Vail Resorts- a new leaf?

[doc]

Dear Beth,

When we complain about "Vail" and ruination of the ski experience, we are talking about Vail writ large, not your home mountain. I haven't paid any attention to what's happening at your mountain, since I live in the East. I am paying attention to record crowds with closed terrain at Okemo, disaster at Wildcat, ridiculous lift lines at Mt. Snow, the usual misery at Hunter, and the spectacular fail at Stevens Pass that has the nation riveted.

You folks are killing skiing. Shape up.

Signed,
newboots

You would do well to send those opinions to Vail's Board of Directors. I'm a C-suite officer in a public company, and, while I can't speak for Vail's board, know how my board would listen and react to such observations, particularly when they contradict easily challengeable, slanted or misleading public statements by corporate representatives. You'd have even more impact if you own or bought some MTN shares. You can contact Vail's Board as follows:

By letter to:
Chairman of the Board
Vail Resorts, Inc.
390 Interlocken Crescent
Broomfield, CO 80021
Attn: Corporate Secretary
or
by email to: [email protected]

 

[HardDaysNight]

Guest opinion: PCMR remains committed to the Park City community despite unique challenges of this ski season

One of the highlights of my job as COO of Park City Mountain Resort is getting to connect and collaborate with members of this amazing community. For example, I had the privilege of meeting with…

www.parkrecord.com

Missive from Mike Goar, the general manager of PCMR, mirroring that of Beth Howard. I guess the corporate PR people, who penned both of these, love the “robust company-wide plan for employee wages ahead of next season” line. Unless, of course, both of these schlocks came up with the identical wording independently. It might have been helpful if the compensation plan had been a little more “robust” in advance of this nightmare season. It’s also incredible that, despite selling 76% more passes than last year and the evidence of our own eyes, these liars expect us to believe that there aren’t any more people at the resorts than in years past. What do they think the buyers of the passes are doing with them? Hint: they’re using them to come skiing!

 

[Slasher]

You would do well to send those opinions to Vail's Board of Directors. I'm a C-suite officer in a public company, and, while I can't speak for Vail's board, know how my board would listen and react to such observations, particularly when they contradict easily challengeable, slanted or misleading public statements by corporate representatives. You'd have even more impact if you own or bought some MTN shares. You can contact Vail's Board as follows:

By letter to:
Chairman of the Board
Vail Resorts, Inc.
390 Interlocken Crescent
Broomfield, CO 80021
Attn: Corporate Secretary
or
by email to: [email protected]

Board directors are elected by shareholders. Shareholders mainly care about stock price. What’s this really gonna change?

 

[doc]

Board directors are elected by shareholders. Shareholders mainly care about stock price. What’s this really gonna change?

I disagree. Its a changing world and public company boards are coming to realize there are stakeholders in a company, such as employees, customers, communities in which the company operates, the environment, etc., in addition to shareholders, to whom they should answer.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#label/Notes/Wachtell/FMfcgxwJXxmKWvKZVsmDGCQQdlhqQBCV

 

[James]

