Add The California Post on Google Vail Resorts is facing a revolt from within.
A shareholder has turned on the ski resort behemoth in a blistering lawsuit accusing the corporate executives of participating in an illegal price-fixing scheme that sent the cost of list tickets and its popular Epic Pass soaring.
In a 55-page complaint brought by shareholder Gary Peterson in Colorado federal court on Monday, he claims that Vail Resorts exchanged pricing and financial information with competitors Alterra Mountain Company, Boyne Resorts, and Powdr Corp. starting in 2020 to increase prices across passes, lift tickets, rentals, and lessons. The alleged backroom dealing sent ski ticket prices soaring into the stratosphere.
At the center of the legal snowstorm is Vail’s lucrative Epic Pass, which gives skiers access to their massive portfolio of mountain resorts. Vail pioneered the Epic Pass, and helped shape the economics of skiing by getting customers to ditch pricey day tickets and commit to a full season upfront.
The coordinated scheme allowed Vail to ratchet up seasonal Epic Pass costs by 39% since 2021, going from $783 to a whopping $1,119 this season.
To force skiers into buying the pricey multi-mountain pass, the lawsuit claims Vail drove single-day lift tickets to “economically irrational” extremes, with peak holiday tickets reaching $385.
The sticker shock has sparked widespread fury. “I’m sitting in the parking lot staring at my receipt and I feel sick,” one devastated skier vented on Reddit after hitting Vail. “$275 for a Saturday pass. That doesn’t include the $40 parking, the $22 mountain priced burger, or the gas to get here.”
“The pricing of the Epic Pass and the Company’s lift tickets is not a peripheral concern; it is the core of Vail’s business,” the complaint states. Vail operates 42 ski destinations, and the pass accounts for roughly 65% of its lift revenue. With that much money riding on the Epic Pass, the lawsuit argues that few decisions matter more to Vail than how the company sets that price.
The new lawsuit marks the third class action targeting Vail’s pricing tactics, following two antitrust suits filed by frustrated customers. But this time, customers are taking aim at the company’s bottom line, arguing that top brass breached fiduciary duties and violated securities laws by misleading shareholders about its soaring profits.
“These wrongs resulted in significant damages to Vail’s reputation, goodwill, and standing in the business community, as well as exposing the company to two federal antitrust class actions seeking treble damages,” Peterson stated in the complaint.
Peterson argues that shareholders themselves were harmed by Vail’s directors, who unknowingly exposed them to financial and reputational damages by keeping them in the dark about its most important money maker — all while enriching themselves.
The company is fighting back against its shareholder. “We believe that the claims are without merit and will defend the company and our board of directors vigorously,” a Vail Resorts spokesperson told Courthouse News.
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