The 2021/2022 North American ski season got off to a slow start.
At some resorts, more than 10% of our employees were unable to work due to COVID-19 at one time.
To address these challenges, the company increased hourly compensation during the holidays and for the remainder of the ski season at a cost of $20 million in fiscal 2022.
Excluding the Seven Springs Resorts, total visitation for the quarter increased 2% compared to the second fiscal quarter of 2020.
Resort net revenue for the second fiscal quarter of 2022 decreased 2% relative to the comparable period in fiscal year 2020, primarily as a result of the headwinds in our ancillary lines of business and approximately $33 million of past revenue that would have been recognized in the second fiscal quarter of 2022, but was deferred to the third quarter as a result of delayed openings for a number of our resorts.
Relative to the second fiscal quarter of 2020, resort reported EBITDA increased 5% despite the challenging early season conditions and COVID-19-related dynamics.
Resort reported EBITDA margin for the second quarter was 43.9%, an increase from 40.9% in the second quarter of fiscal 2020.
Net income attributable to Vail Resorts was $223.4 million or $5.47 per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, compared to net income attributable to Vail Resorts of $147.8 million or $3.62 per diluted share in the prior year.
Resort reported EBITDA was $397.9 million in the second fiscal quarter, which compares to resort reported EBITDA of $276.1 million in the same period in the prior year.
Resort reported EBITDA for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 was $378.3 million.
Given the significant impacts of COVID-19 in the prior-year period, including significant capacity restrictions that limited skier visits and ancillary revenue, we're also providing metrics relative to the comparable fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period, which was prior to our announcement to close our resorts on March 15, 2020, for the remainder of the 2019/2020 season.
Season-to-date total skier visits were up 2.8% compared to the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period.
Season-to-date total lift ticket revenue, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 10.3% compared to the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period.
Compared to the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period, season-to-date ski school revenue was down 8.9%, dining revenue was down 27% and retail rental for North American resort and ski area store locations was down 2.8%.
Despite significant growth of our pass program this year, visitation for the season-to-date period was modestly up 2.8% compared to fiscal 2020, given the company's strategy to shift lift ticket guests into an advance commitment pass product.
It is important to highlight that our season pass unit growth of 47% for fiscal year 2022 created significant revenue stability in a period with challenging early season conditions and COVID-19 impacts.
In fact, the growth we saw in visitation in the period ending March 6, 2022, compared to fiscal 2020 occurred on weekdays and non-holiday periods, which were up approximately 9% in visits compared to weekend and holiday periods, which were approximately flat in visits.
For the season-to-date period ending March 6, 2022, 69% of our visits came from season pass holders, compared to 56% of visits for the same period in fiscal year 2020.
destination and international visitation trends at Whistler Blackcomb, the $20 million investment in frontline staff bonuses, increased wages for our summer operations, and the inclusion of an estimated $6 million in acquisition and integration-related expenses specific to the Seven Springs resorts.
We now expect net income attributable to Vail Resorts for fiscal 2022 to be between $304 million and $350 million, and resort reported EBITDA to be between $813 million and $837 million.
We estimate resort EBITDA margin for fiscal 2022 to be approximately 32.9% using the midpoint of the guidance range.
The guidance assumes an exchange rate of $0.79 between the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar related to the operations of Whistler Blackcomb in Canada and an exchange rate of $0.72 between the Australian dollar and U.S. dollar related to the operations of Perisher, Falls Creek, and Hotham in Australia.
Our total cash and revolver availability as of January 31, 2022, was approximately $2 billion, with $1.4 billion of cash on hand, $417 million of U.S. revolver availability under the Vail Holdings credit agreement, and $214 million of revolver availability under the Whistler Credit Agreement.
As of January 31, 2022, our net debt was 2.1 times trailing 12 months total reported EBITDA.
We are pleased to announce that our board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on Vail Resorts common stock of $1.91 per share.
As we turn our attention to the 2022/2023 ski season and beyond, the company will be making its largest ever investment in both its employees and its resorts to ensure we continue to deliver our company mission of an experience of a lifetime.
