Vail Resorts appears to have its sights on further expansion in Europe.

In an interview with Squawk Box on CNBC, Vail Resorts CEO Kirsten Lynch discussed how the season is going so far, and their next planned geographical region for expansion.

While getting through a round of bizarre and meandering questions from Joe Kernen, she mentions that ski season is off to a solid start. Regarding where they want to grow next, Kirsten mentioned a desire to continue acquiring ski resorts in Europe. The reason why Vail Resorts wants to continue to expand in Europe is because the continent has three times the number of ski visits compared to North America. With Crans Montana and Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis now part of Vail’s portfolio, Vail will likely continue to acquire mountains to make the Epic Pass a tempting purchase for European snowsports enthusiasts.

For more information, check out the interview below.

Image/Video Credits: CNBC

Update: Vail Resorts has appealed the ruling from the Eagle County District Court, prolonging the battle between the two sides.

Vail Daily reports that the Vail Town Council voted 5-2 this week to acquire the Booth Heights land parcel for $17.5 million. This plot of land was where Vail Resorts planned to build employee housing, which would have housed 165 employees. The new facility would have been fully paid for by the corporation.

The Vail Town Council opposed the plans due to it being in the Bighorn Sheep Severe Winter Range. The land was condemned by the Vail Town Council, which resulted in Vail Resorts suing, and it ended up in court. The Eagle County District Court sided with the Town of Vail and set the value of the land at $17,519,985. With the purchase, the land will likely become a public park.

Kevin Foley, who’s a Vail Town Council member, said the following about why he voted for purchasing the parcel:

“This town is the best place on the planet to live, work and play. And we need to keep it that way for all of us, including the natural wildlife that was here long before any of us humans mucked it up.” 

If you’re wondering how the fuck the Town of Vail is going to find $17.5 million, it seems like it’ll be coming from a variety of sources. A required $12 million deposit came from their real estate transfer tax fund. The additional money will initially come from the town’s General Fund, but it seems like they’re asking Eagle County for $3 million. In addition, the Town will need to pay “reasonable legal and transactional costs incurred by Vail Resorts.”

Jonathan Staufer, who’s on the Vail Town Council, said the following about the acquisition. I can’t believe this is a real quote:

“As much as I can’t stand giving those bastards in Broomfield one red cent, I’ll be voting in favor because I would rather do that than watch this herd starve to death. I want to preserve this herd for future generations and my daughter’s granddaughter.”

The fuss from the Town of Vail concerned protecting Bighorn Sheep. While bighorn sheep are pretty cool, it should be noted that they aren’t even close to being an endangered species. In fact, their conservation status is of the least concern. Meanwhile, the rich are allowed to build their homes around this condemned area without any issue.

Town Council member Pete Seibert, described why protecting bighorn sheep is so important:

“The size of the herd is in direct proportion to the size of the winter range. We can’t enlarge the winter range by removing homes. The decisions that were made then were made, the homes are there, but we do have what’s left out there in Booth Heights, and I think we’ve got to be able to protect that.” 

John Plack, who’s a spokesman for Vail Resorts, issued the following statement to Vail Daily:

“We appreciate the work of the court, and the panel of experts, in determining the value of the land in Vail Town Council’s condemnation case.  As we have said previously, we do not believe the Town’s plan to pay us money to condemn this land, and prevent the affordable housing project planned on it, is good for our community.”

Vail Resorts said in a statement that they plan to reinvest the money they receive from the land on other affordable housing projects.

It should be noted that the Town of Vail has done some work on employee and local housing, spending $140 million on the matter over the past couple of years. These projects have included a 72-unit worker housing facility (which just opened) and 284 deed-restricted housing units (possibly opening in November of 2025). In addition, Colorado Public Radio reported in June that the County will be offering homeowner’s money to house employees. With a projected need of 6000 housing units in Eagle County, this will probably be remembered as the one that got away.

The situation has me, who has had issues with Vail Resorts over the years, fully on their side. We look forward to pointing out how this could have been a great employee housing option for the town every time the word the Town of Vail and housing crisis are mentioned in the next couple of years.

