Vail Buys Wilmot Mtn Outside Chicago

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Vail Resorts buys urban ski area outside Chicago
Vail Resorts adds Wilmot Mountain to its network of ski areas connected by the Epic Pass
By Jason Blevins
The Denver Post
 

 

Vail Resorts on Tuesday announced it had acquired a third urban ski area in the Midwest, buying Wilmot Mountain, about halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee.

 

The largest resort operator in North America has grown its successful Epic Pass season pass program since its 2012 acquisition of Afton Alps near Minneapolis and Mount Brighton outside Detroit.

 

Now the Chicago area — with an estimated 800,000 skiers — will be courted with Epic Passes, adding yet another major ski market to the Vail's network.

 

Chicago has long ranked as a top market for ski resorts in the West, where Vail Resorts has the largest and most trafficked ski areas in Colorado, Utah and California.

 

"We plan to offer our Chicago and Milwaukee guests new season pass offerings that will provide the chance to experience the best skiing and snowboarding locally and in the West and we will use our best-in-class technology to create more sophisticated channels of communication with everyone who skis at Wilmot," said Vail Resorts chief Rob Katz in a statement.

 

Details of the deal were not disclosed, but Vail Resorts spent $10 million each for Afton Alps and Mount Brighton in 2012 and has invested $10 million in upgrades at each hill.

 

Wilmot Mountain, which was sold by the same family that started the ski area in 1938 with a single rope tow, has 25 runs on 120 acres with a 230 vertical-foot drop.

 

Vail plans to renovate and update the entire ski area, with new terrain parks, a new instruction program, expanding dining options, race programs and improvements to snowmaking, parking and access.