Vail Resorts, Inc. (MTN) Business, 2016

Vail Resorts, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is referred to throughout this document as “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company.”

Vail Resorts, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was organized as a holding company in 1997 and operates through various subsidiaries. Our operations are grouped into three business segments: Mountain, Lodging and Real Estate, which represented approximately 82%, 17% and 1%, respectively, of our net revenue for our fiscal year ended July 31, 2016 (“Fiscal 2016”).

As of July 31, 2016, our Mountain segment operates nine world-class mountain resort properties and three urban ski areas, as well as ancillary services, primarily including:

• ski school,

• dining, and

• retail/rental operations.

Our Lodging segment includes the following:

• owned and/or managed luxury hotels under our RockResorts brand, as well as other strategic lodging properties,

• owned and/or managed condominiums located in proximity to our mountain resorts,

• certain National Park Service (“NPS”) concessionaire properties, including Grand Teton Lodge Company (“GTLC”), which operates destination resorts at Grand Teton National Park,

• Colorado Mountain Express (“CME”), a Colorado resort ground transportation company, and

• Mountain resort golf courses.

Collectively, the Mountain and Lodging segments are considered the Resort segment. Our Real Estate segment owns, develops and sells real estate in and around our resort communities.

For financial information and other information about the Company’s segments, see Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” below.

On August 5, 2016, we entered into an arrangement agreement to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, Inc. (“Whistler Blackcomb”). Whistler Blackcomb owns a 75% interest in each of Whistler Mountain Resort Limited Partnership and Blackcomb Skiing Enterprises Limited Partnership, which together operate Whistler Blackcomb resort, a year round mountain resort with a comprehensive offering of recreational activities, including both snow sports and summer activities. Whistler Blackcomb shareholders will receive total consideration equal to (i) C$17.50 per share in cash, and (ii) 0.0998 shares (the “Consideration Shares”), subject to a currency exchange rate adjustment to be determined based on the applicable exchange rate as of the sixth business day prior to the closing date. The estimated consideration to be paid to Whistler Blackcomb shareholders is approximately $1.1 billion as of August 5, 2016, based on the closing currency exchange rate and Vail Resorts common stock as of that day. Completion of this acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions, including the approval by Whistler Blackcomb shareholders and the British Columbia Supreme Court, and regulatory approvals, as well as other customary closing conditions. For additional information, see the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Our portfolio of world-class mountain resorts and urban ski areas includes:

Colorado and Utah Resorts (Rocky Mountain Region)

• Breckenridge Ski Resort (“Breckenridge”) - the single most visited mountain resort in the United States (“U.S.”) for the 2015/2016 ski season with five interconnected peaks offering an expansive variety of terrain for every skill level, including access to above tree line intermediate and expert terrain, and progressive and award-winning terrain parks.

• Vail Mountain (“Vail Mountain”) - the second most visited mountain resort in the U.S. for the 2015/2016 ski season. Vail Mountain offers some of the most expansive and varied terrain in North America with approximately 5,300 skiable acres including seven world renowned back bowls and the resort’s rustic Blue Sky Basin.

• Park City Resort (“Park City”) - the third most visited mountain resort in the U.S. for the 2015/2016 ski season. The 2015/2016 season marked the unveiling of the newly transformed Park City, which was the result of a $50 million investment that connected the former Park City Mountain Resort and the former Canyons Resort (“Canyons”). Park City, now the largest ski resort in the U.S., offers 7,300 acres of skiable terrain for every type of skier and snowboarder and offers guests an outstanding ski experience with fine dining, ski school, retail and lodging.

• Keystone Resort (“Keystone”) - the fourth most visited mountain resort in the U.S. for the 2015/2016 ski season and home to the highly renowned A51 Terrain Park, as well as the largest area of night skiing in Colorado. Keystone also offers guests a unique skiing opportunity through guided snow cat ski tours accessing five bowls. Keystone is a premier destination for families with its “Kidtopia” program focused on providing activities for kids on and off the mountain.

• Beaver Creek Resort (“Beaver Creek”) - the seventh most visited mountain resort in the U.S. for the 2015/2016 ski season. Beaver Creek is a European-style resort with multiple villages and also includes a world renowned children’s ski school program focused on providing a first-class experience with unique amenities such as a dedicated children’s gondola. Beaver Creek also annually hosts the only North American men’s World Cup downhill races.

Lake Tahoe Resorts

• Heavenly Mountain Resort (“Heavenly”) - the eleventh most visited mountain resort in the U.S. for the 2015/2016 ski season. Heavenly is located near the South Shore of Lake Tahoe with over 4,800 skiable acres, straddling the border of California and Nevada, offers unique and spectacular views of Lake Tahoe and boasts the largest snowmaking capacity in the Lake Tahoe region. Heavenly offers great nightlife, including its proximity to several casinos.

• Northstar Resort (“Northstar”) - the thirteenth most visited mountain resort in the U.S. for the 2015/2016 ski season. Northstar is the premier luxury mountain resort destination near Lake Tahoe which offers premium lodging, a vibrant base area and over 3,000 skiable acres. Northstar’s village features high-end shops and restaurants, a conference center and a 9,000 square-foot skating rink.