Image Credits: Vail Resorts, Katie Musial, Jody Confer

Are you trying to figure out where to shred the next time you’re in Colorado?

PeakRankings just posted a video rating all the major ski resorts in Colorado from worst to best. This is based on their rating system, which includes the following: snow, resiliency, size, terrain diversity, challenge, lifts, crowd flow, facilities, navigation, and mountain aesthetic.

PeakRankings’ picks go as follows: Monarch, Eldora, Buttermilk, Purgatory, Loveland, Aspen, Wolf Creek, Steamboat, Crested Butte, Keystone, Breckenridge, Winter Park, Aspen Highlands, Copper, Arapahoe Basin, Telluride, Beaver Creek, Snowmass, and Vail taking the number one spot. Vail & Snowmass had the same total score (78), but Vail beat them out due to the bigger skiable footprint.

Steamboat & Aspen are surprisingly low on the list, which is due to issues with crowd flow and wonky lift configurations. With significant changes at Aspen, Breckenridge, Keystone, Steamboat, and Winter Park coming this winter, these rankings are subject to change.

The full video breakdown from PeakRankings is below, and their comprehensive written breakdown can be viewed here.

Image Credits: Chase Baker (Featured Image), Ethan Walsweer (Header Image), PeakRankings

Video Credit: Peak Rankings

Mountain lions aren’t the most uncommon animal in the world, but spotting one is still a pretty rare occurrence. In Colorado, their population sits somewhere around 3,000 to 7,000 (quite the range, I know) and the Front Range area of the state is pretty much perfect mountain lion habitat. But they’re rather elusive, and though sightings are certainly on the rise, they remain pretty hard to spot.

Vail 4×4 Tours managed to catch an even more rare sight on camera, a mountain lion crossing a flowing river, and shared it with the world. According to Fox 31, owner Ben Hilley reports that Vail 4×4 Tours spot wildlife all the time, including elk, black bears, and more, but mountain lions are only spotted on super rare occasions.

“Over the past 15 years and thousands of hours on trail, I’ve seen two. I even tell our guests, they are there but we won’t see them. This sighting was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” – Ben Hilley

Unlike their house pet counterparts, mountain lions are actually fairly strong swimmers. A recent study followed the GPS-collared cat M161, also known as Nolan, as he swam two thirds of a mile through Puget Sound, and other examples have shown them swimming over a mile for food and other resources.

So, yeah, they can swim pretty far, and they can certainly swim across a flowing river like this guy.

Mountain Lion Safety:

Mountain lion attacks are very rare, but it’s always important to remember safety tips provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife when hiking or moving in mountain lion territory. Travel in groups and make plenty of noise to make your presence known, as you definitely don’t want to startle a big cat. If you see one, do not approach and stay calm. Stop and back away slowly if possible. Running could trigger the animal’s attack instinct, and make sure the animal has a way to escape. Throw stones if the mountain lion begins to act aggressively and, in the rare case that it actually attacks, fight back.

Related: Oregon Dirt Biker Nearly Collides With Mountain Lion

Image Credit: Vail 4×4 Tours via Instagram

Is it just me, or does it feel like ski season really didn’t end that long ago? Maybe it’s because the last time I skied was actually just a couple of months ago, maybe it’s because Mammoth shut down it’s lifts literally just ten days ago, or maybe it’s because I’ve been in some sort of dream state where nothing feels quite real since ski season ended. Whatever the reason, it certainly doesn’t feel like the time to be announcing projected opening dates for ski resorts throughout the country.

Fortunately, for those of us who are sick of the heat and dream of the snow, and unfortunately for those of you who only ski to distract yourself from the winter, Vail Resorts has announced projected opening dates for multiple of its resorts.

Colorado

Colorado is quite often the first state to see spinning lifts and open ski runs, and if Vail’s projected dates say anything for the near future of the American ski season, that will remain true into 2023-24.

