What's New? What's News? Vail Resorts Spring 2011 Highlights
EpicMix reaches nearly 100,000 users in inaugural season
EpicMix is a first-of-its-kind online and mobile application launched for the 2010-2011 ski and snowboard season which allows Vail Resorts guests, at five of its world-class mountain resorts to effortlessly utilize technology to digitally capture their ski and ride experience and share it with friends and family. During the 2010-2011 ski and snowboard season:
World-class development in Vail continues with a new table-service restaurant at Mid-Vail, opening to the public for the 2011-2012 season at Vail
Designed by Zehren & Associates at more than 13,000-square feet, the new table-service restaurant at Mid-Vail will seat 160 people in the main dining area and another 80 between the patio and bar areas. The restaurant will be centrally located on the mountain at the base of the Look Ma and Challenge Trails with views of the Gore Range. Construction on the foundation began in August 2010 and was shut down for winter operations in November. Construction to complete the building resumed after the close of the 2010-2011 season and the restaurant will open to the public for the 2011-2012 season.
New ski school hub set to open at Adventure Peak in 2011 to compliment Heavenly’s world class ski instruction and adding to the family-friendly experience of the super tubing hill, ski biking slopes and world-class dining experience at the top of the Gondola
Heavenly is home to three members of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s National Demonstration Team and six members of PSIA’s Western Demonstration Team which is more than any ski resort in the nation. The new children’s ski school building will be consistent in look and feel to Heavenly’s new 14,980 square foot Tamarack Lodge and will elevate the ski school facilities to the same world-class level as our ski school instruction. The addition of the new ski school building will continue to grow Adventure Peak into an exciting hub for families with tubing, snow biking, sightseeing and dining. Tamarack Lodge’s design will be utilized at Northstar-at-Tahoe next year and is the baseline for exceptional architecture for future projects with Vail Resorts.
Breckenridge’s 50th Anniversary Season Starts 11/11/11
It might seem impossible to raise the bar any higher at Breckenridge Ski Resort after a record-setting snow season during which the luxury One Ski Hill Place, A RockResort opened and amenities like the Gold Runner Coaster and 22-foot superpipe debuted making headlines across the ski industry. But the bar can go higher, and to steal a line from one of our favorite movies, this next season goes to 11! Actually, Breckenridge hits 50 on opening day, Nov. 11, 2011. Breckenridge’s golden season will continue to bring signature events like the Nike 6.0 Winter Dew Tour stop in December, Ullr Fest and the International Snow Sculpture Championships in January, the new Spring Fever Festival in April, as well as the great snow and customer service you’ve come to expect at Breck. In addition, 50th anniversary celebrations, promotions and fun will abound all season long. Visit www.breckenridge.com for the latest on Breckenridge’s 50th Anniversary Season and more!
Opening on Nov. 4, 2011 Keystone debuts increased family programming, including the increasingly famous Kidtopia Snow Fort
The 2011-2012 season welcomes families with expanded Kid’s Adventure Zones located throughout Keystone Resort. Keystone’s winter event calendar abounds with live entertainment that will be sure to get the whole family toe tapping and giggling in no time. Back for its third season Keystone’s signature family-friendly event, Kidtopia will host even more free activities, an even bigger Snow Fort and look for new off-mountain events and activities. Keep checking www.keystonekidtopia.com for further information on the largest family event in the Colorado Rockies. Gear up for enhanced ice skating adventures available under the sunny sky and the twinkling night sky. From Kidtopia Teen Nights, four diamond dining experiences, snow tubing and sleigh rides there is something for everyone at Keystone Resort.
New high speed quad chairlift at Beaver Creek
Construction on a new high speed Doppelmayr detachable quad chairlift in Rose Bowl at Beaver Creek will take place this summer. The new lift will transport 2,400 people per hour and the new ride time will be nearly cut in half at five-and-a-half minutes. Planned as side-load chair, it will transport skiers and riders to the top of today’s existing Rose Bowl Lift. The lift upgrade also will improve the guest experience by spreading skiers and snowboarders across the main mountain more, and reducing density impacts on the Cinch Express Lift (Chair 8) and Centennial Express Lift (Chair 6). The resort also plans to increase its grooming operations in Rose Bowl including on some of its black diamond runs, providing skiers and riders a wider variety of terrain options accessed from the new lift. Investments such as this lift demonstrate Beaver Creek’s ongoing commitment to continually deliver top-notch guest experiences on and off the slopes.