• Kirkwood Mountain Resort (“Kirkwood”) - located southwest of Lake Tahoe, offering a unique location atop the Sierra Crest. Kirkwood is recognized for offering some of the best high alpine advanced terrain in North America with 2,000 feet of vertical drop and over 2,300 acres of terrain.

Urban Ski Areas

• Urban Ski Areas - Afton Alps Ski Area (“Afton Alps”), located near the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, is the largest ski area near a major city in the Midwest and offers 48 trails, with night skiing, riding and tubing. Mount Brighton Ski Area (“Mt. Brighton”), located near Detroit, offers 26 trails with night skiing and riding. Wilmot Mountain (“Wilmot,” acquired in January 2016), located in southern Wisconsin, is near the Chicago metropolitan area and offers 25 trails, four terrain parks, a ski and snowboard school, a ski racing program and a tubing hill. We have made significant upgrades at both Afton Alps and Mt. Brighton to enhance the ski and base area experience for skiers and riders in each market and plan to complete similar investments at Wilmot for the upcoming 2016/2017 ski season.

Australia

• Perisher Ski Resort (“Perisher”) - acquired in June 2015, is located in New South Wales, Australia and is the largest and most visited ski resort in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Perisher provides accessibility, significant lodging and the market’s most skiable acreage for the country’s largest cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane. Perisher offers over 3,000 skiable acres on seven peaks and includes the resort areas known as Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Blue Cow and Guthega, along with ski school, lodging, food and beverage, retail/rental and transportation operations.

Our resorts in Colorado, Utah and Lake Tahoe are year-round mountain resorts that provide a comprehensive resort experience to a diverse clientele with an attractive demographic profile. Our resorts offer a broad complement of winter and summer recreational activities, including skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowtubing, sightseeing, mountain biking, guided hiking, zip lines, challenge ropes courses, alpine slides and mountain coasters, children’s activities and other recreational activities.

Our Mountain segment derives revenue through the sale of lift tickets, including season passes, as well as a comprehensive offering of amenities available to guests, including ski and snowboard lessons, equipment rentals and retail merchandise sales, a variety of dining venues, private club operations and other winter and summer recreational activities. In addition to providing extensive guest amenities, we also lease some of our owned and leased commercial space to third party operators to add unique restaurants and retail stores to the mix of amenities at the base of our resorts.

Ski Industry/Market

There are approximately 760 ski areas in North America and approximately 460 in the U.S., ranging from small ski area operations that service day skiers to large resorts that attract both day skiers and destination resort guests looking for a comprehensive vacation experience. One of the primary ski industry statistics for measuring performance is “skier visit,” which represents a person utilizing a ticket or pass to access a mountain resort for any part of one day during a winter ski season, and includes both paid and complimentary access. During the 2015/2016 U.S. ski season, combined skier visits for all ski areas in the U.S. were approximately 52.8 million and all North American skier visits were approximately 68.6 million. Our U.S. mountain resorts and urban ski areas had approximately 9.3 million skier visits during the 2015/2016 ski season, or approximately 17.6% of U.S. skier visits, and approximately 13.6% of North American skier visits. Our largest presence is in the Rocky Mountain region, which includes our Colorado and Utah mountain resorts, and the Lake Tahoe region.

Our Rocky Mountain region mountain resorts appeal to both day skiers and destination guests due to our Colorado resorts’ proximity to Colorado’s Front Range (Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder) metropolitan areas and Park City’s proximity to the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The Colorado Front Range has a population of approximately 4.8 million and is within approximately 100

miles from each of our Colorado resorts, with access via a major highway. Additionally, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area has a population of over 1.2 million and is approximately 30 miles from Park City. These resorts are also accessible from several airports, including Denver International Airport and Eagle County Airport in Colorado and the Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah and have a wide range of amenities available at each resort, as well as within the proximate base areas, villages and towns. The Rocky Mountain region has 93 ski areas. All ski areas within the Rocky Mountain region combined recorded approximately 22.3 million skier visits for the 2015/2016 ski season with skier visits at our Rocky Mountain region mountain resorts totaling 7.2 million, or approximately 32.3% of total Rocky Mountain region skier visits for the 2015/2016 ski season.

Lake Tahoe, which straddles the border of California and Nevada, is a major skiing destination less than 100 miles from Sacramento and Reno and approximately 200 miles from San Francisco, drawing skiers from the entirety of California and Nevada and making it a convenient destination for both day skiers and destination guests. Heavenly, located near the South Shore of Lake Tahoe; Northstar, located near the North Shore of Lake Tahoe; and Kirkwood, located about 35 miles southwest of South Lake Tahoe, are popular year-round vacation destinations, featuring outstanding winter sports offerings and extensive summer attractions. Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood are proximate to both the Reno/Tahoe International Airport and the Sacramento International Airport. California and Nevada collectively have 33 ski areas. Our Lake Tahoe resorts had 1.8 million skier visits for the 2015/2016 ski season, which was approximately 25.4% of the approximately 7.1 million total California and Nevada skier visits for the 2015/2016 ski season.

