VanWart Ski Groups - March 13th Message from Bob Van Wart
I would like to express my personal thanks to every family booked with us for the upcoming March spring break week. These are unprecedented times and your patience during the past 12 hours while I worked through government announcements and the potential impact they would have on my families and your travel plans - well words simply cannot express my thanks.
Like you, I am disappointed to have to cancel ski vacation plans. With the announcement of having to be self quarantined and possibly an imposed 14 day quarantine was not an option for many of my families. The prospect of additional measures including the possibility of closing borders was raised today by our Prime Minister. There remains a lot of uncertainty.
I have terrific partners at Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Maine Ski Lodging and Slopeside Realty. All are part of the VanWart value chain and again, they have all come through to do their best to help our families mitigate the financial impact of having to cancel your upcoming ski vacation if you wish to cancel. Please know you are still at liberty to travel; my role is to give you the option to reconsider and cancel if you believe it is the best option for your family.
If you choose to cancel your vacation plans at either Sugarloaf or Sunday River, please notify me as soon as you receive this email. Many of you have already emailed me throughout the day, however, I have personally responded to over 250 emails to keep those families informed as I was returning from the US and it will be easier for me if you reply to this communication if you chose to cancel.
I would ask your assistance by simply emailing me a reply as simple as "Cancellation confirmed for the _________ family". That will help me manage your plans and cancel only for those who are unable to travel on Sunday.
For every family who cancels, my resort partners are providing us with a 100% credit towards next year's ski vacation. This means your VanWart Superlifts, March Passports and condo packages will be available next season. At this time, we are aligning that credit with the 2021 March break, however, I acknowledge there may be challenges for some families. I will review those exceptions on a family by family basis as we move forward. I am also working with our lodging partners to ensure you get the same unit next year. This will only change if the unit has been sold, there is unit remodeling or damage or if the owner removes the unit from the rental pool. For now I am personally reviewing every booking with my lodging partners.
This is unprecedented and let's remember, it is nobody's "fault". At this time, we will be inconvenienced and disappointed if you decide to cancel plans this close to our scheduled date of arrival. However, thanks to the tremendous support and continued proven leadership from my resort partners, you will not be financially disadvantaged.
Families cancelling will receive a confirmation from me showing the credit on file for 2021 ski season.
Please accept my thanks again for the patience you've shown today through this very ambiguous and uncertain environment. As at yesterday it appeared we could still travel unrestricted. This virus remains an uncertainty and I applaud the Canadian Government and our Health Authorities for being pro-active and cautious, showing true leadership to protect the well being of all Canadians. As we have witnessed, those leadership qualities are unfortunately lacking with some governments who instead are creating an environment of uncertainty.
Please feel free to call (902) 402-9601 or email me at [email protected] if you would like to discuss your personal situation before making a decision today.
My sincere best wishes for the health and safety of you all.
Bob the Ski Guy
March 17th - Message from Bob Van Wart
To all of our families, thank you for your exceptional and supportive responses to my emails and especially for your wonderful comments regarding our handling of this world wide situation.
My priorities were to ensure you did not suffer a financial loss and consistent with airlines and cruise companies, Before things got worse, I was able to guarantee you a 100% carry forward credit for at least the next season. All but (3) of our families stayed in Canada and for the others who ventured out, I was able to get them the same consideration when they had to return home on Sunday.
This saved our families the risk of being quarantined for 14 days, eliminated the costs to travel on Saturday including meals, overnight in Bangor or Farmington and gas to get to/from the resort.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your package or the carry forward options available, please feel free to email or call me at (902 433-1532.
March 25th - Message from Bob Van Wart
As we all manage through the currrent Coronavirus and government policies that affect each and everyone of us, I want to again thank all of our loyal families for your patience and support during these very troubling times.
These are circumstances beyond anyone's control and I again commend the Canadian Government, our Health Agencies for being proactive advising Canadians.
Since my message of March 13th, other service industry members have adopted similar policies to those introduced by VanWart Ski Groups Ltd. once it became evident border crossing restrictions and an expanding quarantine policy would interrupt ski vacation plans.
I wanted to provide you with this update so that you know we are working towards completing our promise to carry forward your vacation arrangements.
Our US partners are closed and any agents who manage our resort relationships are working on having your booking moved forward to the 2021 ski season. Virtually every loyal family has confirmed the carry forward credit so this will take time. Rest assured they are working on it.
Once I have those arrangements confirmed for all of our 350 + affected bookings, I will send you a confirmation that reaffirms your package will be identical to what you booked for the 2020 season.
