New Vail Resorts CEO delivers first earnings report

Vail Resorts recently released its ski-season-to-date statistics earlier this year, with Kirsten Lynch at the helm as CEO at the time. However, Rob Katz has since taken over as CEO following Lynch’s resignation on May 27, 2025. During the company’s third fiscal quarter results announcement on Thursday, June 5, Katz discussed earnings and skier visitation. The third fiscal quarter, spanning from February to April, experienced a decline of 7% in visitation. Katz noted that while destination visitation among pre-committed passholder guests improved as expected in March and April, visitation from uncommitted lift ticket guests fell below expectations. Despite this, Katz highlighted the stability brought by the season pass program, with resort net revenue, excluding Crans-Montana, Switzerland, remaining consistent with the previous season.

Guest satisfaction scores at Vail Resorts properties during the 2024-2025 North American ski season were generally “strong and consistent,” according to Katz. However, one exception was Park City Mountain, Utah, which faced challenges due to a ski patrol strike during the holidays, drawing negative media attention and resulting in complaints from visitors about long lift lines and limited terrain offerings. Katz emphasized the need for a more consistent guest and employee experience across all resorts throughout the season, acknowledging that the Park City experience was unacceptable. Epic Pass product sales for the upcoming winter have seen a slight year-over-year decrease of about 1%, attributed by Katz to macro-economic volatility during the spring selling period. However, the sales trend has seen a positive increase of about 2% in sales dollars due to a price hike of 7% compared to the previous season.

Despite the decline in Epic Pass sales units, Katz expressed confidence that the full-year pass unit and sales dollar trends would remain relatively stable based on the spring results. Beyond the U.S., Epic Australia Pass sales saw a significant increase of around 20% in units and approximately 8% in sales dollars compared to the previous year. Katz credited this success to the Epic Australia 4-Day Pass, which proved popular among Australian skiers and snowboarders who visit the mountains infrequently. With his previous tenure as CEO of Vail Resorts from 2006 to 2021, Katz brings a wealth of experience and insights to lead the company forward.