Afton Alps and Mt. Brighton are located within 50 miles of Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit, respectively. Wilmot is located in Wisconsin near the Illinois state line, approximately 65 miles north of Chicago. This close proximity to major Midwestern skier markets allows guests to visit regularly during the week, including popular night skiing, or on the weekends. Additionally, these cities offer major airports with routine direct flights to Denver, San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

Competition

There is limited opportunity for development of new ski areas due to the limited private lands on which ski areas can be built, the difficulty in obtaining the appropriate governmental approvals to build on public lands and the significant capital needed to construct the necessary infrastructure. As such, there have been virtually no new major resorts in North America for over 30 years, which has and should continue to allow the best positioned resorts to benefit from future industry growth. Our resorts compete with other major destination mountain resorts, including, among others, Aspen Snowmass, Copper Mountain, Deer Valley, Snowbird, Squaw Valley USA, Sierra at Tahoe, Steamboat, Whistler Blackcomb and Winter Park, as well as other ski areas in Colorado, California, Nevada, Utah, the Pacific Northwest and Southwest, and other destination ski areas in North America and worldwide as well as non-ski related vacation options and destinations.

While the ski industry has performed well in recent years in terms of number of skier visits, with the five best seasons occurring in the past ten years for U.S. visitation, a particular ski area’s growth is also largely dependent on either attracting skiers away from other resorts, generating more revenue per skier visit or generating more visits from each skier. The better capitalized mountain resorts operators, including Vail Resorts, are expanding their offerings, as well as enhancing the quality and experience by adding new high speed chairlifts, gondolas, terrain parks, state of the art grooming machines, expanded terrain, on-mountain dining venues, as well as amenities at the base areas of the resorts, including dining, retail and lodging, all of which are aimed at increasing guest visitation and revenue per skier visit.

Our premier resorts and business model differentiate our Company from the rest of the ski industry. We have iconic, branded mountain resorts in three important ski destinations in Colorado, Utah and Lake Tahoe. Through our sales of season passes, we provide our guests with a strong value proposition in return for guests committing to ski at our resorts prior to, or very early into the ski season, which we believe attracts more guests to our resorts. We believe we invest in more capital improvements than our competitors and we create synergies by operating multiple resorts, which enhances our profitability. Additionally, our mountain resorts located in the U.S., with the exception of Kirkwood, typically rank in the most visited ski resorts in the U.S., and most of our mountain resorts consistently rank in the top ranked ski resorts in North America according to industry surveys, which we attribute to our mountain resorts’ ability to provide a high-quality experience.

Summer tourism in Colorado, Utah and Lake Tahoe exceeds winter tourism, which provides for a strong summer business opportunity. Our mountain resorts offer non-ski related attractions such as sightseeing, mountain biking, guided hiking, 4x4 Jeep tours, zip line tours, challenge ropes courses, alpine slides and coasters, children’s activities and other recreational activities. In the fall of 2011, the Ski Area Recreational Opportunities Enhancement Act was enacted into law which allows our mountain resorts on USDA Forest Service (“Forest Service”) land to offer more summer-season recreational opportunities. The first year of Epic Discovery, our comprehensive summer activities program, launched at both Vail Mountain and Heavenly in June 2016 and included a number of new activities, including zip lines, challenge ropes courses, tubing, mountain excursions, canopy tours and Forest Flyers (i.e. alpine coasters). A similar launch of Epic Discovery is planned for Breckenridge in the summer of calendar year 2017.

Additionally, our summer business at Park City is robust and offers guests a number of activities including biking, zip lines, an alpine coaster and an alpine slide. These new activities are already popular with summer travelers and will introduce a new guest demographic to our mountain resorts.

The ski industry statistics stated in this section have been derived from data published by Colorado Ski Country USA, Canadian Ski Council, Kottke National End of Season Survey 2015/2016 (the “Kottke Survey”) and other industry publications.

Our Competitive Strengths

All of our mountain resorts maintain the distinction of competing effectively as both market leaders and quality leaders. The following factors contribute directly to each resort’s success:

Exceptional mountain experience

• World-Class Mountain Resorts and Integrated Base Resort Areas

Our mountain resorts offer a multitude of skiing and snowboarding experiences for the beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert levels. Each mountain resort is fully integrated into expansive resort base areas offering a broad array of lodging, dining, retail, nightlife and other amenities, some of which we own or manage, to our guests.

• Snow Conditions

Our mountain resorts are located in areas that generally receive significantly higher than average snowfall compared to most other U.S. ski resort locations. Our resorts in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Utah and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Lake Tahoe receive average yearly snowfall between 20 and 39 feet. Average yearly snowfall in Australia is significantly lower than in the U.S., although Perisher generally receives higher average yearly snowfall compared to other Australian alpine ski resorts due to its location in the Australian Alps and the elevation of its terrain. Even in these abundant snowfall areas, we have significant snowmaking systems that can help provide a more consistent experience, especially in the early season. Additionally, we provide several hundred acres of groomed terrain at each of our mountain resorts with extensive fleets of snow grooming equipment.