Our commitment to you is the industry setting standard and it is because of your loyal support over the decades that I made this promise to everyone.
VanWart Ski Groups Ltd. also has plans underway to more formally thank everyone who had their vacation cancelled and we carry forward your booking to 2021. This is an unprecedented historical time and your proven your loyalty to the work we do to give you the best ski vacation possible will be remembered and rewarded.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email or call me at (902) 433-1532.
At this time, our Canadian, US boarder remains restricted for travel. Whether that changes in time to consider a ski vacation in Maine remains to be seen. As well, any travel outside the Atlantic Bubble still requires a 14 day quarantine upon return. This remains a major challenge for my families wherein you would need to have flexiblity covering a three week period. One week skiing; two weeks in isolation. This is virtually impossible for most, if not all of my families.
As well, up until recently, Maine was a relatively low risk state for travel. A wedding a couple of weeks ago changed all of that with at least 200 cases of Covid attributed to that event...and possibly growing.
Like you, my priority is the safety of my own family and the safety of my ski famililes. It is for this reason that I am providing you with the following reassurances and guarantees:
- The funds you paid for your 2020 ski vacation will be carried forward for 2021 and 2022 and beyond if necessary
- VanWart Ski Groups is guaranteeing you will not see any increase in pricing from this point forward.
- If, and I hope this is a very weak if, Covid restricts travel beyond 2022, VanWart Ski Groups will continue to guarantee no price increase.
- The only requirement is that you take the same Spring Break week applicable to your Province at the time we are able to ski again.
- You will be able to change weeks if a Spring Break no longer works for you. I will do my best to arrange the lowest price for you for the week you select. Sugarloaf and Maine Ski Lodging have confirmed they will do what they can to support this request and it will depend on timing of your ask and demand / supply at the resorts.
- Refunds remain impractical. At the time of the termination of travel to/from the US, had the resorts issued refunds in US funds, you would have lost almost 50% due to the rapid decline in the Canadian dollar vs the US. At that time, the US announced major financial aid; Canada had not. This is why I negotiated a freeze on refunds from our resorts. They had no idea the financial impact on Canadians. Families from Ontario that did not book through VanWart Ski Groups, having booked through a third party agency or booked directly with the resorts would have lost almost half of their payments due to exchange differentials and bank conversion fees.
- I have had productive discussions with my US partners and as many of you who have been with my ski group for decades, I will always make it better. I am working on that and once we have the green light to safely travel to the US again, each family will be notified of what I plan to do for you all to celebrate our return to the hills.
- Some families have asked about a Quebec option. I have finally given up that possibility. I'm sure you all know the situation in Quebec now and it is not likely to resolve itself in the next few months. Refunds in Quebec would be non-existent if we book now and could not travel later. I do not want to offer you that risk.
- So for now, be assured I have you covered and your payments are secure.
Please feel free to call or email me at any time. Please, stay safe, follow our provinces' lead and wear your mask, disinfect your hands often and be cautious with group gatherings. As at October 1st, we are enjoying improved measures to socialize. Always recognize that any community spread will set us back and as Atlantic Canadians, we know how to get the job done right, we protect our communities and we respect our freedoms.
All the best,
Bob the Ski Guy
October 2nd - Message from Bob Van Wart
Well folks, the world and our lives have changed for what is likely to be a very extended period. I hope you are all well and it so reassuring that most of my families live within our Atlantic Bubble. For all of my Ontario and Quebec families, I hope you have remained the exceptions and have not experienced first hand or through a family member the devastation of Covid - 19. At this tiime, I am not aware of any of my families who have personally experienced Covid.
I have decided to update you with my plans to provide you with further reassurances and arrangements you can expect from VanWart Ski Groups Ltd. and the responses from my exceptional partners at Sugarloaf Ski Resort and Maine Ski Lodging. These two partners have been unprecedented with their support, flexibility and encouragement.
Archived Covid Messages from Bob Van Wart
We MAKE Winter!
Van Wart Ski Vacations
31st Season 2022
October 19, 2021 - Message from Bob Van Wart
I hope you all enjoyed summer and have been following the latest developments regarding land crossings to/from the US and Canada!
At this tiime, there are still some uncertainties. The matter of vaccine types and whether a test is necessary to reenter Canada continue to cause delays. Once there is certainty and we only need to show proof of full vaccinations and identification to go to the US and we are able to return to Canada without expensive testing in the US, I will be notifying and tentatively rebooking all of my 2020 families along the lines set out below. I have room assignments finalized and have arrangements to enable my families to cancel / carry forward yet again if government regulations make it impossible to travel. So for now....hang tight! I am monitoring the situation daily.
