In Defense of Vail Resorts: The On Mountain Record Goes Down a Different Course

Vail Resorts faces antitrust lawsuits, shareholder pressure and renewed debate over the ownership of their major ski mountains. Those questions deserve a fair hearing, but so does the company’s record of investing in terrain, lifts, snowmaking, safety, guest service, affordable pass access and the reintroduction of International World Alpine Ski Racing in the United States.

In July, Vail Resorts was at a Crossroads, now they are in the Crosshairs

Consumer lawsuits allege anticompetitive pricing practices. A separate shareholder case questions the board’s oversight. Oasis Management has nominated four candidates—including Olympic champion Picabo Street—to the Vail Resorts board. And the continuing discussion surrounding Matthew Prince and Park City Mountain has encouraged a broader debate about whether large resort companies should retain or sell individual mountains.

These are legitimate subjects for courts, directors and shareholders. But the conversation becomes distorted when allegations are treated as established facts, or when Vail Resorts is discussed only as a greedy corporate entity rather than as the company that has spent decades operating, improving and promoting snow sports and some of the most important ski mountains in North America.

Vail, Beaver Creek and Park City Ski Mountain Improvements

The most persuasive defense of Vail Resorts is not a courtroom defense; it is the physical record visible across all the ski mountains VR maintains, improves and owns. Since the fights seems centered around Park City Ski Mountain and hits home in Vail and Beaver Creek, lets take a look at the ski mountain improvements and focus on these areas.

Vail and Beaver Creek are complex operations, weather-dependent mountains requiring year-round planning, skilled employees and enormous continuing investment. Lifts must be inspected and approved, maintained and replaced. Snowmaking systems, grooming fleets, patrol operations, roads, restaurants, digital systems and base facilities must function together. Terrain must serve experts, families, beginners, race teams and destination visitors every day.

Vail Resorts has continued to make investments in Vail and Beaver Creek. Recent examples include a high-speed lift serving Vail’s legendary Back Bowls, expanded and more reliable snowmaking, and Beaver Creek’s McCoy Park: 250 acres of lift-served beginner and intermediate terrain, 17 trails and two lifts in a carefully designed family learning environment. Across its network, the company said its investment in the guest experience had reached approximately $2.2 billion over 15 years by the 2022/23 ski season.

Vail Resorts is also pointing to the future West Vail Village Development as another milestone of improvements to add to the companies major real estate holdings and mountain infrastructure.

The company’s new Epic Experience strategy puts the next enhanced plan in place including better frontline service, more reliable and intuitive technology, improved mountain dining, rentals, lifts and snowmaking, and a smoother journey from planning a trip to the last day of vacation.

At Park City, Vail Resorts’ improvements include its initial $50 million investment connecting Park City Mountain and the Canyons ski area through the eight-passenger Quicksilver Gondola, creating a unified 7,300-acre resort; the project also upgraded King Con to a high-speed six-passenger chairlift, replaced the Motherlode lift, expanded snowmaking and added the Miners Camp restaurant. The investment has continued well beyond that first transformation. By 2025, Park City Mountain Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh said Vail Resorts had invested approximately $144 million in the resort over eleven years, including continuing lift and infrastructure work such as the complete replacement of Quicksilver’s haul rope. These are substantial, long-term commitments to Park City’s mountain operations and guest experience.

The Epic Pass Changed Skiing Affordability for the Consumer

When Vail Resorts introduced the Epic Pass in 2008, the adult price was $579 for unlimited, unrestricted skiing at six major resorts. But one cannot forget that in 2008, a traditional full pass was $1849 and a merchant pass was $869. It could be said that without the implementation of multiple ski resort access through the Epic Pass, that an unlimited, unrestricted ski pass with access to only one ski mountain could easily be over $5000 – based on increased management costs and capital improvements.

The Epic Pass was a disruptive idea: commit before the season and receive access that previously would have cost far more through individual resort passes or repeated day tickets. It should also be noted that in 2021, the company reduced Epic Pass prices by 20 percent, an unusual move in an industry more accustomed to annual increases.

The Epic product family has since expanded to include regional passes and one-to-seven-day products. For skiers who plan ahead and use their access, the per-day cost can be dramatically lower than the price of a traditional destination over the counter lift ticket. Families, Front Range skiers, college students and travelers can budget before winter instead of gambling on daily prices and conditions.

This advance-commitment model also gives resorts greater revenue visibility before the snow falls. That helps support staffing, maintenance and capital planning in a business whose results remain vulnerable to weather. The model benefits Vail Resorts, certainly—but it has also enabled a much larger demographic to ski a myriad of premier mountains and more frequently.

Vail Resorts Helped Resurrect America’s International Ski Racing Heritage

Vail Resorts’ contribution is also cultural and All American. Together with the nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, international governing bodies, sponsors, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail and an extraordinary volunteer base, the company has helped bring back International Alpine Ski Racing in the United States.

World Cup racing first came to Vail during the circuit’s inaugural season in 1967. But it took almost

30 years to bring The World Alpine Ski Championships back to the U.S. since the 1960 Squaw Valley races. The Vail Valley went on to host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1989, 1999 and 2015. Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey course, opened in 1997, and quickly became one of the sport’s most demanding and respected venues. In 2015, course expansions allowed women to race World Cup speed events on Birds of Prey during the Championships. This December, the Stifel Birds of Prey returns for two weekends of men’s and women’s racing from December 3–13.