• Lift Service

We systematically upgrade our lifts and put in new lifts to increase uphill capacity and streamline skier traffic to maximize the guest experience. In the past several years, we have installed several high-speed chairlifts and gondolas across our mountain resorts, including an eight-passenger gondola connecting Park City and Canyons, a new high-speed, state-of-the-art combination gondola and chairlift replacing the Centennial Express Lift at Beaver Creek; a new high-speed, six-passenger chairlift replacing the Colorado SuperChair at Breckenridge, which is the primary chairlift serving the critical Peak 8 base area; a new high-speed, six-passenger chairlift and a new four-passenger chairlift to access the Peak 6 area in Breckenridge; a state-of-the-art ten passenger gondola (Gondola 1) at Vail, replacing a four-passenger high-speed chairlift; a new high-speed, six-passenger chairlift servicing mid-Vail, replacing a four-passenger chairlift; and, a four-passenger high-speed chairlift servicing Vail Mountain's back bowls. For the 2016/2017 ski season, we are making substantial replacements and improvements to the lifts at Wilmot as a part of the approximate $13 million investment to enhance the ski and base area. Additionally, we are upgrading the Sun Up chairlift at Vail Mountain (Chair 17) from a fixed-grip triple to a high-speed four-passenger chairlift.

• Terrain Parks

Our mountain resorts and urban ski areas are committed to leading the industry in terrain park design, education and events for the growing segment of freestyle skiers and snowboarders. Each of our mountain resorts has multiple terrain parks that include progressively-challenging features. These park structures, coupled with freestyle ski school programs, promote systematic learning from basic to professional skills.

Extraordinary service and amenities

• Commitment to the Guest Experience

Our focus is to provide quality service at every level of the guest experience. Prior to arrival at our mountain resorts, guests can receive personal assistance through our full-service, in-house travel center and through our comprehensive websites to book desired lodging accommodations, lift tickets, ski school lessons, equipment rentals and travel arrangements. Upon arrival, our resort staff serve as ambassadors to engage guests, answer questions and create a customer focused environment. In addition, we offer guests what we believe is the industry leading EpicMix application. EpicMix is an online and mobile application that, through radio frequency technology, captures a guest’s activity on the mountain (e.g. number of ski days, vertical feet skied and chairlift activity) and allows a guest to share his or her experience and accomplishments with family and friends on social networks. Since the initial launch of our EpicMix technology, we have expanded EpicMix to include additional offerings such as EpicMix Time, which allows guests to access real time lift line wait times; EpicMix Academy, which allows our ski school instructors to certify the attainment of certain skills and ski levels; EpicMix Photo, which provides professional photos and allows guests to share photos on social networks; and EpicMix Guide, which uses guest input to provide a customized, step-by-step navigational guide to experience our mountains in Colorado, Utah and Tahoe.

We also solicit guest feedback through a variety of surveys and results, which are used to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction, understand trends and develop future resort programs and amenities.

• Season Pass Products

We offer a variety of season pass products for all of our mountain resorts and urban ski areas that are marketed towards both out-of-state and international (“Destination”) guests and in-state and local (“Local”) guests. Our season pass products are available for purchase predominately during the period prior to the start of the ski season, offering our guests a better value in exchange for their commitment to ski at our resorts before the season begins. As such, our season pass program drives strong customer loyalty, mitigates exposure to more weather sensitive guests leading to greater revenue stability and allows us to capture valuable guest data. Additionally, our season pass customers typically ski more days each season than those guests who do not buy season passes, which leads to additional ancillary spending. Season pass products generated approximately 40% of our total lift revenue for Fiscal 2016. In addition, our season pass products attract new guests to our mountain resorts and urban ski areas. Sales of season pass products are a key component of our overall Mountain segment revenue and helps create strong synergies among our mountain resorts and urban ski areas. Our season pass products range from providing access to one or a combination of our mountain resorts and urban ski areas to our Epic Pass which provides unrestricted access to all our mountain resorts and urban ski areas. All of our various season pass options can be found on our consumer website www.snow.com.

As part of our continued strategy to drive season pass sales and create a stronger connection between key skier markets and our iconic destination mountain resorts, we expanded our portfolio of properties to include our urban ski areas as well as our Australian resort. Australia is an important international market for ski resorts across the Northern Hemisphere, generating an estimated more than 1.0 million skier visits annually to resorts in North America, Japan and Europe. As a result, in June 2015, we acquired Perisher in New South Wales, Australia. In addition, in December 2012, we acquired Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan, which serve major snow sports markets in the Midwest with more than 468,000 active skiers and snowboarders in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit metropolitan areas. Additionally, in January 2016, we acquired Wilmot in Wisconsin, which serves the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas and has more than 800,000 active skiers and snowboarders. We believe our strategy increases the value of our season pass products and dramatically enhances the connection between our destination mountain resorts and these key skier markets.

• Premier Ski Schools

Our mountain resorts are home to some of the highest quality and most widely recognized ski and snowboard schools in the industry. Through a combination of outstanding training and abundant work opportunities, our ski schools have become home to many of the most experienced and credentialed professionals in the business. We complement our instructor staff with state-of-the-art facilities and extensive learning terrain, all with a keen attention to guest needs. We offer a wide variety of adult and child group and private lesson options with a goal of creating lifelong skiers and riders and showcasing to our guests all the terrain our resorts have to offer.

• Dining

Our resorts provide a variety of quality on-mountain and base village dining venues, ranging from top-rated fine dining restaurants to trailside express food service outlets. We operate approximately 150 dining venues at our mountain resorts and urban ski areas.