We are pleased to announce a significant investment in our employees for the 2022/2023 North American ski season with an increase in the minimum hourly wage offered across all 37 of our North American resorts to USD 20 per hour for all U.S. employees and CAD 20 per hour for all Canadian employees, as well as an increase in wage rates for hourly employees, as we maintain all leadership and career stage differentials.
Roles that have specific experiences or certification as prerequisites, such as entry-level patrol, commercial drivers, and maintenance technicians, will start at $21 per hour.
Tipped employees will be guaranteed a minimum of $20 per hour.
The increase in wages and the return to normal staffing levels will represent an approximately $175 million increase in expected labor expense in fiscal 2023 compared to the fiscal 2022 expected labor expense, including inflationary adjustments.
As previously announced on September 23, 2021, we are excited to be proceeding with our ambitious capital investment plan for calendar year 2022 of approximately $315 million to $325 million across our resorts, excluding one-time investments related to integration activities, employee housing development projects and real estate-related projects.
The plan includes approximately $180 million for the installation of 21 new or replacement lifts across 14 of our resorts and a transformational lift served terrain expansion at Keystone.
In addition to the two brand-new lift configurations at Vail and Keystone, the replacement lift will collectively increase lift capacity at those lift locations by more than 45%.
All of the projects in the plan are subject to regulatory approvals and expected to be completed in time for the 2022/2023 North American winter season.
The core capital plan is approximately $150 million, above our typical annual capital plan, based on inflation and previous additions for acquisitions and includes approximately $20 million of incremental spending to complete the one-time capital plans associated with the Peak Resorts and Triple Peak acquisitions and $3 million for the addition of annual capital expenditures associated with the Seven Springs Resorts.
In addition, we have announced a $4 million capital investment plan in Vail Resorts Commitment to Zero initiative, which includes targeted investments in high-efficiency snowmaking, heating and cooling infrastructure, and lighting to further improve our energy efficiency and make meaningful progress toward our 2030 goal.
We plan to spend approximately $9 million on integration activities related to the recent acquired Seven Springs Resorts, including one-time investments related to integration activities and $3 million associated with real estate-related projects.
Our total capital plan is expected to be approximately $327 million to $337 million.
Including our calendar year 2022 capital plan, Vail Resorts will have invested over $2 billion in capital investments since launching the Epic Pass, increasing capacity, improving the guest experience, and creating an integrated resort network.
Returning to normalized levels would result in estimated incremental resort reported EBITDA of approximately $100 million in fiscal 2022.
Full year results with no acquisition or integration-related expenses would result in estimated incremental resort reported EBITDA of approximately $7 million in fiscal 2022.
Returning our ancillary business to normalized levels would result in estimated incremental resort reported EBITDA of approximately $75 million in fiscal 2022, which includes the incremental revenue and operating expense associated with normal capacity, but excludes incremental labor expense.
The normalized labor expense for the ancillary businesses is included in the approximate $175 million labor investment.
Offsetting the estimated $182 million of expected favorable resort reported EBITDA impact from returning the business to normal levels relative to projected fiscal 2022 results is the approximate $175 million labor increase from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2023 that is expected to be necessary to return the company to normal staffing levels, giving the shortages in fiscal 2022 and the current labor market dynamics in our resort communities.

Summary:
Net income attributable to Vail Resorts was $223.4 million or $5.47 per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, compared to net income attributable to Vail Resorts of $147.8 million or $3.62 per diluted share in the prior year.
We now expect net income attributable to Vail Resorts for fiscal 2022 to be between $304 million and $350 million, and resort reported EBITDA to be between $813 million and $837 million.
We are pleased to announce that our board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on Vail Resorts common stock of $1.91 per share.
We are pleased to announce a significant investment in our employees for the 2022/2023 North American ski season with an increase in the minimum hourly wage offered across all 37 of our North American resorts to USD 20 per hour for all U.S. employees and CAD 20 per hour for all Canadian employees, as well as an increase in wage rates for hourly employees, as we maintain all leadership and career stage differentials.