Skier visits to Vail Resorts’ U.S. properties are down 20% this winter as the lack of snow at its western ski areas turns off potential visitors.
In December, the Broomfield-based resort giant had just 11% of its terrain in the Rocky Mountains open, according to an update for investors on Thursday.
“We had one of the worst early season snowfalls in the Western U.S. in over 30 years, which limited our ability to open terrain and negatively impacted visitation and ancillary spending for both local and destination guests during the period,” Vail CEO Rob Katz said in a statement.
The company downgraded its financial outlook due to the poor start to the winter season. If conditions in the Rockies don’t improve by President’s Day Weekend, a three-day weekend in February, the financial results could be even worse, according to Katz.
Revenue from lift tickets through Jan. 4, which includes some money from season pass sales, is down 1.8% compared to last year. Meanwhile, ski school revenue is down nearly 15%, and dining revenue is down about 16%.
In an unusual twist, Vail properties in the eastern U.S. had better early season snow conditions. But they were not good enough to make up for the lack of snow out west. Its western resorts include some of the most well-known Colorado ski destinations including Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Crested Butte and Vail.
Vail is struggling to win back Wall Street investors after several years of disappointing results. The company’s shares have lost half of their value in the past five years.