​ 11 February 2022: Super Bowl vs. Olympics Edition Vail - A Welcoming Place for All​ Beth Howard, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Vail Mountain Vail Mountain – and all mountains – should be a welcoming place. Over the past several months I have read numerous pieces perpetuating a troubling narrative of exclusivity and negativity that harms our reputation as a welcoming and inclusive mountain community. Whether this is your first time to the mountains or if you have lived here your entire life, Vail is a place where you belong. I relocated to this community decades ago, and I am proud of how we have evolved into a world-class destination beloved by so many. Vail is an aspirational and inspirational destination, one that everyone should feel welcome to visit. Unfortunately, the most notable narrative I've heard this season is that Vail Mountain's experience is too crowded, with blame being directed at the increase in Epic Pass sales this year. This is not true. The facts are that visitation this season at Vail Mountain is down from the 18/19 season and up only slightly from the 19/20 season. And peak daily visitation to the resort this season is not higher than previous years. Our commitment to “Epic for Everyone” is an effort to create a more welcoming entry point to the sport, while also creating stability for our community despite variability in weather or unpredictable events like a pandemic. I remember very well in 2008, when our Company introduced the Epic Pass and dramatically reduced the price to ski and ride. There were many concerns locally that this would negatively impact what we stood for. Fourteen years later, I could not be prouder of the experience we provide across Vail Mountain and across this community, and proud of how we have made the experience more accessible with programs like the Epic Military Pass, Epic Schoolkids Pass, charitable donations to organizations that deliver experiences to underserved and at-risk young people, and yes, our Epic Day Pass as well. Did we have challenges earlier this season in the middle of an accelerating pandemic and staffing shortages? We did. But thanks to the hard work and commitment of our employees, our mountain is 97 percent open, we launched four new guest experiences, we continue to open more food and beverage locations, we have manageable (and often non-existent) lift lines, and we have vitality in our villages. We are driving tourism and economic success for this community, and we are providing guests with a mountain experience like nothing on earth. We understand that this success requires continued investment in the mountains, our people, and our community. Next year we have two new high-speed lifts planned for Vail Mountain and we are proud of the team next door at Beaver Creek who opened up McCoy Park this season. We are also working on a robust company-wide plan for employee wages ahead of next season, to further the momentum from the end-of-season bonus we implemented in January. We are fully committed to invest in more affordable housing for this community to help alleviate our housing crisis and provide more places to live for our employees. We continue to support local non-profits – everything from Vail Veterans to the Eagle River Watershed Council – with millions of dollars in grant money. I'm proud to be a part of this community and I'm grateful for all of the wonderful people who welcomed me here 37 years ago. It is imperative for my entire team, as well as our entire community, to welcome others like I was welcomed to the Vail Valley – like you were welcomed when you arrived. Our community benefits from this growing interest and enthusiasm in our sport, our mountain and our community, and it is never the time to close our doors and say “keep out.” Let's keep our mountain community an inclusive place for everyone, and secure our long-term success as the world's premier mountain destination community. Thanks, Beth Beth Howard Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Less people than usual?
The whole thing is like talking about how many inches of snow say VT gets and claiming you get more than some place out west. Might actually be true. Meanwhile, completely ignoring the rain days and melting thaw days.

Does anyone believe this? Maybe 17% less at some places with 50% less staff and terrain open.

 

[Slasher]

I disagree. Its a changing world and public company boards are coming to realize there are stakeholders in a company, such as employees, customers, communities in which the company operates, the environment, etc., in addition to shareholders, to whom they should answer.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#label/Notes/Wachtell/FMfcgxwJXxmKWvKZVsmDGCQQdlhqQBCV

I have quite a few friends who work or have worked in Corporate Social Responsibility. Most of them are quite depressed about how a) they're just window dressing, and b) they're the first to be gutted at any sign of financial distress. Especially because any resources devoted to being "responsible" are resources diverted away from competing with the Amazons, Walmarts and Vail Resorts of the world.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

It's so easy to say that visits are down when you have resorts that were closed through New Years. Yeah, of course visits were down company wide, but what about each resort. Even if visits are down overall at a resort, the resort could be absolutely hammered some days and dead the next. Stowe weekdays are generally less crowded than last year, but we are seeing busy days like we have never seen before.

 

[newboots]

You would do well to send those opinions to Vail's Board of Directors. I'm a C-suite officer in a public company, and, while I can't speak for Vail's board, know how my board would listen and react to such observations, particularly when they contradict easily challengeable, slanted or misleading public statements by corporate representatives. You'd have even more impact if you own or bought some MTN shares. You can contact Vail's Board as follows:

By letter to:
Chairman of the Board
Vail Resorts, Inc.
390 Interlocken Crescent
Broomfield, CO 80021
Attn: Corporate Secretary
or
by email to: [email protected]

Okay. I will!

 

[Johnfmh]

I wonder why Beth does not place some of the blame on this year’s poor snowfall record, especially in the west but also in many other regions.

 

[BLiP]

but we are seeing busy days like we have never seen before

Saturdays at a Vail Resort is like an airline that oversold seats. But instead of bumping passengers to another flight, they are allowing everyone on board, even if it means people end up sitting in the aisles, on the laps of other passengers, and in every conceivable nook and cranny that they can find.

 

[johnnyvw]

You mean like this?? LOL

 

[Andy Mink]

You mean like this?? LOL

View attachment 159713

If Vail ran a railroad.

 

[James]

You mean like this?? LOL

^ That’s exactly what “17 percent less visits” looks like.