A year ago this week, lift-served skiing was broken. Ski areas around the planet ground to a sudden halt in a desperate effort to slow the spread of contagion. Operators were distributing food from spring-break-stocked coolers and figuring out what to do with jobless workers in employee housing, all while slashing budgets and planning for […]
Epic Pass
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors
Vail Resorts losses continue as pandemic impacts stretch into ski season
Vail Resorts, the largest ski area operator in North America, reported continuing and growing losses as the pandemic threatens travel and haunts the coming ski season. The company reported a 50% decline in revenue for the first three months of its fiscal 2021, which ended Oct. 31, compared with the same period last year. But […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, News, Outdoors
Coronavirus has cost Vail Resorts more than $200 million. So far.
Vail Resorts lost $203 million in ski and lodging earnings in the fiscal year that ended in July, a rare downturn for the ski resort operator hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company reported $503.3 million in resort earnings for its fiscal 2020, a 29% decline from the previous year. The company cited early […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors
Vail Resorts lost $140 million after coronavirus forced its ski areas to close. That’s actually better than expected.
Cost cutting by Vail Resorts after it closed its 34 North American ski areas on March 14 lessened the financial blow of the coronavirus. Slashing plans for capital upgrades, suspending cash dividends to shareholders, reducing salaries and furloughing hourly workers helped Vail Resorts lose only $140 million in income in the first four months of […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Health, News, Outdoors
Vail Resorts will credit up to 80% of unused Epic passes value to 2020-21 pass
People who bought Epic Passes this ski season but did not use them can apply 80% of the purchase price to a pass for the 2020-21 season, Vail Resorts said Monday. In addition to reversing its no-refunds policy, which riled skiers who bought passes expecting to use them in the spring — after the company […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Arapahoe Basin’s effort to avoid overcrowding by leaving the Epic Pass may be working too well
Alan Henceroth wanted about 100,000 fewer skier visits at his Arapahoe Basin ski area when he left the Epic Pass last year, citing overflowing parking lots and crowds that threatened to degrade the 1,400-acre resort’s ski experience. He got it. And more. After 10 years with the Epic Pass, spearheaded by Vail Resorts, and a […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors
Veteran resort operator proposes to lead Granby Ranch out of chaos
A Colorado ski industry veteran has assembled a team that wants to run the ski area and golf operations at Granby Ranch even as the longtime owner of the resort navigates foreclosure. “The circumstance of Granby Ranch is relatively tumultuous. The current situation does not deter us at all,” Andy Wirth and his son Jace […]
Posted inOutdoors
Not sure which season ski pass to buy? Here are 10 questions to help guide your decision.
It’s the time of year to ponder passes. Season ski pass prices start climbing around Labor Day and today’s resort operators offer discounts for skiers who commit early. Remember: resorts punish poor planners with exorbitant prices for day lift tickets. Here’s a guide for the 2019-20 ski season in Colorado, which is ground zero for […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
After dumping Epic, Arapahoe Basin finds new partner in Ikon Pass
After almost six months of courting by a suite of suitors after Arapahoe Basin’s divorce from Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass, resort boss Alan Henceroth has found a new home with Alterra Mountain Co.’s Ikon Pass. “We were looking for partners and resorts who were in sync with ours and the Ikon resorts are some of […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors
While others grumble over hordes of newcomers, Telluride embraces Epic Pass skiers
TELLURIDE — Local skiers are wailing in Big Sky. Sobbing in Jackson Hole. Whining in Aspen. The source of the angst: the “Ikoneers,” aka the new visitors using the Ikon Pass. But while the weeping is likely misguided — the surge in visitation this season seems to be largely homegrown, with skiing locals in growing […]