• Retail/Rental

We have approximately 200 retail/rental locations specializing in sporting goods including ski, snowboard, golf and cycling equipment. In addition to providing a major retail/rental presence at each of our mountain resorts, we also have retail/rental locations throughout the Colorado Front Range and at other Colorado and California ski resorts, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis. Many of the locations in the Colorado Front Range and in the San Francisco Bay Area also offer prime venues for selling our season pass products.

• On-Mountain Activities and Epic Discovery

We are a ski industry leader in providing comprehensive destination vacation experiences, including on-mountain activities designed to appeal to a broad range of interests. In addition to our exceptional ski experiences, guests can choose from a variety of non-ski related activities such as snowtubing, snowshoeing, guided snowmobile and scenic cat tours, backcountry expeditions, horse-drawn sleigh rides and high altitude dining. During the summer, on-mountain recreational activities provide guests with a wide array of options including scenic chairlift and gondola rides; mountain biking; horseback riding; hiking; 4x4 Jeep tours; and our Epic Discovery program at Vail Mountain and Heavenly. The Epic Discovery program, which was introduced at Vail and Heavenly in Fiscal 2016, encourages “learn through play” by featuring extensive environmental educational elements interspersed between numerous new fun activities, which consists of zip lines, children’s activities, challenge ropes courses, tubing, mountain excursions, an alpine slide and an alpine coaster.

• Lodging and Real Estate

Quality lodging options are an integral part of providing a complete resort experience. Our owned or managed hotels and resorts proximate to our mountain resorts, including five RockResorts branded properties and a significant inventory of managed condominium units, provide numerous accommodation options for our mountain resort guests. More recently, our real estate efforts have focused on the potential to expand our destination bed base and upgrade our resorts through the sale of land parcels to third-party developers which in turn provides opportunity for the development of condominiums, luxury hotels, parking and commercial space for restaurants and retail shops. Our Lodging and Real Estate segments have and continue to invest in resort related assets and amenities or seek opportunities to expand and enhance the overall resort experience.

Our Lodging segment includes the following operations:

• RockResorts -- a luxury hotel management company with a current portfolio of five properties in Colorado, including four Company-owned hotels and one managed resort property;

• Five additional Company-owned hotels, management of the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa (“Vail Marriott”), Mountain Thunder Lodge, Crystal Peak Lodge, Austria Haus Hotel, Grand Summit Hotel, Silverado Lodge, Sundial Lodge, DoubleTree by Hilton Park City - The Yarrow, and condominium management operations, which are in and around our mountain resorts in the Colorado, Lake Tahoe and Utah regions;

• Two NPS concessionaire properties - GTLC, a summer destination resort with three resort properties in Grand Teton National Park, and Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch (“Flagg Ranch”) located between Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming;

• CME -- a resort ground transportation company in Colorado; and

• Five Company-owned mountain resort golf courses in Colorado, one owned in Wyoming and one operated in Lake Tahoe, California.

The Lodging segment currently includes approximately 4,500 owned and managed hotel rooms and condominium units. Our resort hotels collectively offer a wide range of services to guests.

Our portfolio of owned or managed luxury resort hotels and other hotels and properties currently includes:

Name Location Own/Manage Rooms/Units* RockResorts: The Lodge at Vail Vail, CO Own 166** The Arrabelle at Vail Square Vail, CO Own 92** The Pines Lodge Beaver Creek, CO Own 72** The Osprey at Beaver Creek Beaver Creek, CO Own 48** One Ski Hill Place Breckenridge, CO Manage 59*** Other Hotels and Properties: DoubleTree by Hilton Breckenridge Breckenridge, CO Own 208 The Keystone Lodge Keystone, CO Own 152 Inn at Keystone Keystone, CO Own 103 Village Hotel Breckenridge, CO Own 60 Ski Tip Lodge Keystone, CO Own 10 Jackson Lake Lodge Grand Teton Nat’l Pk.,WY Concessionaire Contract 385 Colter Bay Village Grand Teton Nat’l Pk.,WY Concessionaire Contract 166 Jenny Lake Lodge Grand Teton Nat’l Pk.,WY Concessionaire Contract 37 Headwaters Lodge & Cabins at Flagg Ranch Moran, WY Concessionaire Contract 92 Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa Vail, CO Manage 347 Mountain Thunder Lodge Breckenridge, CO Manage 80 Crystal Peak Lodge Breckenridge, CO Manage 27 Austria Haus Hotel Vail, CO Manage 25 Grand Summit Hotel Park City, UT Manage 282 Silverado Lodge Park City, UT Manage 139 Sundial Lodge Park City, UT Manage 114 DoubleTree by Hilton Park City - The Yarrow Park City, UT Manage 182 *Rooms/Units excludes approximately 1,700 managed condominium units. **Includes individual owner units that are in a rental program managed by us. ***Includes owned and managed whole ownership units that are in a rental program managed by us.

Our lodging strategy seeks to complement and enhance our mountain resort operations through our ownership or management of lodging properties and condominiums proximate to our mountain resorts and selective management of luxury resorts in premier destination locations.