Keystone – Mid October (dependent on early season conditions)

Breckenridge – November 10

Vail Mountain – November 10

Beaver Creek – November 22

Crested Butte – November 22

California

Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood all had pretty remarkable seasons this past year (just like most of California). Heavenly stayed open for an additional three weeks, closing on May 7, while Northstar added two additional weekends and closed down on April 30. Kirkwood, on the other hand, kept things running into mid-May, with a final closing date of May 14. Let’s hope this upcoming season has even more to offer!

Heavenly – November 17

Northstar – November 17

Kirkwood – December 1

Utah, Washington, Canada

Sorry to lump these together, but they’re the miscellaneous three!

Park City Mountain (UT) – November 17

Whistler Blackcomb (British Columbia) – November 23

Stevens Pass (WA) – December 1

There ya have it folks! Please keep in mind that these are only projected dates, and are all subject to change. It’s not quite time to sharpen those skis and start looking for brand new boots, but it’s certainly time to start those cardio routines and leg workouts. Ski season is coming gang, let’s goooooooooooo.

Related: Big Sky Announces Its Projected Opening Date

Featured Image Credit: Vail via Facebook

It may be June, but it’s never too late for an epic lift line to emerge. In the land down under, Vail Resorts owns Falls Creek, Hotham, and Perisher. While Australia had a slow start to their season with limited lifts, plentiful snowfall over the past week has let them open more terrain. When the powder comes, people tend to follow.

Benjamin Wild shared a TikTok of the lift lines at Perisher on Saturday. He fittingly chose the Eric Cartman soundbite about lines from Season 5, Episode 6 of South Park: Cartmanland. Many people in the comments were outraged that the day ticket price was $234 Australian dollars for the day, although I’m pretty sure that most people there had an Epic Australia Pass.

@benjaminwild1

nightmare fuel @ perisher rn #snow #lineslinesLINES

♬ original sound – benjamin lovric

In a statement provided to News.com, Michael Fearnside, who is the operations director at Perisher, said that it was the perfect storm that caused the lift lines. Numerous lifts had to be closed due to high winds, with speeds exceeding 100km an hour at the top of the mountain.

Despite 64 inches of snowfall over the past week, Perisher’s terrain is still limited due to a slow start to their season. The closed lifts made their terrain footprint even narrower than what it was beforehand.

I’m sympathetic to Vail in this instance, as it’s early season, the winds clearly factored in, and demand is huge due to the powder mania. In terms of constructive criticism, I will say though that the lift line maze work needs some improvement if that’s what they’re experiencing during peak periods.

Image/Video Credits: Benjamin Wild, Perisher Resort

Vail Resorts is most likely in the clear from a lawsuit that’s been annoying them for the past three years. Colorado Politics reports the federal appeals court in Denver has ruled that the passholder plaintiffs can not sue Vail Resorts for refunds from their 2019-20 Epic Passes.

The plaintiffs argued in the lawsuit that the passes gave them unlimited access to the ski resorts included on the Epic Pass during the ski season. These passholders believed that the ski season was determined by the conditions at the ski resort, meaning that Vail Resorts violated the terms of their agreement. Vail Resorts did offer guests credits on their Epic Passes for the 2020-21 season if they had one during the 2019-20 season, but they did not give out cash refunds.

Here’s what Vail Resorts’ lawyers argued in the case:

“No law or principle of morality requires that the economic consequences of COVID-19 cannot affect these plaintiffs in the slightest.”

The court ruled that Vail Resorts clearly disclosed that there are no Epic Pass refunds, no matter what the circumstances were. This included shutting down their lifts in the middle of March, which they did to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Judge Carolyn B. McHugh wrote the following in her ruling:

“The plain meaning is to deny all refunds no matter the circumstances and Passholders cannot now seek the exact remedy they contracted away.”

Before the trial reached the federal appeals court, U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson dismissed the case. This snippet from his ruling explained why:

“Vail did not fail to compensate passholders. It issued Epic Pass credits. The contracting parties may have reasonably expected adequate compensation in the event of an unexpected closure, but they could not have expected cash only.”

