Vail Resorts reported lower profit for its second fiscal quarter Monday and reduced its expectations for the rest of the fiscal year as company leaders described the most challenging winter the company has ever faced across its Rocky Mountain resorts. “This quarter and our full year outlook re flect the challenges we faced this season, including the most difficult weather environment in the Rockies we have ever seen,” said CEO Rob Katz during Monday’s earnings call with investors. Vail Resorts reported net income of about $210 million for the quarter, down from roughly $244 million during the same period last year. The company also reduced its financial outlook for the full fiscal year, citing continued weather challenges through February. The company now expects net income between $144 and $190 million for fiscal year 2026, down from its previous projection of $201 to $276 million, which Vail Resorts reaffirmed at the end of its first quarter in December. Snowfall across Colorado and Utah has been down more than 40% compared with last year, said Katz. Conditions delayed terrain openings across several of the company’s major resorts in the region, with record snowpack lows compounded by unusually warm temperatures that made it difficult to open terrain even where snowmaking was available. Because Colorado and Utah resorts generate the largest share of the company’s earnings, those conditions had an outsized effect on the company’s overall performance this winter. “This season saw the latest opening of the Back Bowls at Vail Mountain and the Imperial lift at Breckenridge,” Katz said. “And only about 70% to 80% of acres were open through the end of February at our resorts in Colorado and Utah.” The difficult conditions meant fewer skiers on the slopes with season to date skier visits through early March down 11.9% and declines also affecting ski school, dining and retail revenue as overall visitation dropped, according to CFO Angela Korch. Season pass holder visitation also declined by around 14%, but lift revenue fell only 3.6% season to date, largely because of how many guests now purchase passes ahead of the season, said Korch. Pass holders now account for roughly 75% of the company’s annual visitation, with season pass sales up by about 55% over the last five years.  “The changes from this year are all weather related,” Korch said. “The visitation impact was obviously not part of our original guidance.” While the Rockies struggled this winter, conditions were stronger in other parts of the company’s network, including the Northeast. “When there are big aberrations like what we saw this year in terms of weather, people tend to see that as an aberration as well,” Katz said. “It’s not that they don’t love skiing. It’s that the weather didn’t show up this year like they may have hoped.” Despite the challenging snow conditions, Katz pointed to strong guest experience scores across the resort network — something he said was unusual in a year when weather limited terrain.  Guest satisfaction scores increased across the Rockies, particularly in Utah, where Park City Mountain experienced a difficult winter last season following the ski patrol strike, though Katz said that guest satisfaction in Park City is up even looking back over two years.  Katz credited those results largely to improvements in staffing and higher employee retention across the company’s resorts. “That started with the investments we made in frontline wages back in 2022,” Katz said. “We’ve become much more selective in recruiting and in how we bring people into the organization. We’re seeing higher seasonal employee return rates and engagement scores and retention rates.” Looking ahead, Vail Resorts is focusing heavily on attracting new and younger skiers as part of its long-term strategy. The company recently introduced discounted Epic Pass pricing for Gen Z skiers and riders in an effort to make skiing more accessible for younger adults. “We saw that the area where we were showing the most struggles was in this age group,” Katz said. “We do think it’s critical that we keep the engagement of these folks in the sport for the future.” The post Low snow year cuts Vail Resorts profit, forces lower outlook appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less