Photo: Park City Mountain // Instagram
Last month, tech billionaire Matthew Prince told a local Park City, Utah news outlet that he wanted to purchase Park City Mountain from Vail Resorts. This week, in his first earnings call with investors since re-taking his CEO title at Vail Resorts, Rob Katz addressed the topic.
“That’s not something we’re looking at and we don’t think that that ultimately is in the right, long-term interest of our company,” Katz said when he was asked about selling the resort. “A resort like Park City, of course, is critical to our overall company and our network.”
Prince already acknowledged in his May interview with KPCW that Vail Resorts had shot down the inquiry, but Thursday’s earnings call was the first time we’ve heard that stance from the company itself.
“This feels like it is one of these things that has to be inevitable. So I think it’s very unlikely that I own Park City [Mountain] in the next five years, but the next 50? I think having local owners really matters,” Prince had said. He later criticized Vail’s management of the resort and, by extension, their impact on the city, saying he sees “them as having largely given up on Park City and that’s really sad for a mountain that I care enormously about.” Prince ultimately admitted he’s “lost faith” in Vail Resorts’ ability to manage his hometown mountain.
Katz reported to investors that guest satisfaction scores at Vail’s various properties were strong during this past ski season. Guest satisfaction scores at Park City Mountain were an exception, however, which largely stemmed from December’s strike by ski patrollers at the popular resort.
“The Park City experience was obviously unacceptable,” Katz acknowledged.
Katz is returning to his role as Vail Resorts CEO after the company removed Kirsten Lynch from the position at the end of May. Katz first served as CEO of the company starting in early 2006 and was appointed Chairperson on the Board of Directors in 2009. He stayed in both roles until late 2021, when Lynch was instilled as CEO.
