Vail Resorts' Colorado Mountains See $75 Million-Plus In Improvements

Vail Resorts had a busy summer improving their resorts, spending $75-85 million. The biggest improvement was at Vail Mountain with the replacement of Chair 5, which is the High Noon lift. Ride time has been cut in half, a boon for Back Bowl skiers and riders. Vail Resorts own and operate Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, and Breckenridge in Colorado, and Heavenly in California.

The tubing hill at Vail's Adventure Ridge will also be bigger with eight lanes, instead of seven. Plus, those lanes will be longer. There will be a new enclosed Magic Carpet lift, making it easier and warmer. Guests will get in more tubing runs.

Guest rooms at Keystone Lodge at Keystone Resort have been upgraded with new amenities such as flat-screen TVs and new tinted windows.

Snowmaking is another big improvement at Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Heavenly Resorts. The corporation is increasing its fleet of more than 130 snowcats. New snowmaking equipment is also being added.

A big improvement was a new alpine coaster down Peak 8 at Breckenridge. It opened in September. Another addition at Breckenridge is One Ski Hill Place. It is a new property that opened during the summer. These ski-in/ski-out units are wholly owned. One Ski Hill Place is a RockResort.

Reported by:  Onthesnow.com