Vail Resorts Wins Travel + Leisure SMITTY Award
BROOMFIELD, Colo. – July 10, 2014 – Vail Resorts was awarded “Best Overall Use of Social Media by an Attraction” in the 2014 Travel + Leisure Social Media in Travel and Tourism (SMITTY) Awards. The award recognizes the Company’s “Epic Race to Ski the World” and the engagement that the program drove across several of Vail Resorts’ social media channels.
Each year, the Travel + Leisure SMITTY awards recognize companies in the travel and tourism industry showcasing the best and most innovative uses of social media. A jury of digital insiders and travel professionals reviewed hundreds of submissions and named winners and runners-up in 30 categories.
“The SMITTY is an amazing recognition of a truly epic competition,” said Vail Resorts vice president of corporate communications, Kelly Ladyga. “One of the best things to come out of the Epic Race is the amazing passion and dedication of the over 200 skiers and riders who participated, the fun they all had and the camaraderie that developed among the group, and the highly entertaining and inspiring content they all shared through social media.”
The Epic Race was created to highlight the benefits of Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass, primarily the ability to ski or ride 26 mountains in four countries across the world. The first 10 participants to complete the season-long competition would win the industry’s ultimate prize – an Epic Pass for life. Racers logged over 4,300 visits to Epic Pass resorts, uploading nearly 13,000 photos and videos to the official site, as well as through their own social media channels.
In 2013-14, Epic Pass resorts were Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Eldora in Colorado; Canyons in Park City, Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Afton Alps, Minnesota; Mt. Brighton, Michigan; Verbier, Switzerland; Arlberg, Austria – St. Anton, Lech, Zürs, St. Christoph and Stuben; and Les 3 Vallées, France – Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Brides-les-Bains, Les Menuires, Saint Martin de Belleville, Val Thorens and Orelle.
The Epic Pass is the world’s most popular pass, sold in all 50 U.S. states and 80 countries around the globe. It features unlimited, unrestricted skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado; Canyons in Park City, Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. In 2014-15, Epic Pass holders will have the opportunity to extend their skiing and riding adventures from the U.S. to Europe with five free consecutive days at the renowned mountain resorts of Verbier, Switzerland and and five free consecutive days at Les 3 Vallées, France. And new this season, they will be able to enjoy five free consecutive days at powder haven Niseko United in Japan.
A complete list of this year's SMITTY winners can be found at http://www.travelandleisure.com/smittys-2014.
Follow the #EpicRace on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or at www.epicrace.epicpass.com or www.epiclifemag.com.
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Each year, the Travel + Leisure SMITTY awards recognize companies in the travel and tourism industry showcasing the best and most innovative uses of social media. A jury of digital insiders and travel professionals reviewed hundreds of submissions and named winners and runners-up in 30 categories.
“The SMITTY is an amazing recognition of a truly epic competition,” said Vail Resorts vice president of corporate communications, Kelly Ladyga. “One of the best things to come out of the Epic Race is the amazing passion and dedication of the over 200 skiers and riders who participated, the fun they all had and the camaraderie that developed among the group, and the highly entertaining and inspiring content they all shared through social media.”
The Epic Race was created to highlight the benefits of Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass, primarily the ability to ski or ride 26 mountains in four countries across the world. The first 10 participants to complete the season-long competition would win the industry’s ultimate prize – an Epic Pass for life. Racers logged over 4,300 visits to Epic Pass resorts, uploading nearly 13,000 photos and videos to the official site, as well as through their own social media channels.
In 2013-14, Epic Pass resorts were Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Eldora in Colorado; Canyons in Park City, Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Afton Alps, Minnesota; Mt. Brighton, Michigan; Verbier, Switzerland; Arlberg, Austria – St. Anton, Lech, Zürs, St. Christoph and Stuben; and Les 3 Vallées, France – Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Brides-les-Bains, Les Menuires, Saint Martin de Belleville, Val Thorens and Orelle.
The Epic Pass is the world’s most popular pass, sold in all 50 U.S. states and 80 countries around the globe. It features unlimited, unrestricted skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado; Canyons in Park City, Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. In 2014-15, Epic Pass holders will have the opportunity to extend their skiing and riding adventures from the U.S. to Europe with five free consecutive days at the renowned mountain resorts of Verbier, Switzerland and and five free consecutive days at Les 3 Vallées, France. And new this season, they will be able to enjoy five free consecutive days at powder haven Niseko United in Japan.
A complete list of this year's SMITTY winners can be found at http://www.travelandleisure.com/smittys-2014.
Follow the #EpicRace on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or at www.epicrace.epicpass.com or www.epiclifemag.com.
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Canyons in Park City, Utah; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan; and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.