Vail Resorts earnings soar; making plans to increase summer activities
By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
Vail Resorts on Wednesday announced visitation was climbing at its stable of nine ski areas, with net income jumping 30 percent during its second fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 31.
Profits rose to $60.6 million as resort revenue reached $408.3 million, up 12.1 percent from the same quarter last year. Lift-ticket revenue climbed 14.3 percent to $175.7 million for the quarter. Spending on ski lessons, dining and retail-rental also rose for the quarter.
Lodging revenue was up 2.8 percent, and with increasing room rates, the company’s lodging earnings grew 43.4 percent for the quarter.
Heavenly plans to upgrade its summer climbing wall to resemble Mt. Tallac. Photo/LTN file
The company’s three California ski areas — Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood — saw visitation climb 56.1 percent over the same period last year, which was marred with record low snowfall. The company did not release specific skier visit information, saying only that visitation through January improved from its mid-January report showing visitation up a mere 2 percent over the same period last season.
Vail Resorts chief Rob Katz said the second-quarter results represent a strong rebound from the slow start, which saw the company warn analysts of potentially less-than-expected income for the fiscal year. But when the snow arrived in time for Christmas, the company enjoyed a boost.
Also Wednesday, the company announced the largest capital spending in Vail Resorts’ history, with $130 million to $140 million in resort expenditures for fiscal 2013, including $47 million to $52 million in maintenance spending.
Vail Resorts will spend $25 million on the first phase of its Epic Discovery summer plan, which, pending federal approval, will see ziplines, ropes courses, climbing walls, alpine coasters, expanded hiking and biking trails and education centers at all four of its Colorado ski areas, and Heavenly and Northstar areas in California.
Vail will spend $10 million on improvements at its recently acquired Afton Alps ski area in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton outside Detroit. Those improvements include snowmaking upgrades and terrain parks.
Construction on the Peak 6 expansion at Breckenridge will begin this summer after five years of federal review. Vail is building a new 500-seat restaurant at Beaver Creek in preparation of the mountain’s hosting of the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships. Vail ski area will replace its four-pack Mountain Top Express chairlift with a six-person chair, increasing capacity by 33 percent.
This is good to hear. Unlike some others who say they have problems with Vail taking a prominent role in South Shore’s revitalization, I don’t, and I use and appreciate what they’ve done.
I would love to see them involved (perhaps with others) in building an all year indoor/outdoor activity and adventure and environmental education center at the hole – bringing in climbing, cycling, kayaking, skiing, skateboarding, etc. workshops and pro outdoor sports athlete visits and talks, slideshows and film festivals, etc.
It could serve as an educational resource for visitors about Lake Tahoe’s recreational opportunities and environmental preservation efforts as well. A chance for economic development to blend with hosting some staff from the environmental organizations under one roof. Getting the community college involved as an active participant could prove worthy too.
Not sure what things the market would most support, but talking to those who stay at the new Basecamp lodging might give some ideas for a start. A small music performance venue, outdoor action photography and film house for visitors showing action sports films year round, and a well designed plaza space with healthy and tasty food trucks with a variety of different types of cuisine would be good to go along with that. I’d definitely hang out at a place like that during my stays up there.
Someone with the resources is needed to pull this off, and this could provide good synergy with Heavenly and the developing tourist core. A real activity center like this beyond just the ski area could go a long ways towards kickstarting it. There’s lots of lodging in the area already, but buttressing the side attractions and avoiding the tourist trap syndrome while doing so would be great.
Ok, if I can indulge some ideas a bit more before clamming up, here’s another one for you Vail and others, if not already doing so:
Consider more heavily targeting the hipster market of programmers and web developers growing rapidly in San Francisco (as well as the standard Silicon Valley groups). Lots of them are young, skilled, have money, and adventurous. Most like the urban environment and amenities, and many prefer bicycling, walking and transit and don’t have cars. But who doesn’t like an occasional getaway to the mountains? Add in enough of their desired usual amenities to make it more attractive when they visit.
They don’t all have stock options enough to just buy a place at Tahoe. So why not provide some promo and regular trips using luxury bus coach charters with wifi as transportation up there for these groups?
