Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 42 mountain resorts in four countries; Vail Resorts Hospitality owns or manages hotels, lodging, condominiums, and golf courses, and the Vail Resorts Development Company oversees property development and real estate holdings.
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. George N. Gillett Jr. purchased Vail Associates in 1985, but the company veered toward bankruptcy by 1991.
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. The new ownership led Vail Resorts public in 1997.
In 2001, Vail Resorts acquired the hotel chain RockResorts.
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.
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.
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.
Vail Resorts’ visitors often complain about long lines. At times the long lines have been caused by ski patrol striking due to inflated property values and inadequate wages.
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.
All of the aforementioned items, among other things, have contributed to Vail’s poor reputation and earned the company the appellation “Evil Empire.”
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.