The 2020 ski season in Australia has been filled with frustrations, miscommunications and internet meltdowns across the board. Life in a pandemic is not easy, skiing in a pandemic is, as it turns out, even harder, especially when everyone is already living in a highly triggered state of constant future anxiety.
It’s been a truly hard slog to open the resorts and a devastating disappointment for the industry for two of them to close again, with little notice, in Victoria.
So, to set the corporation’s record straight on one financial specific rumour doing the rounds, Vail Resorts Australia Senior VP of Operations, Pete Brulisauer, put pen to paper and wrote a letter to employees in Victoria after the closure of Hotham and Falls Creek chairlifts.
Though it’s important to note, for the local businesses, that both resorts are still open as advised by the Department of Health and Human Services, and operating as a holiday destination for regional Victorians, just minus the chairlifts for now.
This letter was sent to all employees today.
Following the announcement on Thursday that we are suspending operations in Hotham and Falls Creek, I want to express my gratitude to the team on the ground in Victoria for the support you are providing our seasonal employees as they transition home.
The dedication and commitment that you continue to demonstrate during these unprecedented times, in this incredibly challenging year, is extraordinary and I am indebted to each and every one of you.
The decision to suspend our operations in Victoria was exceptionally difficult. Be Safe is one of our core values and throughout this crisis we have led with a safety-first mindset. Much like the March closing of our resorts in North America, no one ordered us to suspend operations at Hotham and Falls Creek and we understand that not everyone will agree with our approach, or make the same choices. We wanted to provide some additional detail on our thinking, to ensure all our employees understand how we made this decision.
While each situation needs to be uniquely assessed, three orders by Government heavily influenced our decision to suspend operations:
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- The issuance of Stage 3, Stay-at-Home orders for Melbourne and Mitchell Shire;
- Restricting access to New South Wales for anyone who has been in any part of Victoria;
- The Safe at Home recommendation to anyone in Victoria, outside of Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, of “seeing only those you need to, when you need to”.
These three orders, taken in combination, highlighted to us that Government believed COVID-19 represented a very serious risk across Victoria. Clearly, the risk is more elevated in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire than the rest of Victoria and there is currently no Stay at Home order at either of our resorts. However, we believe a few unique risks drove our decision to suspend operations:
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- If we have learned anything about this pandemic over the past four months it’s that things move quicker than any of us expect and it’s important for us to be out front of the situation from a safety perspective, especially considering how quickly things just moved in Melbourne.
- At the time the Stage 3, Stay at Home order was issued, our resorts already had many guests from Melbourne and Mitchell on property, representing an unknown risk for future local cases.
- If we remained operational for guests outside of Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, we would be bringing together people from all over the rest of Victoria, which seems directly counter to the guidelines and best safety practices right now.
With all of that said, we cannot say for certain that this will turn out to be the right decision. But we believe being extra careful about safety is both the right health decision for our employees, guests and communities and also the right long-term decision for our business.
Toward that end, I have heard concerns that we made this decision purely for financial reasons.
There is no doubt that the Stay at Home orders in Melbourne would have drastically reduced guests to the resorts but, it still might have been possible to remain profitable at a smaller scale. However, that was not how this decision was made. When we voluntarily closed our resorts in North America, it came at a massive financial cost to the Company, one which we accepted because we believed it was the right decision. The same is true here.
This is heartbreaking for so many of us; for the employees whose season ended so abruptly, for our year-round colleagues who worked tirelessly to get us open and for the businesses in the communities that rely on our operations to thrive.
So once again, we need to regroup and look ahead to our recovery. We are a passionate group, dedicated to our sport, our mountains and our communities – and that gives me confidence in the future. We will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation and keep you informed as we gain clarity on the path ahead.
Pete Brulisauer
SVP and COO, Australia and Perisher
Hotham and Falls Creek are still open for business, with a plethora of activities, lodging and cafes, just no chairlifts turning until, hopefully, August 19.
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