obienick;c-53401 wrote
This right here shows all.
He is the chair of the largest ski conglomerate in the world. And can’t be bothered to understand the ops at the largest competitor (Pats) to one of their resorts (Crotched).
I think that’s the bigger bombshell than the teaser quote.
Vail is not a ski company any more. It’s asset management firm. There is no denying it.
Well, since he's not the Chair anymore, more of an emeritus status as I understand it, he was very clear multiple times that Vail Resorts is now Kirsten Lynch's company that she makes the choices about how to run. Rob Katz was very clear about that many times over in the podcast. The fact that he didn't really give any specifics, but talked much more in generalities, really didn't surprise me, nor I am guessing surpised most anyone who has listened to some of the past interviews he has given. Most of the time he keeps his answers at the "10000 ft level" not the "1 foot level". He's never really been one to give specific details about specific problems, but has certainly spoken in more generalities like "we know we need to do better in some areas will look at ways to improve in the future......"
If there's any real bits of interest that he commented on, I would take it as they (Vail) will continue to push the concept of "prepurchasing" your skiing/riding via things like the Epic Pass for the best value, and people who want to wait until right before a day of skiing/riding for more assured optimum conditions will pay a premium for that
#2 - Employee housing and how to deal with it, and not just ski resort operators, but potentially other employers in a resort town as well, is something that they will be focusing on in resort communitues in the coming years
#3 - Continuing to promote diversity in not just Vail employee hiring but also in the general skiing/riding population seems to be a significanr long term goal of the company, and one where he sees growth potential for the industry as well
I give props to Stuart Winchester for trying to push him on some specific questions though