Vail Resorts Mountain Division Highlights Through April 24
EpicMix is a first-of-its-kind online and mobile application launched for the 2010-2011 ski and snowboard season which allows Vail Resorts guests, at five of its world-class mountain resorts to effortlessly utilize technology to digitally capture their ski and ride experience and share it with friends and family. During the 2010-2011 ski and snowboard season:
- Nearly 100,000 Vail Resorts guests activated EpicMix™ accounts, or roughly a 15-percent adoption rate by eligible guests; almost 40,000 guests downloaded the EpicMix application to their mobile phone;
- Users racked up more than 55 billion vertical feet of skiing and snowboarding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly, in California/Nevada;
- 45 percent of EpicMix accounts have been made “public,” meaning that guests opted to share their ski day statistics with friends and family on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook;
- EpicMix also generated 275,000 social posts on Facebook and Twitter and more than 35 million social impressions (based on Facebook’s estimate of 130 friends per user); and
- EpicMix drove1.7 million web and mobile visits.
- Vail Resorts is hard at work on EpicMix 2.0 for the 2011-2012 ski and snowboard season that will offer some new groundbreaking functionality and user engagement, and will be fully operational at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort.
$30 Million in capital improvement projects to be invested at Northstar-at-Tahoe™ Resort for the 2011-2012 Season to enhance the guest experience
Plans include new gladed terrain and ski trails that will increase skiable terrain by 10 percent, a new high-speed detachable quad chairlift on “The Backside,” new snowmaking and a new on-mountain restaurant near the top of the Tahoe Zephyr Express Lift with indoor seating for 500 and outdoor seating for 200. In addition, new Patagonia and Burton retail shops and an expanded North Face store in a new location as well as signature restaurant will be added to the Village at Northstar™, bringing additional energy and nightlife to the popular mountain village. Construction of the proposed capital improvement projects will commence this spring and summer, with completion expected prior to the start of the 2011-2012 winter season.
Plans include new gladed terrain and ski trails that will increase skiable terrain by 10 percent, a new high-speed detachable quad chairlift on “The Backside,” new snowmaking and a new on-mountain restaurant near the top of the Tahoe Zephyr Express Lift with indoor seating for 500 and outdoor seating for 200. In addition, new Patagonia and Burton retail shops and an expanded North Face store in a new location as well as signature restaurant will be added to the Village at Northstar™, bringing additional energy and nightlife to the popular mountain village. Construction of the proposed capital improvement projects will commence this spring and summer, with completion expected prior to the start of the 2011-2012 winter season.
World-class development in Vail continues with a new table-service restaurant at Mid-Vail, opening to the public for the 2011-2012 season at Vail
Designed by Zehren & Associates at more than 13,000-square feet, the new table-service restaurant at Mid-Vail will seat 160 people in the main dining area and another 80 between the patio and bar areas. The restaurant will be centrally located on the mountain at the base of the Look Ma and Challenge Trails with views of the Gore Range. Construction on the foundation began in August 2010 and was shut down for winter operations in November. Construction to complete the building resumed after the close of the 2010-2011 season and the restaurant will open to the public for the 2011-2012 season.
New ski school hub set to open at Adventure Peak in 2011 to compliment Heavenly’s world class ski instruction and adding to the family-friendly experience of the super tubing hill, ski biking slopes and world-class dining experience at the top of the Gondola
Heavenly is home to three members of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s National Demonstration Team and six members of PSIA’s Western Demonstration Team which is more than any ski resort in the nation. The new children’s ski school building will be consistent in look and feel to Heavenly’s new 14,980 square foot Tamarack Lodge and will elevate the ski school facilities to the same world-class level as our ski school instruction. The addition of the new ski school building will continue to grow Adventure Peak into an exciting hub for families with tubing, snow biking, sightseeing and dining. Tamarack Lodge’s design will be utilized at Northstar-at-Tahoe next year and is the baseline for exceptional architecture for future projects with Vail Resorts.
