Vail Resorts Charitable Conservation Work Facilitates More Than $1 Million for Forest Restoration and Ecological Stewardship Projects
- Vail Resorts continues to work with its nonprofit partners to help responsibly preserve, protect and steward the iconic ecological settings where we live, work and play.
Dec. 8, 2016 – Broomfield, Colo. – Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) today released details of its environmentally focused charitable contribution work for the last fiscal year which included the facilitation of more than $1 million for forest restoration and ecological stewardship projects. EpicPromise is the Company’s environmental and corporate social responsibility initiative that manages the Company’s programs including direct grants, the $1 guest donation initiative and the new 1% for the Forest commitment, made in partnership with the National Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, and based in the Company’s resort communities.
White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said, “I am thrilled at how much stewardship work we have been able to accomplish over the last 10 years through this partnership. Without the collaboration with Vail Resorts and the National Forest Foundation, and the resources provided through programs like this, we would be unable to deliver the U.S. Forest Service mission.”
With the launch of Epic Discovery, the Company’s new summer initiative that connects guests to nature through activities like zip-lines, coasters and ropes courses, Vail Resorts committed to 1% for the Forest in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. This fall, the Company contributed one percent of all activity revenue from Epic Discovery at Vail Mountain and Heavenly Mountain Resort to the Nature Conservancy. The contribution will fund restoration projects in the forests in Colorado, California and Nevada.
“Colorado’s forests are in urgent need of restoration,” said Carlos Fernandez, Colorado state director for The Nature Conservancy. “Our partnership with Vail Resorts and its 1% for the Forest program supports valuable projects that help reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, while protecting important water sources and wildlife habitat. This is exciting work and we are pleased that Epic Discovery will bring more families into the national forests to play and be inspired to learn more about nature.”
“Through EpicPromise, Vail Resorts is proud to work with our nonprofit partners, employees, guests and mountain communities to help responsibly preserve, protect and steward these iconic ecological settings in which we live, work and play,” said Rick Cables, Vail Resorts vice president of natural resources and conservation. “The generous contributions of our guests and this wonderful collaborative partnership with the National Forest Foundation and the Nature Conservancy have enabled us to give back to the mountains and forests that provide spectacular settings for our resorts.”
In the last fiscal year Vail Resorts also provided access to Epic Discovery’s environmental education experience to more than 2,300 kids, most of whom would not otherwise have had the opportunity. Further, more than 350,000 visitors engaged with environmental education elements in the high alpine environments of Vail Mountain and Heavenly Mountain Resort.
Since 2006, guest contribution programs on all Vail Resort’s season passes, online tickets and lodging properties have raised more than $4.5 million. Last season, this program contributed more than $788,000 to crucial restoration projects in Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada and Wyoming. The program, which invites guests to contribute $1 on each season pass, lift ticket or lodging stay, supports the National Forest Foundation, Mountain Trails Alliance in Utah, the Tahoe Fund and the Grand Teton National Park Foundation.
Through EpicPromise, Vail Resorts also provides direct grants to local environmental non-profits through the annual community grants process. Last year, these grants supported 15 organizations from Colorado to California. Projects focused on watershed restoration and protection, energy reduction, preserving land and habitat rehabilitation.
Learn more about the work of Vail Resorts’ EpicPromise at www.EpicPromise.org.
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading global mountain resort operator. Vail Resorts’ subsidiaries operate ten world-class mountain resorts and three urban ski areas, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada; Perisher in Australia; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. Vail Resorts owns and/or manages a collection of casually elegant hotels under the RockResorts brand, as well as the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning and development 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.
Contact(s)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading global mountain resort operator. Vail Resorts’ subsidiaries operate ten world-class mountain resorts and three urban ski areas, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada; Perisher in Australia; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. Vail Resorts owns and/or manages a collection of casually elegant hotels under the RockResorts brand, as well as the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning and development 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.
Contact(s)
Vail Resorts Communications, news@vailresorts.com