At least 11 skiers were killed in traumatic crashes at Colorado’s 26 ski areas this season. That is about the average number for a ski season — “about” because it’s difficult to learn when and how skiers and snowboarders die inbounds at the state’s ski areas. Ski areas are not required to share information about […]
Keystone Resort
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Ski patroller unions set to grow in Colorado’s consolidating resort industry
The letter to ski patrollers landed a few days before Vail Resorts told investors it was sitting on $1.4 billion in cash. The company was not going to include unionized ski patrollers in the end-of-season bonus program, saying the extra cash — up $1,500 — would violate federal law governing labor contract negotiations with the […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Vail Resorts thrills investors with lower-than-expected coronavirus losses
Not as bad as expected. That was the theme Thursday as Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz told investors about declines in revenue, income and visits so far in the 2020-21 ski season. Vail Resorts reported $147.8 million in income through January for the second quarter of its fiscal 2021, a drop of 28% compared to […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, News, Outdoors
Eager early-season crowds are helping Colorado ski resorts fine tune operations before the holiday crush
Winter Park delayed its opening a couple weeks to early December and the pent-up demand almost overwhelmed the Grand County resort on its first Saturday. Lines were long on Dec. 5 and, as skiers kicked off skis and snowboards to load up the base-area gondola, distancing faded. By midday, the resort had made changes. “We […]
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, News, Outdoors
Want to ski at a Vail Resorts mountain during coronavirus? You’ll need a reservation.
Vail Resorts on Thursday unveiled the details of the plan for skiing at its 34 North American resorts — beginning Nov. 6 at Keystone — and, as we suspected, the 2020-21 season will be unlike any before. Here are the not-surprising changes: Masks are required for everyone on the mountain. Physical distancing will be the […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, News, Outdoors
The ski industry used to only be about operations. Women leaders are helping refocus it on experience.
VAIL — The U.S. ski resort industry started with a bunch of mustachioed dudes focused on uphill transportation. Sixty-plus years later, resort skiing has transformed from an operation into an experience, with attention paid to safety, snow grooming, speedy lifts, lessons, food and fewer hassles. The evolution of skiing can be attributed to a more […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors
Ski resorts send a record-setting rent payment to the federal government after 2017-18 season
Colorado ski resorts operating on public land have once again sent a record rent payment to the U.S. government. The payment for 2017-18 — based on revenues collected at 23 Colorado resorts — was $26.8 million, the highest ever. Those payments are expected to continue reaching new highs as resort operators sell hundreds of thousands […]
Posted inBusiness, Culture, News, Outdoors
What really led A-Basin to quit the Epic Pass cash cow? “Parking is our pinch point.”
The deluge of weekend Epic Pass skiers has forced Arapahoe Basin to abandon its decade-long partnership with Vail Resorts. “We are pretty darn full on weekends and we don’t need any more people on weekends. If anything, we could probably whittle those numbers down a little bit,” Arapahoe Basin’s longtime leader Alan Henceroth said Monday, […]