissed. The lawsuit against Alterra resulted in a $17.5 million settlement in favor of the skiers.

Both lawsuits were brought by season pass holders for the respective resort owners who felt they were owed refunds after COVID-19 brought the 2019-2020 ski season to an abrupt halt in March 2020.

As David Rion told the Burlington Free Press in January 2021, he and his wife hesitated before buying four Epic season passes from Vail Resorts for $2,000 before the 2019-2020 season started, but the "vibe" they got from Vail marketing, Rion said, was that anything COVID-19-related that prevented them from using the passes would result in a refund.

At first, Vail refused to give any refunds, just as Alterra did, saying quarantines were not "refund events," and that "Epic Coverage also does not provide refunds for apprehension or inconvenience related to COVID-19."

Adding to his frustration, Rion was unable to reach anyone at Vail Resorts.

"We haven't talked to a real person," Rion said in 2021. "It's almost impossible to make contact."

Vail decides to give partial refunds, Alterra refuses

As it turned out, Vail later provided credits of 20%-80%, toward the purchase of the following season's Epic Pass. In a news release on April 27, 2020, Vail explained that the higher credits were for season pass holders who used their passes for less than five days, with a maximum credit of 80% for those who didn't use their season passes at all.

Vail also offered a 100% credit on certain Epic Passes, according to The Gazette in Colorado Springs, for customers who were unable to use their passes because of state-mandated quarantines for travelers — exactly the problem Rion and his family faced, living in Connecticut.

Alterra, on the other hand, stuck to its guns, refusing to issue refunds, even though it had closed all of its North American resorts on March 14, 2020, well before the end of the ski season. A court document notes that the season at Winter Park in Colorado typically runs into late April or May, while the season at Mammoth Mountain in California typically runs into June or July. Both Winter Park and Mammoth Mountain are owned by Alterra.

“Alterra was forced to cut the ski season short because of the pandemic, but — unlike its main competitor Vail Resorts — refused to give passholders even partial refunds for their unused season passes,” said Simon Franzini, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the Alterra lawsuit.

All but nine Ikon pass holders are ecstatic

That decision ended up costing Alterra $17.5 million for pass holders, plus nearly $3 million in attorney fees. The money will go to an estimated 500,000 members of the class action lawsuit, an unknown number of whom presumably are Vermonters, given the popularity of the resorts Alterra owns in the state.

"Class Counsel has fielded countless calls from Class Members that were ecstatic with the results of the Settlement," a court document stated.

There were nine people who objected to the settlement, representing .0018% of the approximately 500,000 plaintiffs. The court gave no weight to the objections, and praised the settlement as "fair and reasonable."

"The substance of the objections can be generally broken down into two issues 1) the benefits of the Settlement are not big enough, and 2) the attorney's fees are too high," the judge in the case wrote. "These are classic objections that appear in virtually every class action settlement."

What will customers will get if they had a 2019-2020 pass from an Alterra ski area

The settlement in the Alterra case came in the form of credits toward the next season's pass, like Vail offered without losing a lawsuit, or in the alternative, a voucher for a discount of between 20%-50% on a single-day lift ticket. Both credits depended on the number of days a plaintiff used their Ikon Passes.

The credits ranged from $150 for those who were only able to use their passes for one day, down to $10 for those who used their passes for seven or more days.

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: VT ski resorts sued by customers: Why one is paying $17.5 million