Vail Resorts announced changes at its North American resorts in the 2022/23 season that will include a bump of the minimum wage to $20 per hour while maintaining all career and leadership wage differentials to provide a significant increase in pay to all of its hourly employees. This announcement was made on March 14.

Vail said they are making investments in the guest experience by this increase in compensation for seasonal frontline staff. They will also be making a substantial investment in its human resource department to support a return to full staffing and deliver a better employee experience.

The increase in wages and the return to normal staffing levels will represent an approximately $175 million increase in expected labor expense in fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022 expected labor expense.

Vail previously announced an investment of $327 million to $337 million to expand capacity at 14 resorts with 21 new lifts and a major terrain expansion for the upcoming season. Heavenly will replace a current fixed-grip triple lift with a high-speed 4-person chair which will increase uphill capacity by more than 40 percent and reduce the combined ride time of the Boulder and North Bowl lifts, which is expected to reduce wait times at the Stagecoach and Olympic lifts.

Net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. was $223.4 million for the second fiscal quarter of 2022 compared to net income attributable of $147.8 million in the same period in the prior year. The increase is primarily due to the greater impact of COVID-19 and related limitations and restrictions on results in the prior year. Net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2020 was $206.4 million.

Season-to-date total skier visits at Vail properties are up 2.8 percent and total lift revenue is up 10.3 percent through March 6, 2022, compared to the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period through March 8, 2020.

“We are pleased with our financial performance for the quarter,” said Vail CEO Kirsten Lynch. “Visitation trends and demand for the experience at our resorts remain encouraging, particularly with destination guests, with results improving post-holidays as conditions improved, more terrain was opened and the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant receded. As expected, results for the quarter significantly outperformed results from the prior year, due to the greater impact of COVID-19 and related limitations and restrictions on results in the prior-year period.”

Lynch said available staffing was below targeted levels heading into the holidays, consistent with challenges faced by the broader travel and leisure industry at that time. During the holidays, COVID-19 cases associated with the Omicron variant dramatically accelerated, impacting both guest travel plans and staffing exclusions, despite having a vaccinated workforce. She said some resorts had 10 percent of staff out due to COVID-19 at one time. Vail responded with an increased hourly compensation during the holidays and for the remainder of the ski season at a cost of $20 million in fiscal 2022.

Highlights of the Vail March 14 report:

Season-to-date through March 6, 2022, total skier visits were up 11.7% compared to the prior year season-to-date period and up 2.8% compared to the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period.

Season-to-date total lift ticket revenue, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 21.0% compared to the prior year season-to-date period and up 10.3% compared to the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period.

Season-to-date ski school revenue was up 60.2% and dining revenue was up 75.7% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Relative to the comparable period in fiscal year 2020, ski school revenue and dining revenue were down 8.9% and down 27.0%, respectively. Retail/rental revenue for North American resort and ski area store locations was up 40.7% compared to the prior year season-to-date period, and down 2.8% versus the comparable season-to-date period in fiscal year 2020.

“As we turn our attention to the 2022/2023 ski season and beyond, the Company will be making its largest-ever investment in both its employees and its resorts, to ensure we continue to deliver our Company mission of an Experience of a Lifetime,” added Lynch. “The experience of our employees and guests is core to our business model, and the Company intends to use its financial resources and the stability it has created through its season pass program to continue to aggressively reinvest to deliver that experience. We believe our business model allows us to make these investments and achieve our short and long-term financial growth objectives.”