Not many lifts on Vail Mountain have been erected solely for the purpose of improving guest flow around the resort, but the resort’s massive Sun Up/Sun Down Bowl area now has two.

The new Sun Down Express opened on Wednesday, taking guests from the bottom of the Sun Down and Sun Up bowls to the top of the Wildwood area, allowing Sun Down Bowl to be lapped with one lift ride. Previously, to reach the top of Wildwood from the bottom of the High Noon Express (No. 5), where Sun Down Bowl now loads, two lift rides were required.

But for many, the true benefit will be in the simplified access the lift provides between the mountain’s eastern points, like China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin, to western points like the Lionshead and Cascade villages. Guests can now reach Eagle’s Nest and the Grand Hyatt Hotel from Blue Sky Basin with just two lift rides.

In observing the location of Sun Down’s bottom terminal, near the bottom of No. 5, many were concerned about how guests would load the Sun Down Express from the Sun Up area of the mountain, if they were attempting to make it to Eagle’s Nest from Blue Sky in just two lift rides.

Marnie Cullen, of Edwards, said she assumed skiers would have to cross each other underneath the lifts, on the skiers’ right side of the No. 5 terminal. But instead, the new lift has an access point on the skiers’ left side of the High Noon Express, in the area where the ski school line used to be.

“I was definitely concerned about how that would work, if everyone had to cross one another, but you can access from either side just fine,” Cullen said after riding the lift on Wednesday. “I’m a big fan.”

The Sun Down Express complements the Sun Up Express on the other side of the High Noon Express, which runs between the two lifts. The Sun Up Express is also a flow lift, meaning it was erected in an effort to improve flow rather than provide access to a new area of the mountain.

When the Sun Up lift was upgraded to a four-person detachable or “express” lift, it was renamed No. 9, after another flow lift in the Lionshead area which was removed in the 2008-09 season (Minnie’s Lift). The former Sun Up lift, No. 17, had been providing egress through the Back Bowls since 1992 before its upgrade and renumbering in 2016. The new Sun Down Express now takes the number of the former Sun Down lift, No. 17.

John Plack with Vail Mountain said crews were excited to have the new lift open in January, and during a great season nonetheless. With another 3 inches on the snowstake on Wednesday morning, Vail is reporting a cumulative 209 inches for the 2022-23 season. A January opening for No. 17 had been promised by Vail Mountain after an original late December deadline was targeted.

“I call it a powder hound’s new best friend because it gives folks who love that terrain the ability to lap their favorite lines on a powder day instead of having to take the long trek around to Chairs 5 and 3,” Plack said of the new lift on Wednesday. “It’s also going to greatly improve the flow and experience back to Lionshead Village from the Back Bowls. I also think guests will enjoy our maze configuration since you can get to either lift from both skier’s left and right.

“I rode it today and the ride was smooth as butter,” he added.

The post Vail’s new Sun Down Express is now open appeared first on Park Record.

Coming off the busiest season in U.S. history, Vail Resorts reported that the current season is starting off even busier at its 37 North American ski areas.

Vail Resorts, in an annual early season update to investors, said skier visits to its North American properties are up 12.5% this season through Jan. 8, as compared to the 2021-22 season.

Despite the growth, the numbers were not up to the level the company was hoping to see over the holidays, CEO Kirstin Lynch said in a statement issued Wednesday.

“Season-to-date destination guest visitation at our western U.S. resorts was below our expectations, which we believe was negatively impacted by the extreme weather causing resort closures and the airline disruptions that impacted travel across the U.S. during the peak holiday period,” Lynch said.

The company attributed this year’s growth in visitation not only to good snow conditions during November and December, but poor snow conditions during the same period last year, among other factors.

“Results season to date for the 2022/2023 North American ski season outperformed results from the comparable prior year period, which were negatively impacted by challenging early season conditions, elevated COVID-19 cases associated with the Omicron variant and staffing-driven capacity constraints in our ancillary businesses,” Lynch said. “Improved conditions at our Colorado, Utah and Tahoe resorts drove a strong rebound in local guest visitation and the easing of travel restrictions in Canada contributed to a strong rebound in destination visitation at Whistler Blackcomb relative to the prior year period.”

The company reported a large jump in revenue for ski school and dining operations, which weren’t fully staffed at Vail Resorts’ properties last season. Lynch said increased staffing levels relative to the prior year period enabled Vail Resorts to deliver full operations this holiday season.

The return of normal operations to guest services experiences “helped drive a return of ancillary spending,” Lynch said.

Season-to-date retail/rental revenue is up 34.4%, ski school revenue is up 35.6%, and dining revenue is up 58% compared to the prior year’s season-to-date period, Vail Resorts reported.

But season-to-date total lift ticket revenue was only up 5.3% compared to the prior year’s season-to-date period, something noticed by investors.

Citing predictions from consumer sector estimates firm Consensus Metrix, Vail Resorts analyst Patrick Scholes with Truist Financial said lift ticket revenues were originally projected to be more than double what Vail Resorts reported on Wednesday.

“The bad news is that lift ticket revenues of +5.3% were below Street expectations of +13.6%, resulting in Resort Reported EBITDA for fiscal 2023 to now be in the lower-half of the previously guided range,” Scholes said in a report issued Wednesday.

Lynch said she expects the company to recoup some of those profits later in the season.

“Based on our significant base of pre-committed guests through advance commitment pass products, strong conditions across our western resorts, and current lodging booking trends, we believe that a portion of the visitation we originally expected over the holiday period will occur later in the season,” Lynch said Wednesday. “As a result of all these factors, we now expect that Resort Reported EBITDA for fiscal year 2023 will be in the lower half of the guidance range issued on September 28, 2022.”

In an opinion released Wednesday, Vail Resorts analyst Jeff Stantial with Stifel Financial said he agrees that the late season of 2022-23 could see strong visitation numbers, as Lynch predicted.

“While visitation disruptions were fairly well covered in the media, we believe investors generally called for solid visitation trends given historically strong early season conditions across most major destination ski regions,” Stantial said. “Hence, we wouldn’t be surprised to see shares underperform modestly today. However, based on historical trends (e.g. 2018/19), we could see visitation rebound healthily late-season (especially in light of continued strong conditions) suggesting any weakness in the shares will likely prove short-lived. Hence, we reiterate our Hold-rating as we continue to wait for a more attractive entry point.”

The post Vail Resorts’ US skier visits up 12.5% over last year, company reports appeared first on Park Record.