In addition to our portfolio of owned or managed luxury resort hotels and other hotels and properties, our lodging business also features a Colorado ground transportation company, CME, which represents the first point of contact with many of our guests when they arrive by air to Colorado. CME offers year-round ground transportation from Denver International Airport and Eagle County Airport to the Vail Valley (locations in and around Vail, Beaver Creek, Avon and Edwards), Aspen (locations in and around Aspen and Snowmass) and Summit County (which includes Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Frisco and Silverthorne). CME offers four primary types of services: door-to-door shuttle business; point-to-point shuttle business with centralized drop-off at transportation hubs; private chartered vans; and premier luxury charter vehicles. CME’s vehicle fleet consists of approximately 250 vans and luxury SUVs.

Lodging Industry/Market

Hotels are categorized by Smith Travel Research, a leading lodging industry research firm, as luxury, upper upscale, upscale, mid-price and economy. The service quality and level of accommodations of our RockResorts’ hotels place them in the luxury segment, which represents hotels achieving the highest average daily rates (“ADR”) in the industry, and includes such brands as the Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and Starwood’s Luxury Collection hotels. Our other hotels are categorized in the upper upscale and upscale segments of the hotel market. The luxury and upper upscale segments consist of approximately 700,000 rooms at approximately 2,000 properties in the U.S. as of July 2016. For Fiscal 2016, our owned hotels, which include a combination of certain RockResort hotels, as well as other hotels in proximity to our mountain resorts, had an overall ADR of $227.27, a paid occupancy rate of 67.4% and revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) of $153.13, as compared to the upper upscale segment’s ADR of $177.88, a paid occupancy rate of 74.2% and RevPAR of $131.96. We believe that this comparison to the upper upscale segment is appropriate as our mix of owned hotels include those in the luxury and upper upscale segments, as well as certain of our hotels that fall in the upscale segment. The highly seasonal nature of our lodging properties generally results in lower average occupancy as compared to the upper upscale segment of the lodging industry as a whole.

Competition

Competition in the hotel industry is generally based on quality and consistency of rooms, restaurants, meeting facilities and services, attractiveness of locations, availability of a global distribution system and price. Our properties compete within their geographic markets with hotels and resorts that include locally-owned independent hotels, as well as facilities owned or managed by national and international chains, including such brands as Four Seasons, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Starwood’s Luxury Collection and Westin. Our properties also compete for convention and conference business across the national market. We believe we are highly competitive in the resort hotel niche for the following reasons:

• All of our hotels are located in unique highly desirable resort destinations;

• Our hotel portfolio has achieved some of the most prestigious hotel designations in the world, including two properties in our portfolio that are currently rated as AAA 4-Diamond;

• Many of our hotels (both owned and managed) are designed to provide a look that feels indigenous to their surroundings, enhancing the guest’s vacation experience;

• Each of our RockResorts hotels provides the same high level of quality and services, while still providing unique characteristics which distinguish the resorts from one another. This appeals to travelers looking for consistency in quality and service offerings together with an experience more unique than typically offered by larger luxury hotel chains, which has resulted in all five of our RockResort properties being recognized with the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in recent years;

• Many of the hotels in our portfolio provide a wide array of amenities available to the guest such as access to world-class ski and golf resorts, spa and fitness facilities, water sports and a number of other outdoor activities, as well as highly acclaimed dining options;

• Conference space with the latest technology is available at most of our hotels. In addition, guests at Keystone can use our company-owned Keystone Conference Center, the largest conference facility in the Colorado Rocky Mountain region with more than 100,000 square feet of meeting, exhibit and function space;

• We have a central reservations system that leverages off of our mountain resort reservations system and has an online planning and booking platform, offering our guests a seamless and useful way to make reservations at our resorts; and

• We actively upgrade the quality of the accommodations and amenities available at our hotels through capital improvements. Capital funding for third-party owned properties is provided by the owners of those properties to maintain standards required by our management contracts. Projects at our owned properties completed over the past several years include extensive refurbishments and upgrades to the DoubleTree by Hilton Breckenridge, renovations of guest rooms and the front lobby at The Lodge at Vail, pool and restaurant (Elway’s) upgrades to The Lodge at Vail, guest room renovations at the Keystone Lodge, a restaurant renovation at The Arrabelle at Vail Square and guest room upgrades at The Pines Lodge.

National Park Concessionaire Properties

We own GTLC, which is based in the Jackson Hole area in Wyoming and operates within Grand Teton National Park under a 15-year concessionaire agreement with the NPS that expires December 31, 2021. We also own Flagg Ranch, located in Moran, Wyoming and is centrally located between Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway (the “Parkway”). Flagg Ranch operates under a 15-year concessionaire agreement with the NPS that expires October 31, 2026. GTLC also owns Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club (“JHG&TC”), located outside Grand Teton National Park near Jackson, Wyoming. GTLC’s operations within Grand Teton National Park and JHG&TC have operating seasons that generally run from June through the end of September.

