Vail Resorts

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Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided among divisions that own and operate 42 mountain resorts in four countries, along with hotels, lodging, condominiums, and golf courses that comprise property real estate holdings.

History

Vail Resorts was founded as Vail Associates Ltd. by Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton in the early 1960s. Eaton, a lifelong resident, led Siebert (a former WWII 10th Mountain Division ski trooper) to the area in March 1957. They both became ski patrol guides at Aspen, Colorado, when they shared their dream of finding the "next great ski mountain." Siebert set off to secure financing, and Eaton engineered the early lifts. Their Vail ski resort opened in 1962.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> George N. Gillett Jr. purchased Vail Associates in 1985, but the company veered toward bankruptcy by 1991.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="LaConte">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1992 Vail Associates was acquired by Apollo Ski Partners, a new arm of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management led by billionaire Leon Black.<ref name="LaConte"/> The new ownership led Vail Resorts public in 1997.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2001, Vail Resorts acquired the hotel chain RockResorts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rob Katz, a former executive at Apollo, ran Vail Resorts as CEO until November 2021, when he was appointed executive chairperson of the board. Kirsten Lynch, the company's former chief marketing officer, then took over as CEO.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In June 2024, Vail Resorts reported lower-than-expected revenue during the February–April quarter due to a significantly warmer-than-anticipated winter across western North American resorts, with snowfall 28% lower than average. The company generated $1.28 billion in revenue during the quarter despite the stabilizing effect of its Epic Pass program, which allows customers to purchase a season pass for its North American resorts at a significant upfront cost. However, Vail's stock price has declined by 50% since its October 2021 peak of $360.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 2024-2025 season the company reported that in North America it sold 2% fewer Epic passes than the year prior, which is the first decline in pass sales the company has ever reported. The company attributed the decline to travel "normalization" after COVID and poor snowfall in some areas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Criticism

Some of Vail Resort's acquisitions have fueled anger among local residents. Locals complain that the Vail's pass structure caters to wealthy international pass holders and reduces access to nearby residents; additionally, residents have seen their cost-of-living increase following Vail's takeovers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Vail Resorts’ visitors often complain about long lines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At times the long lines have been caused by ski patrol striking due to inflated property values and inadequate wages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A two-week strike at Park City, Utah around the Christmas holiday in 2024, led to increased wages for ski patrollers, and was followed by new contracts for employees at Keystone and Crested Butte, Colorado.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>

Local towns have also complained recently about their partnerships with Vail and it's mountains. At Heavenly Mountain Resort, the town of South Lake Tahoe, California has voiced grievances of overflowing traffic, parking and negligent tourists, which drain from local resources outside from the town's tax authority. The town has increased it's parking rates and capped snow plowing as a result, and hopes to annex parts of the ski mountain to access the tax base.<ref name=":3" /> Rural areas like Crested Butte are also finding Vail is unwilling to contribute to costs of airline transportation at regional airports, where resort owners had historically helped subsidize the transportation that helped deliver their customers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A shareholder, Late Apex Partners, called for massive changes to the company—including a sweep of both the c-suite and board—after five years of significant underperformance by Vail.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

All of the aforementioned items, among other things, have contributed to Vail’s poor reputation and earned the company the appellation “Evil Empire.”<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Epic Pass price increases

Vail Resorts has increased the price of the all-access Epic Pass each year since 2021, amounting to a 34% hike over five years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Price of all-in Epic Pass

Year	Price	% change
2021-2022	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	-
2022-2023	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	+7.4%
2023-2024	$909<ref name=":2" />	+8.1%
2024-2025	$982<ref name=":1" />	+8.0%
2025-2026	$1,051<ref name=":1" />	+7.0%

