Vail Resorts today announced its initial 2024 capital plan, which includes three new lifts. The largest project will be at Hunter Mountain, where Vail intends to replace the Broadway quad with a six seat detachable. The top terminal will be relocated near the bottom of Lower 42nd Street to improve access to Eisenhower and Gun Hill. Existing Broadway Limited equipment will be moved to replace Lift E, a Hall double dating back to 1968. E’s alignment will move east to the middle of the learning area. Vail says these new lifts will provide “a meaningful increase in uphill capacity and improved access to terrain that is key to the progressive learning experience for our guests.”
At Whistler Blackcomb, Vail will build its fourth new detachable in three years. The new Jersey Cream Six will utilize parts originally intended for Eagle Express at Park City before local approval was revoked in 2022. Vail then sought to replace the Jersey Cream quad in 2023 alongside the Fitzsimmons 8 project, but labor shortages only allowed one project to be finished this fall. Doppelmayr Canada did complete 11 of 15 tower bases for Jersey Cream over the summer and the UNI-G six pack will now open for the 2024-25 ski season.
Finally Vail announced its intention to complete the new Sunrise Gondola at Park City’s Canyons Village in 2025. The 10 passenger gondola will run from near the new Pendry Hotel to Red Pine Lodge. The third out-of-base lift will be funded in part by the Canyons Village Management Association.
The company reported season pass sales increased approximately 7 percent in units and 11 percent in sales dollars in dollars compared to the equivalent period last year. Vail Resorts also reported a decrease in net income from $347.9 million for fiscal year 2022 to $268.1 million for fiscal 2023. The decrease was primarily attributed to “a large gain on disposal of fixed assets in fiscal 2022 and an increase in fiscal 2023 expense associated with a change in the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration liability related to our Park City resort lease.” Vail also said higher employee wages, a poor winter in Australia and lower demand for summer mountain travel negatively impacted results.
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Well-needed upgrade at Hunter that will add some desperately-needed out-of-base capacity and enable them to keep pace with Windham in the competitive metro NYC market. I’ll miss the beauty and charm of E Lift but appreciate that it’s 55 years old and its time has come. I’d imagine Leitner-Poma will be favored to win the contract for the new B Lift, after which Hunter will have a Poma-only lift fleet. Stepping back, I’m hoping to see more announcements from Vail come December — this is paltry.
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I wouldn’t hold my breath too hard, the last 2-3 years have been massive lift investment spending for Vail. If you JUST look at Vail’s CO lift and trail investments over the last few years, you have lift purchases from smaller upgrades like Rips Ride, medium sized capacity upgrade projects like Game Creek at Vail, 5 chair at Breck, or Peru at Keystone. Then there were the major expansions like Bergman Bowl at Keystone or McCoy Park at BC. I’m glossing over another handful of less significant lifts too. The total expenditure on lifts by Vail is huge, even just looking at 1 state.
Now would be the time to sit back and cash in on Epic sales fueled by their wider terrain and lift projects they’ve been working at. It’s probably not financially feasible to be installing 5+ HS and another 2-3 fixed grip lifts a year given Vail’s total 40ish resort size. You have to let those investments sit and recoup their costs before another spending spree. Or you have to take on more investment and/or debt.
Boyne might disagree with my gripes, and they’d probably be the only owners who would.
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I feel Alterra is a better managed and more passionate ski company. Epic is just getting more wallstreety, or, maintaining the status quo and not investing.
Ikon resorts builds 2 to 3 times more lifts than Epic in the near past and near future. Speaking of just Alterra owned resorts (not 5-7 days partner resorts) vs Epic owned resorts since 2020 to near future:
Palisades got a brand new gondola and a new 6 pack
Steamboat got a brand new gondola and a new quad with another quad coming
Mammoth will get 2 new 6 packs
Solitude, Winter Park and Copper will get a new 6 pack each
Not mentioning Ikon partner resorts like Big Sky with the new tram and new gondola, Deer Valley’s massive expansion coming up.
They are not to the caliber of Whistler-Blackcomb, Vail, Park City and Beaver Creak in terms of lifts and yet they are putting more money in.
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The last couple of years have involved an insane amount of lift upgrades at Vail-owned resorts. And not just the Western destination resorts. Jack Frost/BB got like an entirely new lift fleet. Mount Snow got two brand new detachables.
Both the big push over the summers of 22 and 23, and the slower pace in 24 may have to do with higher interest rates. Vail probably made a strategic decision to load up on capital projects ahead of those rate hikes (which were widely anticipated as soon as inflation took off). This graph suggests as much:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BAMLC0A4CBBBEY
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I think the major expansions are due to resorts realizing the amount of demand they’re able to get with IKON and the lower interest rates we had and resorts capitalizing on them. I don’t see those types of projects being feasible long-term.
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I think it was disappointing to not see any new announcements on the Park City Eagle and Silverlaod upgrades which were much needed.
Sure another base gondola at canyons is nice, especially since red pine can get put on wind hold, but at the end of the day I see the other upgrades mentioned being much more worthwhile, and it’s disappointing to see that Vail still has not come to an agreement with the Park City local government for approval.
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I agree, still definitely a bummer. Hopefully it will change. Still glad to see Sunrise coming along.
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Given the push back by the public in Park City I’m not surprised at all that there are no new announcements.
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I mean Vail tried to put some major flagship upgrades in at PCMR, and look what happened. I’m sure the debacle means other obviiu upgrades may be passed over at Park City like the town lift.
The Canyons doesn’t have the same amount of red tape, and it will be partially funded by the resort at its base.
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The Silverlode and Eagle upgrades will come once PCMR finds a way to bypass the veto votes of the NIMBYs.
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I get the need for modernization but is adding additional uphill capacity at an overcrowded Hunter desirable? Hopefully there will be some improved crowdflow from the relocation to offset this.
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The last thing that Hunter needs is more people on the mountain, but this makes a decent amount of sense. One of the problems that Hunter has is limited intermediate terrain from the summit — it’s basically just Belt Parkway. As a result, on a busy weekend, Belt Parkway may be the most dangerous ski run in America. Replacing B lift with another HS Six Pack makes it another flagship lift and may keep more intermediates on B lift instead of going to the summit as early or as often. It may help spread traffic. And for days where the Flyer goes down, more people will be able to get to the top of B lift faster to wait in line for F lift.
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Hunter really needs to revamp Hunter East. So much underutilized terrain over there. Beginners and intermediates could be drawn to that side with a signature lift.
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Meanwhile in NH, Vail can’t even get a new parking lot – that was announced two years ago – built at Mt. Sunapee. Not that they need MORE people on weekends with the lack of any new lifts or acreage in the five years the Vailians have been here.
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I think you mistakenly replaced an “l” with an “i” in your descriptor of the new owners.
Though to be fair, is any of that delay attributable to State bureaucrats who have to approve those investments in a State park?
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Mike, all state and local permits have been issued per my sources. “Vailians” shamelessly stolen from a Park City resident
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