There are 410 areas within the National Park System covering approximately 84 million acres across the U.S. and its territories. Of the 410 areas, 59 are classified as National Parks. While there are more than 500 NPS concessionaires, ranging from small, privately-held businesses to large corporate conglomerates, we primarily compete with such companies as Aramark Parks & Resorts, Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, Forever Resorts and Xanterra Parks & Resorts in retaining and obtaining NPS concessionaire agreements. The NPS uses “recreation visits” to measure visitation within the National Park System. In calendar year 2015, areas designated as National Parks received approximately 75.3 million recreation visits. Grand Teton National Park, which spans approximately 310,000 acres, had approximately 3.1 million recreation visits during calendar year 2015, or approximately 4.1% of total National Park recreation visits. Four full service concessionaires provide accommodations within Grand Teton National Park, including GTLC. GTLC offers three lodging options within Grand Teton National Park: Jackson Lake Lodge, a full-service, 385-room resort with 17,000 square feet of conference facilities which can accommodate up to 600 people; Jenny Lake Lodge, a small, rustically elegant retreat with 37 cabins; and Colter Bay Village, a facility with 166 log cabins, 66 tent cabins, 337 campsites and a 112-space RV park. GTLC offers dining options as extensive as its lodging options, with cafeterias, casual eateries and fine dining establishments. GTLC’s resorts provide a wide range of activities for guests to enjoy, including cruises on Jackson Lake, boat rentals, horseback riding, guided fishing, float trips, golf and guided Grand Teton National Park tours. As a result of the extensive amenities offered, as well as the tremendous popularity of the National Park System, GTLC’s accommodations within Grand Teton National Park operate near full capacity during their operating season.

Flagg Ranch features a range of lodging options from 92 standard, deluxe and premium cabins and 40 camper cabins, to a 97-space RV park and 34 campsites. Flagg Ranch also offers additional amenities including dining, retail and activities for our guests to enjoy, including horseback riding, guided fishing, float trips and guided Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park tours. In addition to these summer offerings, Flagg Ranch provides limited winter operations to support Yellowstone National Park snowmobile tours.

We have extensive holdings of real property at our mountain resorts primarily throughout Summit and Eagle Counties in Colorado. Our real estate operations, through Vail Resorts Development Company (“VRDC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary, include planning, oversight, infrastructure improvement, development, marketing and sale of our real property holdings. In addition to the cash flow generated from real estate development sales, these development activities benefit our Mountain and Lodging segments by (1) creating additional resort lodging and other resort related facilities and venues (primarily restaurants, spas, commercial space, private mountain clubs, skier services facilities and parking structures) that provide us with the opportunity to create new sources of recurring revenue, enhance the guest experience and expand our destination bed base; (2) controlling the architectural themes of our resorts; and (3) expanding our property management and commercial leasing operations.

The principal activities of our Real Estate segment include the marketing and selling of remaining condominium units available for sale, which primarily relate to The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Vail, and One Ski Hill Place in Breckenridge; the sale of land parcels to third-party developers; planning for future real estate development projects, including zoning and acquisition of applicable permits; and the occasional purchase of selected strategic land parcels for future development. We continue undertaking preliminary planning and design work on future projects and are pursuing opportunities with third-party developers rather than undertaking our own significant vertical development projects. We believe that, due to our low carrying cost of real estate land investments, we are well situated to promote future projects with third-party developers while limiting our financial risk.

Our Mountain segment’s marketing and sales efforts are increasingly oriented around data analytics to drive targeted and personalized marketing to our existing and prospective guests. We capture guest data on the vast majority of guest transactions through our season pass program, e-commerce platforms including mobile lift ticket sales, the EpicMix application and operational processes at our lift ticket windows. We promote our resorts through customer relationship marketing to targeted audiences via email and direct mail, promotional programs, digital marketing (including social, search and display) and traditional media advertising where appropriate (e.g. targeted print, TV, radio). Additionally, our resorts and the snowsports industry are frequently featured through our OnTheSnow.com and Skiinfo.com websites, which are two of the world’s most visited online snowsports portals. We also have marketing programs directed at attracting groups, corporate meetings and convention business. Most marketing efforts drive traffic to our websites, where we provide our guests with information regarding each of our resorts, including services and amenities, reservations information, virtual tours and the opportunity to book/purchase multiple products for their vacations or other visits. We also enter into strategic alliances with companies to enhance the guest in-resort experience and to create opportunities for cross-marketing.

For our Lodging segment, we promote our hotels and lodging properties through marketing and sales programs, which include marketing directly to many of our guests through our digital channels (search, social and display), promotional programs and print media advertising. We also promote comprehensive vacation experiences through various package offerings and promotions (combining lodging, lift tickets, ski school lessons, ski rental equipment, transportation and dining), all of which are designed to drive traffic to our websites and central reservations call center. Where appropriate, we market our resort properties in conjunction with our mountain resort marketing efforts. Additionally, our individual hotels have active sales forces to generate conference and group business.

Ski resort operations are highly seasonal in nature, with a typical ski season in North America beginning in mid-November and running through mid-April. In an effort to partially mitigate the concentration of our revenue in the winter months in the U.S., we offer several non-ski related activities in the summer months such as sightseeing, mountain biking, guided hiking, 4x4 Jeep tours, golf (included in the operations of the Lodging segment) and our Epic Discovery program. These activities also help attract destination conference and group business to our resorts in our off-season. In addition, the operating results of Perisher, with its ski season from June through early October, partially counterbalance the concentration of our revenues during this seasonally low period.