IT IS a Partnership. Vail Resorts Beaver Creek provides the mountain, lifts, snowmaking, grooming, patrol and operational expertise. The Vail Valley Foundation produces an international event and mobilizes the community through a massive volunteer effort. Ski & Snowboard Club Vail contributes athletes, coaches, and a development culture. Stifel and other sponsors provide essential financial backing. Residents, Visitors, and thousands of mountain Volunteers bring the event to life.

The results extends far beyond race week. Picabo Street helped establish American women as a world force in speed racing. Lindsey Vonn’s long connection to Vail and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail made global downhill success feel local. Mikaela Shiffrin—born in Vail, raised in the Valley and developed in part through Ski & Snowboard Club Vail—became the winningest alpine skier in World Cup history.

Park City has its own deep Olympic and club-racing tradition. Together, mountain communities such as Park City and the Vail Valley have produced athletes, coaches and institutions that strengthened American skiing. Vail Resorts has groomed major mountains with race venues and helped support the competitive stages on which generations of racers have trained, competed and inspired the next group of children in ski-club jackets.

The Lawsuits Explained

Two proposed consumer class actions raise different antitrust theories. Goloja v. Vail Resorts, filed in March, challenges the relationship between multi-mountain passes and individual resort access. Green v. Vail Resorts, filed in August, alleges that major operators improperly shared confidential industry information and coordinated pricing. A separate derivative lawsuit alleges that Vail Resorts directors failed in their oversight duties.

Vail Resorts has said the claims lack merit and has moved to defend its business model. No consumer class has been certified, the allegations have not been proven, and no court has ordered Vail Resorts to change its pass structure or sell a mountain.

You can review the Reuters report on the newer case and the underlying Green complaint. Fair coverage requires presenting the allegations clearly while preserving the presumption that they remain unproven.

Vail Resorts Board Refreshment

Oasis Management has nominated former Disney CEO Robert Chapek, investor M. Ashton Hudson, venture capitalist Bryce Roberts and Picabo Street to the Vail Resorts board. Shareholders are entitled to evaluate those candidates, and Vail Resorts is entitled to evaluate and recommend its own slate. The company has also said it was already conducting a search for an additional independent director. Maybe Vail and Beaver Creek Mountain locals, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin could fill the slate. Mikaela is being mentored by Ron Kruszewski of Stifel and Lindsey runs her own foundation and completed a venture capital internship under mentor Paul Kwan and then, joined the advisory board of the women-led private equity and venture capital firm Athena Capital.

Street’s skiing credentials make her nomination compelling in mountain communities, but a public-company director must also address finance, governance, legal risk, executive oversight and long-term capital allocation. Her candidacy should be evaluated on that complete standard and not used for predetermined judgment against current management.

Nor should board nominations, litigation and takeover speculation be blended into one story. They involve different parties, different legal processes and different objectives. There is no public evidence that Matthew Prince is coordinating with Oasis, and Prince has said he does not own Vail Resorts stock.

Our earlier Journal article, Park City Mountain Is Not for Sale—But Matthew Prince Is Not Going Away, examined his proposal for local ownership and major new investment at Park City. That debate raised useful questions about responsiveness and local stewardship. It also highlighted Vail Resorts’ strongest counterargument: an integrated network can spread risk, invest at scale, create employee opportunities across resorts and offer guests broad access through a single pass.

Vail Valley and Park City Rely on Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts’ success is closely connected to the health of the Vail Valley and perhaps, Park City. Reliable lifts, well-maintained terrain, snowmaking, ski school, hospitality and international events help sustain businesses, employment, visitor loyalty and the ownership experience. Those elements also support confidence in real estate, even though the ski operators lawsuit does not have a great effect on a home’s value.

Property owners and local residents should expect accountability. They should also recognize continuity and competence. Operating Vail, Beaver Creek and Park City at a world-class level is not an easy exercise, and replacing an experienced mountain operator or separating flagship assets would carry risks of its own.

The best path is defend what Vail Resorts has done well, insist that it improve where performance falls short, and resist the idea that every legal allegation or activist proposal is automatically a better plan for our ski mountains.

Vail Resorts helped democratize destination skiing through the Epic Pass and ski mountain ownership. It has invested billions across its resort network, improved lifts and terrain, expanded family access, sustained complex mountain operations and partnered with the Vail Valley Foundation and other ski entities to bring back International Ski Racing live in America. Picabo Street, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin remind us that our United States Ski Team athletes have dominated International Sports and a big reason why our great U.S. ski mountains should stay united and work together. The continued strength of Vail, Beaver Creek and Park City reminds us why Vail Resorts’ stewardship matters.

In all and through the years of United States ski mountain evolution, Vail Resorts has created considerable value and infrastructure for mountains, enthusiasts, athletes, and growing communities. No matter what side of the hill, ski mountain operations, local work force communities, guest experiences and all snow sports need to be supported and cherished; not thrashed; nor litigated.