Vail Resorts have announced they're buying another four US resorts to take their total to 16 in the US along with Whistler Blackcomb in Canada and Perisher in Australia.
The resorts are Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado (Vail's fifth area in the state), Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, Stevens Pass Resort in Washington state and Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire,
They're buying three of the new areas for just under $240m, which includes $82m to Triple Peaks, which operates the three areas, and $155m to Ski Resort Holdings to pay off the leases on the resorts. Steven's Pass they're buying direct for a further $67m direct from Ski Resort Holdings, LLC.
Vail now owns 16 destination resorts along with three ski areas in the US Midwest it describes as "urban ski areas."
The company's business model has become increasingly focused on its 'Epic Pass' season ticket which provides access top all of its ski areas, as well as numerous partner resorts, on the one pass. This ticket sells in increasingly big numbers worldwide in advance of the ski season guaranteeing the company incomer and market share, to some extent regardless of how the ski season ahead plays out.
A number of resort groups have formed competitor products and an Aspen-resorts backed group, later named Alterra, which has more than a dozen resorts in it and a similar lift ticket offer to Epic Pass was formed a year ago with as $2 billion investment.