Develop a few more small inns around the Hole like Basecamp focused on their needs, and set up to let them work remotely with their laptops for several days at a time during the week or on weekends in between skiing and other seasonal outdoor activity? They know how to flex time their work. Make it so they don’t need cars when they’re there, if there’s enough to do right at the Core and if shuttle buses are available for side trips.
Just be sure that the developments contain enough offerings of the better coffees and craft beers and types of food that they can get in SF. Add in an information/sales center about other Vail properties and you’ll have a natural market for season pass holders and potential visitors to your Colorado resorts right at the newly developed Hole. If you can get them to come up a stay awhile with the chance to do some work remotely as necessary, all the better. Make South Shore the place to go.
Great ideas & I agree! For 4 years, I organized corporate ski trips at Genentech. We had 4 luxury busses from So. San Francisco to Tahoe on the last weekend trip I put togethr before leaving Genentech 15 years ago. Unfortunately, they have not had any ski trips since then!
Most of Silicon Valley’s high-tech and biotech companies support comraderie (ping-pong on site, etc.), physical activity (bike paths, bike lockers, fitness centers, etc), and provide great onsite amenities, including food outlets, Friday get-togethers,
I also like the idea of having an activity core at the Tahole — more food & beverage outlets, fire-pits, etc. The only place skiers can mingle outside after skiing is at the few fire-pits & adjacent outlet at the bottom of the Gondola. It would also be nice to have a ski locker rental at the bottom of the Gondola so folks could shop, eat, drink and play after skiing without returning to their hotel/motel first.
I also tink the private beach by Stateline should be returned to public use, and bcome part of that core activity area — offering xc skiing, snow shoeing, summer activities for all visitors, maybe even have the horse-drawn sled rides take folks to-from the Village to lakeside fire-pits and food/beverage outlets/trucks, etc It is amazing to me that one can’t even go to a public beach from the core area unless you have a pass!
if the city of slt cannot manage the reinvention of south shore, and we see the results of their wallowing, then i agree, too: embrace the investment that vail is willing to make and let that investment be the axis of the future economy of this end of the lake. i do not think our ‘leaders’ in city power positions have the vision, motivation, or, frankly, the competance to set the stage for the level of sophistication in a resort setting necessary to draw the world class tourist to this area.
What the “Hole” could use is a ice skating/roller skating rink like the one at NorthStar in Truckee (another Vail property in the Tahoe area). They have live music on the rink year-round, and plenty of fireside seating for roasting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate after a day on the slopes. Outdoor bars also complete the scene.
The seasonal rink at the Heavenly Village just doesn’t get the job done. As well as the outdoor public gathering areas.
“What the “Hole” could use is a ice skating/roller skating rink like the one at NorthStar in Truckee” – I was just there yesterday at N-star. Yes, if the “Hole” could be turned into an outdoor concert venue with ice rink, etc. Why not?
Yes, we need outdoor spaces with firepits, food & drink — yes, the outdoor rink at the Village is not adequate, and yes the Tahole could be that destination venue with food, beverage & ice rink/concert venue and maybe even athletic demonstration arena for star skaters and freestyle ski jumpers. Right now there is nothing excitig to draw folks into our downtown corridor. Think Aspen, Vail, Steamboat, Boulder, Whistler, Northstar, etc.
When I lived in Aspen in 1966 – no-one drove cars (left at the airport rental sites); free shuttles were everywhere. Vail has some $$ – let them present a plan and let’s get a world class destination going, with world class education as a side-point.
Everyone commenting has been spending Vail Corps’ money on property they don’t control.
The TAHOLE will be developed by the people who now own it in a way which returns them the most money.
and still the Vail Corp dosent pay the city of SLT any sales tax. Hummm, who is the real winner here?
Fire Breaker is right. His ideas for the hole are good. I’ve heard the proposal for an outdoor concert ampetheater many times and that is the best suggestion I’ve heard. Is there any private firms interested in that business ?
vail needs to provide free bus service from south shore to the ski hill! I mean to kirkwood