Vail Resorts CEO Robert Katz expects skier visits to rebound during the 2026-27 season — but perhaps not to the levels seen before last winter’s historically poor conditions in Colorado and the West.
During a fourth quarter earnings call with investors Monday, Sept. 28, Katz reported that the company’s annual revenues were down as a result of the “exceptionally challenging weather” last season. He also blamed a 12% lag in Epic Pass sales through mid-September on last season’s conditions, but said he expects to see improvements as winter approaches.
“We certainly assume that the ski industry is going to have a significant recovery from last year,” Katz said. “The only question is whether the industry is going to get all the way back to the (2024-25) season. Our assumption is, for the guidance at least, that it may not.”
Vail Resorts reported that annual resort net revenue declined $132 million, or 4.5%, during the 2026 fiscal year that ended July 31, compared to the prior year. Heading into the 2026-27 season, the leading ski resort company has issued fiscal guidance that assumes visitation to be “modestly lower” than it had originally predicted going into last season.
Vail Resorts owns 42 ski areas in the U.S., including Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Resort, Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek Resort and Crested Butte in Colorado, which it offers access to on the multiresort Epic Pass.
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