Breckenridge’s 50th Anniversary Season Starts 11/11/11
It might seem impossible to raise the bar any higher at Breckenridge Ski Resort after a record-setting snow season during which the luxury One Ski Hill Place, A RockResort opened and amenities like the Gold Runner Coaster and 22-foot superpipe debuted making headlines across the ski industry. But the bar can go higher, and to steal a line from one of our favorite movies, this next season goes to 11! Actually, Breckenridge hits 50 on opening day, Nov. 11, 2011. Breckenridge’s golden season will continue to bring signature events like the Nike 6.0 Winter Dew Tour stop in December, Ullr Fest and the International Snow Sculpture Championships in January, the new Spring Fever Festival in April, as well as the great snow and customer service you’ve come to expect at Breck. In addition, 50th anniversary celebrations, promotions and fun will abound all season long. Visit www.breckenridge.com for the latest on Breckenridge’s 50th Anniversary Season and more!
Opening on Nov. 4, 2011 Keystone debuts increased family programming, including the increasingly famous Kidtopia Snow Fort
The 2011-2012 season welcomes families with expanded Kid’s Adventure Zones located throughout Keystone Resort. Keystone’s winter event calendar abounds with live entertainment that will be sure to get the whole family toe tapping and giggling in no time. Back for its third season Keystone’s signature family-friendly event, Kidtopia will host even more free activities, an even bigger Snow Fort and look for new off-mountain events and activities. Keep checking www.keystonekidtopia.com for further information on the largest family event in the Colorado Rockies. Gear up for enhanced ice skating adventures available under the sunny sky and the twinkling night sky. From Kidtopia Teen Nights, four diamond dining experiences, snow tubing and sleigh rides there is something for everyone at Keystone Resort.
New high speed quad chairlift at Beaver Creek
Construction on a new high speed Doppelmayr detachable quad chairlift in Rose Bowl at Beaver Creek will take place this summer. The new lift will transport 2,400 people per hour and the new ride time will be nearly cut in half at five-and-a-half minutes. Planned as side-load chair, it will transport skiers and riders to the top of today’s existing Rose Bowl Lift. The lift upgrade also will improve the guest experience by spreading skiers and snowboarders across the main mountain more, and reducing density impacts on the Cinch Express Lift (Chair 8) and Centennial Express Lift (Chair 6). The resort also plans to increase its grooming operations in Rose Bowl including on some of its black diamond runs, providing skiers and riders a wider variety of terrain options accessed from the new lift. Investments such as this lift demonstrate Beaver Creek’s ongoing commitment to continually deliver top-notch guest experiences on and off the slopes.
Vail Resorts Mountain Division Highlights Through April 24
- Season-to-date lift revenue at Vail Resorts’ six mountain resort properties, adjusted as if Northstar-at-Tahoe (acquired in October 2010) was owned in both periods, and including season pass revenue for each period, increased by approximately 8.0% through April 24, 2011, compared to the prior year period ended April 25, 2010.
- Season-to-date total skier visits for the Company’s six mountain resort properties, adjusted as if Northstar-at-Tahoe was owned in both periods, were up approximately 3.9% through April 24, 2011, compared to the prior year season-to-date period ended April 25, 2010.
- Season-to-date ancillary revenue increased at the Company’s six mountain resort properties, adjusted as if Northstar-at-Tahoe was owned in both periods, with ski school up 8.4%, dining up 9.0% and retail/rental higher by 8.3% through April 24, 2011, compared to the prior year season-to-date period ended April 25, 2010.
About Vail Resorts
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resort properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado, and the Heavenly Ski Resort and Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort property and hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States and in the Caribbean. 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.