The dog days of August are usually pretty slow for ski news. The past week was a big exception. On Monday, Vail Resorts announced that the company was buying Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia for around $1 billion in U.S. dollars. That’s billion with a “B” for those keeping score. (For accounting nerds, the billion will technically be $513 million in cash, plus $543 million in Vail Resorts stock.) A day later, the Mountain Collective added Telluride in Colorado and Revelstoke in British Columbia to its 2016-17 ski season roster.
The close timing of both events is largely a coincidence. After all, such agreements aren’t done overnight.
PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Wagnon
What does this mean for pass holders?
Whistler Blackcomb will be one of the Mountain Collective’s 2016-17 resorts, but North America’s largest ski area will shift to Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass for the 2017-18 season. Whistler Blackcomb’s season pass will remain unchanged and pass holders will be unable to access any of the Vail Resorts until next season.
For the Mountain Collective (a collaboration among 14 independent resorts), the addition of Telluride gives the pass its second Colorado destination to go along with Aspen Snowmass, while Revelstoke is the third Canadian destination on the list. The other ski areas in the Mountain Collective family are Jackson Hole, Taos, Alta-Snowbird, Squaw Valley-Alpine Meadows, Ski Banff/Lake Louise/Sunshine Village, Mammoth, Stowe, Sun Valley, Thredbo, and Ski Queenstown/Coronet Peak/The Remarkables.
Learn more about the Mountain Collective Pass.
PHOTO CREDIT: Revelstoke Mountain Resort
Effects in Wall Street
The publicly traded Vail Resorts has been buying resorts in recent years, and Wall Street apparently liked Vail Resorts’ Canadian shopping spree. The company’s stock (Symbol: MTN) jumped almost 10 percent in the few days after the purchase was announced.
Along with the obvious ski business, investors liked that Whistler Blackcomb can give the company some summer revenue from activities such as extensive mountain-biking operations. On the other end of the transaction, Whistler Blackcomb’s shareholders (Symbol: WSBHF) were really happy. Their shares jumped about 50 percent.
PHOTO CREDIT: Whistler Blackcomb
With the Summer Olympics in full swing this month, there’s another coincidental side note to the deal. Within the past two years, Vail Resorts has now snapped up the past two North American Winter Olympics alpine skiing sites— the 2010 Games at Whistler and 2002 at Park City.
Went to Whistler/Blackcomb with my honey last spring using Mountain Collective Pass. What a gorgeous place! We waited a little to late in the season (didn’t anticipate record high temps) for optimum skiing, but there was still plenty of skiing to be had at all levels. From USA the exchange rate saved 25% except for some of the fancy restaurants that had “Americanized” their prices. Go! Go! Go!
Vail is going to own the entire skiing world soon – so sad. The common guy won’t be able to afford skiing. It’s quickly (thanks to Vail) becoming a sport for the 1%. Sorry I wasn’t able to make to Whistler in time to use my Mtn. Collective.
Epic pass start at $449 and is a season pass (with restrictions) so that doesn’t seem a price for the 1%. MC pass is good for 2 days at a resort so it only makes sense if you are going to fly to multiple resorts (that seems like the pass for the 1% to me). I think both passes are great but don’t see why you are throwing shade at Vail’s passes.
Vail will be soon the largest skiing destination. A sad truth for common ski goers who will fail to avail the resorts will surely miss playing with snow. But there’s still hope, I had recently visited Tours De Sport website, an answered prayer for my ski dilemma. Great deals and destinations. I want to share this good news for you.
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