Good point above about Epic Day Passes. They are advance purchase, non-transferable single or multi-day tickets. Use it or lose it. If these count as "passes," well, yeah, the numbers are way up.
A group I know is going to Vail. Seven bought Epic 5-day passes through the authorized travel agent. The agent gave VR the individuals name, address, etc., and the money. Four have received their day passes. Three have not. VR now won't work with agents, they tell the individuals to deal directly with VR customer service. But--the individuals have no info to give the customer serpents except their name, and that hasn't been working.
I understand about the difficulty hiring help. Washington State 2022 minimum wage is $14.49 per hour, up from $13.69 last year. Workers can get a better job with regular hours at $15.50 or more in fast food and find housing better than VR employee housing which sounds like the housing for migrant farm workers. Last year at Stevens Pass the word going around was that the few lift operators working that day had noon meetings and some were sent home regardless of the snow coverage or lift lines. I saw lifts operating with no one to scan tickets. Last year Stevens Pass had an RV lot on the map, reservations required. Without telling anyone they converted most of it to car parking. RV owners could never get a reservation and didn't know why. That's just sleazy. Here is the current petition to Vail Resorts:
https://www.change.org/p/vail-resorts-hold-vail-resorts-accountable
Excerpts from Vail Resorts July 31, 2021 10-K annual report:
"Our business depends on the quality and reputation of our brands, and any deterioration in the quality or reputation of these brands,...may reduce visitation and negatively impact our operations."
"We are subject to risks associated with our workforce, including increased labor costs." "During Fiscal 2021, we announced a substantial investment in our employees by increasing the minimum wage to $15 at our Resorts across Colorado, California, Utah, Washington, New York and Vermont, as well as other increases at our Resorts in the eastern U.S. From time to time, we have also experienced non-union employees attempting to unionize. While only a very small portion of our employees are unionized at present, we may experience additional union activity in the future, which could lead to disruptions in our business, increases in our operating costs and/or constraints on our operating flexibility."
"Our mountain and lodging operations are highly dependent on a large seasonal workforce. We recruit year-round to fill thousands of seasonal staffing needs each season and work to manage seasonal wages and the timing of the hiring process to ensure the appropriate workforce is in place."
"A shortage of international workers based on immigration and cultural exchange limitations, failure to recruit and retain new domestic employees in a timely manner, higher than expected attrition levels, or increased wages all could affect our ability to open and operate parts of our Resorts, deliver guest service at traditional margins or achieve our labor cost objectives."
Total liabilities (money they owe) is $4,421,988,000, up from $3.7b last year. Long term debt is $2.7b. 2021 lift ticket revenue is $1,076,578,000. Ski school revenue is $144,227,000. Profit per share of stock is $3.17 in 2021, up from $2.45 in 2020, down from $7.46 in 2019. 2021 effective tax rate 0.6%.
Everyone must tighten their belt. Rob Katz, CEO until recently, only made $3.7 mil in fiscal year 2021.
