Sold! Vail deal is done

The final price tag on the resort was $41 million, according to officials at Vail. Stowe Mountain Resort is Vail Resort’s first foray into ski resort ownership on the East Coast.

“We are thrilled to officially welcome Stowe to our family of world-class resorts,” Kirsten Lynch, chief marketing officer at Vail Resorts, said in a press release.

The sale scored Vail the ski operations at Stowe Mountain Resort, including lift ticket sales, the ski and snowboard school, lifts, snowmaking, food and beverage, and retail and rental services.

Vail Resorts did not acquire Spruce Peak Realty or Stowe Mountain Lodge.

Vail Resorts also confirmed the pass pricing system Stowe Mountain Resort skiers can expect to choose from for the next ski season. In a name, expect the Epic Pass.

The Epic Pass, priced at $859 for adults and $449 for kids, gives all-season access to 45 international resorts. The $639 Epic Local Pass allows 10 days at Stowe, Vail, Beaver Creek and Whistler Blackcomb with holiday restrictions, unlimited access to Keystone, Breckenridge and Arapahoe Basin, and limited access to Park City, Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood.

The $639 Epic 7-Day pass allows seven unrestricted days at select resorts, including Stowe Mountain Resort and Vail. The $419 Epic 4-Day pass is the same idea, just with three fewer days.

Working with the town

Stowe Town Manager Charles Safford said he’s talked with Bobby Murphy, a longtime Vail Resorts employee who took the reins as Stowe Mountain Resort’s new vice president and general manager on Wednesday.

Safford said Murphy and Vail’s “integration manager,” Blaise Carrig, both plan to be at next Monday’s select board meeting to introduce themselves.

“We’ll see what unfolds from there,” Safford said. “They seem to have a lot of positive ideas and energy. They’re looking to work with the community. Time will tell how everything works itself through, but we’ll approach it on an optimistic basis.”

State Rep. Heidi Scheuermann, R-Stowe, said she’s been in communication “quite a bit” with the Vail Resorts team.

“I just want to be there to help them in any way I can,” Scheuermann said. “I think there’s a lot of excitement in town about it.”

Stowe Select Board chair Lisa Hagerty is enthused about the closing.

“It’s great news to hear that Vail Resorts and Stowe Mountain Resort have successfully completed the transaction we were expecting,” Hagerty said.

Hagerty says her interactions with Murphy and Carrig have been encouraging; they’ve been making an effort to know locals, “not just community leaders, but just making their way around town and making themselves accessible.” She said the pair has been working to “understand the town’s views and those excitements, anticipations and possible fears.”

Discussions of parking and traffic, the twin woes that plagued Stowe this winter despite a banner ski season, have already come up, Hagerty said.

“That would be a discussion topic for whoever owns the mountain, whether that continued under its current ownership or future ownership,” she said, adding she thinks Vail Resorts is well-equipped.

“They’ve had many more experiences with all different infrastructure challenges, because they own so many different resorts, that I think that fresh eye and that expertise is going to help us as we look for solutions to what are our natural challenges, which is a single-access road,” Hagerty said.

Scheuermann has also talked with the Vail Resorts brass about parking and traffic.

“I know that they’re going to be tackling those things right off the bat, or at least trying to,” Scheuermann said.

Business partners

Stowe business owners in town are also enthusiastic, like Esbert Cardenas, who owns Image Outfitters. The ever-changing chalk sign outside his Mountain Road office now welcomes visitors to “Vail of the East.”

“I don’t know all of the intricacies of the deal, but I only see this as a positive change in general,” Cardenas. “More business for the town and those who need it, more heads in beds.”

Stowe Area Association hopes to continue its partnership with Stowe Mountain Resort under its new ownership, according to Amy Morrison, executive director of the local business booster.

“Stowe Area Association has a long-standing relationship with Stowe Mountain Resort, and we look forward to continuing our partnership under Vail’s management,” Morrison said. “With Vail’s reputation as a leading resort operator and focus on the guest experience, we anticipate a positive impact on the greater Stowe community.”

Vail’s newly-acquired assets don’t include much of the real estate on the Spruce Peak side of the resort, which still belongs to AIG. Vail will take over the Adventure Center, which acts as the base of operations for many of the summertime activities that Vail will now run — the zip line, tree top adventure course and the indoor climbing wall.

AIG handed off the hospitality side of operations to a different company, Destination Hotels. Kelly Mohr, director of public relations for Stowe Mountain Lodge, said Destination Hotels has been operating in the off-season under the assumption that the Vail sale would clear any regulatory hurdles. Now, it’s full-steam ahead.

Many shoulder season improvements have been made at Stowe Country Club, one of the two golf courses that AIG owns and Destination Hotels is now running. Mohr said the company would like to make the country club a bit more visible, to get more locals swinging clubs, eating and drinking at Kirkwood’s Pub. There are plans to get more people on the Mountain Course, the ultra-exclusive 18-hole course that abuts the Spruce Peak development.

Both Scheuermann and Safford expressed their gratitude to AIG for their stewardship of the ski resort until they sold it, and to Vail Resorts for their investment in the town.

“Congratulations to all the parties. I know they’ve worked hard on this,” Safford said. “They’re making a big investment in Stowe and I always say to people, when they invest in Stowe, we appreciate their investment."

Kayla Collier and Tommy Gardner contributed to this report.