Vail Resorts, Inc. today reported certain ski season metrics for the comparative periods from the beginning of the ski season throughJanuary 13, 2013, and for the prior year period through January 15, 2012, adjusted as if Kirkwood, which was acquired in April 2012, was owned in both periods.  The reported ski season metrics do not incorporate the recently acquired urban ski areas of Afton Alps and Mt. Brighton. The data mentioned in this release is interim period data and subject to fiscal quarter end review and adjustments.

Highlights

• Season-to-date total lift ticket revenue at the Company’s seven mountain resorts, and including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up approximately 4.3% compared to the prior year season-to-date period.
• Season-to-date ancillary spending outpaced our growth in skier visitation, with ski school revenue up 2.9% and dining revenue up 9.0% at the Company’s seven mountain resorts, and retail/rental revenue was up 7.7% compared to the prior year season-to-date period.
• Season-to-date total skier visits for the Company’s seven mountain resorts were up 2.0% compared to the prior year season-to-date, including higher utilization by season pass holders.

Commenting on the ski season to date, Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer said, “The growth in season-to-date visitation and ancillary on-mountain revenue is a reflection of a very strong holiday season which saw double-digit percentage increases in visitation, ski school revenue, dining revenue, and retail/rental revenue.  Unfortunately, as we discussed in our early December earnings release, this was partially offset by very weak results in the period from the start of the season through mid-December, when conditions at our Colorado resorts were very poor and highly unusual.  We were very pleased to see that once more typical conditions arrived at our resorts, we saw very strong visitation and guest spend.  In fact, a number of our resorts broke visitation and revenue records during the holiday period.   All of this bodes well for the remainder of the season.”

Fiscal Year 2013 Guidance

Commenting on fiscal 2013 guidance, Katz continued, “While we are very pleased with our strong holiday season performance, the challenging early season contributed to season-to-date results that were below what we had anticipated in our guidance originally issued in September 2012. As a result, we do not believe we can fully make up those shortfalls during the remainder of our fiscal year.  Consequently, we now estimate Resort Reported EBITDA to be $244 million to $254 million representing an approximate 19% to 24% increase over fiscal 2012.  Our revised guidance for fiscal 2013 assumes normal weather conditions for the remainder of the season. We are reiterating our estimate of fiscal 2013 Real Estate Reported EBITDA of negative $9 million to negative $17 million, including approximately $2 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expense.  Included in these estimates are Net Real Estate Cash Flow of$15 million to $25 million (defined as Real Estate Reported EBITDA, plus non-cash real estate cost of sales, plus non-cash stock-based compensation expense, plus change in real estate deposits less investment in real estate).  Net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. is now expected to be in a range of $39 million to $49 million in fiscal 2013, up more than double from last year’s results.”

The following table reflects the forecasted guidance range for the Company’s fiscal year ending July 31, 2013, for Reported EBITDA (after stock-based compensation expense) and reconciles such Reported EBITDA guidance to net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. guidance for fiscal 2013.

1. Mountain Reported EBITDA includes approximately $9 million of stock-based compensation.
2. Lodging Reported EBITDA includes approximately $2 million of stock-based compensation.
3. Resort Reported EBITDA represents the sum of Mountain and Lodging. The Company provides Reported EBITDA ranges for the Mountain and Lodging segments, as well as for the two combined.  Readers are cautioned to recognize that the low end of the expected ranges provided for the Lodging and Mountain segments, while possible, do not sum to the low end of the Resort Reported EBITDA range provided because we do not necessarily expect or assume that we will actually hit the low end of both ranges, as the actual Resort Reported EBITDA will depend on the actual mix of the Lodging and Mountain components.  Similarly, the high end of the ranges for the Lodging and Mountain segments do not sum to the high end of the Resort Reported EBITDA range.
4. Real Estate Reported EBITDA includes approximately $2 million of stock-based compensation.