List of resorts

Vail Resorts operates 42 ski resorts in the United States, Canada, Australia and Switzerland including, notably, the Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Crested Butte ski areas in Colorado, and Northstar California, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, and Heavenly Mountain Resort on the California-Nevada border. In British Columbia, Canada, they also acquired the largest ski resort in North America: Whistler Blackcomb. Vail Resorts offers a variety of multi-resort season passes under the Epic Pass program. The Epic Pass also has partnerships that allow access to several other resorts in the US, Canada, Japan, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Name	Location	Number of lifts	Date opened	Date acquired	Notes
Afton Alps	Template:Flagicon Hastings, Minnesota	22	1963 December 21	2012 December 6	<ref name="midwest">Template:Cite news</ref>
Alpine Valley	Template:Flagicon Chesterland, Ohio	5	1965	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Andermatt-Sedrun	Template:Flagicon Andermatt, Uri, Central Switzerland	19		2022 March 28	Vail owns a 55% share of the resort <ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Attitash Mountain	Template:Flagicon Bartlett, New Hampshire	9	1965 January 26	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Beaver Creek Resort	Template:Flagicon Beaver Creek, Colorado	25	1980 December 15	Template:N/A
Big Boulder	Template:Flagicon Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania	10	1947	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Boston Mills-Brandywine	Template:Flagicon Peninsula, Ohio	16	1963	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Breckenridge Ski Resort	Template:Flagicon Breckenridge, Colorado	32	1961 December 16	1996	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Crans-Montana	Template:Flagicon Crans-Montana, Sierre, Valais, Switzerland	19		2023 November 30 <ref name="LeTemps-VailsResort">Template:Cite news</ref>
Crested Butte Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Crested Butte, Colorado	16	1961 November 23	2018 September 27	Acquired through Triple Peaks, LLC, in addition to Mount Sunapee and Okemo, alongside purchase of Stevens Pass.<ref name="hotelnewsresource"/>
Crotched Mountain	Template:Flagicon Bennington, New Hampshire	5	1969 December 14	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Falls Creek	Template:Flagicon Bogong High Plains, Victoria, Australia	14	1946	2019 February 22	Bought from Merlin Entertainments along with Hotham.
Heavenly Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon South Lake Tahoe, California	30	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2002 March 26
Hidden Valley	Template:Flagicon Eureka, Missouri	9	1982	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Hidden Valley Resort (Pennsylvania)	Template:Flagicon Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania	4	1958	2021 December 31	Bought from Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Inc. and affiliates along with two other resorts.<ref name="dec21deal">Template:Cite news</ref>
Hotham Alpine Resort	Template:Flagicon Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia	14	1925	2019 February 22	Bought from Merlin Entertainments along with Falls Creek.
Hunter Mountain	Template:Flagicon Hunter, New York	15	1960 January 9	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Jack Frost	Template:Flagicon White Haven, Pennsylvania	18	1972	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Keystone Resort	Template:Flagicon Keystone, Colorado	20	1970 November 21	1996
Kirkwood Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Kirkwood, California	15	1972	2012 February 22	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Laurel Mountain	Template:Flagicon Somerset County, Pennsylvania	1	1939	2021 December 31	Bought from Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Inc. and affiliates along with two other resorts.<ref name=dec21deal/>
Liberty Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Fairfield, Pennsylvania	9	1960	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Mad River Mountain	Template:Flagicon Zanesfield, Ohio	12	1962	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Mount Brighton	Template:Flagicon Brighton, Michigan	12	1960	2012 December 6	<ref name="midwest" />
Mount Snow	Template:Flagicon West Dover, Vermont	20	1954	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Mount Sunapee Resort	Template:Flagicon Newbury, New Hampshire	11	1948 December 26	2018 September 27	Acquired through Triple Peaks, LLC, in addition to Crested Butte and Okemo, alongside purchase of Stevens Pass.<ref name="hotelnewsresource"/> The first resort in New Hampshire to be operated by Vail. Owned by the State of NH but operated alongside Okemo<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
Northstar California	Template:Flagicon Truckee, California	20	1972 December	2010 October 25	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Okemo Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Ludlow, Vermont	20	1956 January 31	2018 September 27	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Paoli Peaks	Template:Flagicon Paoli, Indiana	8	1978 December	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Park City Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Park City, Utah	41	1963 December 21	2013 May 29 (Canyons) 2014 September 11 (Park City)	In 2015, Vail merged the Park City and Canyons resorts under the Park City Mountain Resort name, connecting them with a gondola.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Perisher Ski Resort	Template:Flagicon Perisher Valley, Australia	46	1951	2015 March 30	Vail's first Australian property.
Roundtop Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Lewisberry, Pennsylvania	7	1964 November 28	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Seven Springs Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Seven Springs, Pennsylvania	14	1937	2021 December 31	Bought from Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Inc. and affiliates along with two other resorts.<ref name=dec21deal/>
Snow Creek	Template:Flagicon Weston, Missouri	5	1986	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Stevens Pass	Template:Flagicon Skykomish, Washington	10	1937	2018 August 15	Purchased and announced alongside Crested Butte, Mount Sunapee, and Okemo.<ref name="hotelnewsresource" />
Stowe Mountain Resort	Template:Flagicon Stowe, Vermont	12	1937 February 7	2017 February 21	Vail's first resort on the East Coast of the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Vail Ski Resort	Template:Flagicon Vail, Colorado	31	1962 December 15	Template:N/A	The third-largest ski resort in the United States.
Whistler Blackcomb	Template:Flagicon Whistler, British Columbia, Canada	37	1966 January 15	2016 August 8	Vail owns a 75% interest in Whistler & Blackcomb Partnerships, and the remaining 25% is owned by Nippon Cable
Whitetail Resort	Template:Flagicon Mercersburg, Pennsylvania	9	1991	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains.
Wildcat Mountain Ski Area	Template:Flagicon Gorham, New Hampshire	5	1958 January 25	2019 September 24	Bought from Peak Resorts along with 16 other mountains. Wildcat trail initially cut by CCC in 1933; original gondola started operation in 1958. Peak Resorts acquired Wildcat in 2010.
Wilmot Mountain	Template:Flagicon Wilmot, Wisconsin	11	1938 February	2016 January 19

External links

• Template:Official website