The major surprise from this ruling though is that the plaintiffs can refile their lawsuit. While they can no longer sue for refunds, they are allowed to refile a lawsuit that would seek another form of relief that doesn’t have to do with financial compensation. Here’s what Judge Carolyn B. McHugh wrote in her ruling:

“This, however, does not prevent Passholders from seeking some other type of relief from Vail if they establish Vail breached its contracts with Passholders by closing its resorts. [The plaintiffs] could seek future access to Vail’s resorts for the amount of time Vail closed its resorts prior to the end of the 2019–2020 ski season.”

It’ll be interesting to see if the plaintiffs try to refile the case, or if they just throw in the towel. At this point, it’s probably best to avoid the legal fees and just get your season pass for next winter, whether that be with Vail Resorts or someone else.

Image Credits: Vail Resorts

“Our employees are the driving force behind our Be Inclusive value, and we’re so thankful to Raquel, Ian and their friends for creating a welcoming place here at Vail Mountain. In honor of celebrating Pride and the LGBTQ+ community, Pride Express signs will now wear the Vail Mountain Pride logo! Hike up in the summer or ski by in the winter to celebrate Pride in Vail.”

Good on Vail Resorts for listening to their employees and getting behind their idea to celebrate inclusivity with an updated logo for the Pride trail sign. Looks sharp, great addition.

The Rocky Mountain Way led to a record number of skier visits in Colorado during the 2022-23 ski season.

Yesterday, Colorado Ski Country USA announced that skier visits were up 8% compared to last season. The projected total for the 2023-23 season was 14.8 million people, which is a million more visits than the 2021-22 season. This season exceeds their five-year average visitation by a staggering 18%.

With ski resorts that are a part of Colorado Ski Country USA averaging 286 inches of snowfall this past season, along with having mostly cold weather throughout the winter, conditions across the state were excellent. Major capital investments were also believed to bring in more visitation. Some of these investments include the new Lenawee Express at Arapahoe Basin, Rip’s Ride at Breckenridge, the new Chair 6 at Loveland, the Wild Blue Gondola at Steamboat, and two new chairlifts at Vail. International visitors also increased substantially, thanks to reduced Covid restrictions around the world.

Another factor that I believed played a part in the record season, is the rise of the mega passes. Both Epic and Ikon have multiple major mountains in Colorado, leading to more people making trips to the state. In addition, the Indy Pass added multiple ski resorts in Colorado for the 2022-23 season, giving an incentive for their passholders to go there for a vacation.

Melanie Mills, who is the President and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA, said the following about their historic season:

“The 2022-2023 ski season was buoyed by cold temperatures and consistent, abundant snowfall across the state, from the first days of the season in October to closing day on June 4. We are today celebrating a significant new industry benchmark for visitation, meaningful growth in our business, and the positive economic impact that this success has for our employees, our communities, our partners, and our state.

Approximately 23 percent of U.S. skier visits took place in Colorado this year, and this was not happenstance. Our member ski areas are fiercely dedicated to the guest experience, as well as to the employee experience at their resorts. Best-in-class infrastructure, facilities, employees, and ski towns welcome guests from around Colorado, the United States, and the world. There’s a mountain for everyone in Colorado. and our ski areas love to welcome one and all to our slopes.”

Colorado’s ski season started on October 23rd, with A-Basin winning the race to be the first open in the state. They were quickly followed by Keystone, Winter Park, and Loveland. Colorado’s ski season wrapped up this past Sunday, as Arapahoe Basin concluded its season on June 4th. Other late-season contenders included Breckenridge (May 21st) and Winter Park (May 29th).

Continued major investments during this offseason will give Colorado a shot at another record-breaking 2023-24 season. Aspen will be opening their anticipated Pandora’s expansion, Breckenridge is replacing the 5-Chair (which will help with those Peak 8 crowds like the one from this article’s featured image), Copper Mountain will be opening a new mid-mountain lodge, Steamboat will be completing the final phase of its Full Steam Ahead capital projects, and Winter Park is replacing the Pioneer Express with a high-speed six-pack.

Image Credits: u/CarlDonzo (Featured Image), Ian Wood, Colorado Ski Country USA