Vail Resorts facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Vail Resorts

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: MTN Russell 1000 Component
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Broomfield, Colorado, USA
Key people	Robert A. Katz, CEO
Revenue	US$2.271 Billion (2019)
Net income	US$301.2 Million (2019)
Number of employees	20,150

Vail Resorts, Inc. is a large American company that owns and operates mountain resorts. They are famous for their ski areas and other fun places. The company is split into three main parts. One part runs 37 mountain resorts in three different countries. Another part manages hotels, lodging, and golf courses. The third part handles property development and real estate. Vail Resorts is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, which means you can buy shares of the company. Their main office is in Broomfield, Colorado.

How Vail Resorts Started

Vail Resorts began as Vail Associates Ltd. in the early 1960s. It was founded by Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton. Pete was a ski trooper in World War II. Earl was from the area and knew the mountains well. They were both ski patrol guides in Aspen, Colorado, and dreamed of finding the "next great ski mountain."

In March 1957, Earl showed Peter the area that would become Vail. Peter worked to get money for the project, and Earl helped design the first ski lifts. The Vail ski resort officially opened in 1962.

Later, in 1985, a person named George N. Gillett Jr. bought Vail Associates. The company changed its name to Vail Resorts in 1997. It became a public company, meaning its shares could be bought and sold by anyone. Apollo Management, led by Leon Black, helped Vail Resorts grow a lot during this time.

Today, Rob Katz, a former Apollo executive, is in charge of Vail Resorts. There's even a skating rink at Beaver Creek, Colorado named the Black Family Skating Rink after Leon Black.

RockResorts: Luxury Hotels

In 2001, Vail Resorts bought a well-known group of luxury hotels called RockResorts. This helped Vail Resorts become even more famous. RockResorts was originally named after the Rockefeller Family, who first owned them.

As of 2017, some of the fancy RockResorts properties include:

• The Pines Lodge at Beaver Creek, CO
• The Lodge at Vail, CO
• The Osprey at Beaver Creek, CO
• The Arrabelle at Vail Square, CO
• One Ski Hill Place at Breckenridge Ski Resort
• The Grand Summit Hotel in Park City Utah

Other Companies Vail Resorts Owns

Vail Resorts owns several other companies that help it run its business.

One of these is Vail Resorts Retail (VRR). This company handles all the shops at Vail Resorts' locations. They sell ski gear, clothing, and other items. Vail Resorts owns 100% of these operations. VRR also includes other sports stores like Bicycle Village and Colorado Ski & Golf. They are even known as one of the biggest dealers of Trek bicycles in the world!

Vail Resorts also owns more than half of Slifer Smith and Frampton (SSF). This is a large real estate company in the Vail area. It helps people buy and sell homes and properties there.

Vail Resorts Development Company (VRDC) is another company owned by Vail Resorts. VRDC builds new properties for the company. For example, they developed Bachelor's Gulch, a very fancy ski-in/ski-out resort with its own Ritz Carlton hotel. They also created special clubs like the Beaver Creek Club and the Game Creek Club. VRDC also developed Red Sky Ranch, which has two golf courses and many expensive homes.

Vail Resorts' Mountain Locations

Vail Resorts operates 37 ski resorts across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Some of their most famous resorts in Colorado include Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Crested Butte.

On the California-Nevada border, they own Northstar California, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, and Heavenly Mountain Resort. They also bought Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada, which is the largest ski resort in North America.

Vail Resorts offers special passes called the Epic Pass. These passes let you ski or snowboard at many of their resorts. The Epic Pass also works with other resorts in places like Japan, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.

In 1999, Vail Resorts also bought the Grand Teton Lodge Company. This company runs lodges and villages inside the beautiful Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. These properties include the Jenny Lake Lodge, Jackson Lake Lodge, and Colter Bay Village.