Our lodging business is also highly seasonal in nature, with peak seasons primarily in the winter months (with the exception of GTLC, Flagg Ranch, certain managed properties and mountain resort golf operations). We actively promote our extensive conference facilities and have added more off-season activities to help offset the seasonality of our lodging business. Additionally, we operate eight golf courses: The Canyons Golf Course at Park City, The Beaver Creek Golf Club, The Keystone Ranch Golf Course, The River Course at Keystone, JHG&TC near Jackson, Wyoming, The Northstar Resort Golf Course and the Tom Fazio and Greg Norman courses at Red Sky Ranch near the Beaver Creek Resort.

Environmental and community stewardship is a core philosophy for us. Our resorts operate in some of the world’s greatest natural environments, and we believe it is our responsibility to care for and conserve these environments. Our environmental stewardship efforts are diverse and touch nearly every area of our operations. Through our sustainability program, EpicPromise, we focus on reducing our impact through resource conservation, protecting forest health and watersheds, and building stronger local communities through contributions to local non-profits. One of the most encompassing programs is our commitment to energy reduction. After reaching an initial goal to reduce our energy consumption by 10% in 2012, we have set a new goal of another 10% reduction by 2020, and we are on track to achieve this goal. We also have an extensive on-mountain recycling program that diverted approximately 45% of our total waste in recent years. In addition, we have partnered with several organizations to help raise resources for local environment programs, including the National Forest Foundation, the Tahoe Fund and Mountain Trails Foundation in Park City. We encourage our employees to help protect the environment and build strong communities with over 20,000 volunteer hours donated annually. Our charitable giving focuses on supporting education and youth programs that encourage environmental stewardship and enhance the quality of life in the communities in which we operate.

Finally, our EpicPromise Foundation (the “Foundation”), which was established in 2015, is a private charitable foundation funded by the Company’s annual contribution of $500,000 and additional contributions from employees. The Foundation supports all

Vail Resorts’ employees and their families via grants for emergency relief and scholarships. For more information, visit www.EpicPromise.com.

At fiscal year end, we employed approximately 5,200 year-round employees. During the height of our operating seasons, we employ approximately 21,800 additional seasonal employees. In addition, we employ approximately 300 year-round employees and 100 seasonal employees on behalf of the owners of our managed hotel properties. We consider our employee relations to be good.

The development of intellectual property is part of our overall business strategy, and we regard our intellectual property as an important element of our success. Accordingly, we protect our intellectual property rights and seek to protect against its unauthorized use through international, national and state laws and common law rights. We file applications for and obtain trademark registrations and have filed for patents to protect inventions and will continue to do so where appropriate. We also seek to maintain our trade secrets and confidential information by nondisclosure policies and through the use of appropriate confidentiality agreements and contractual provisions.

In the highly competitive industry in which we operate, trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos are very important in the sales and marketing of our mountain resorts and urban ski areas, lodging properties and services. We seek to register and protect our trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos and have obtained a significant number of registrations for those trademarks, which we believe have become synonymous in the travel and leisure industry with a reputation for excellence in service and authentic hospitality. Among other national and international trademark registrations, the Company owns U.S. federal registrations for Epic®, Epic Pass®, Vail Resorts®, Vail®, Beaver Creek®, Breckenridge®, and Heavenly®. The Company licenses the right to use the federally registered trademark Northstar California® from CLP Northstar LLC.

Federal Regulation

The operations of Breckenridge, Vail Mountain, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Heavenly and Kirkwood are conducted primarily on land under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service (collectively, the “Forest Service Resorts”). The 1986 Ski Area Permit Act (the “1986 Act”) allows the Forest Service to grant Term Special Use Permits (each, a “SUP”) for the operation of ski areas and construction of related facilities on National Forest lands. In November 2011, the 1986 Act was amended by the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act (the “Enhancement Act”) to clarify the Forest Service’s authority to approve facilities primarily for year-round recreation. Under the 1986 Act, the Forest Service has the authority to review and approve the location, design and construction of improvements in the permit area and many operational matters.

Each individual national forest is required by the National Forest Management Act to develop and maintain a Land and Resource Management Plan (a “Forest Plan”), which establishes standards and guidelines for the Forest Service to follow and consider in reviewing and approving our proposed actions.

Special Use Permits

Each of the Forest Service Resorts operates under a SUP, and the acreage and expiration date information for each SUP is as follows:

Forest Service Resort Acres Expiration Date Breckenridge 5,702 December 31, 2029 Vail Mountain 12,353 December 1, 2031 Keystone 8,376 December 31, 2032 Beaver Creek 3,849 November 8, 2039 Heavenly 7,050 May 1, 2042 Kirkwood 2,330 March 1, 2052

We anticipate requesting a new SUP for each resort prior to its expiration date as provided by Forest Service regulations and the terms of each existing SUP. We are not aware of the Forest Service refusing to issue a new SUP to replace an expiring SUP for a ski resort in operation at the time of expiration. The Forest Service can also terminate a SUP if it determines that termination is required in the public interest. However, to our knowledge, no SUP has ever been terminated by the Forest Service over the opposition of the permit holder.

Each SUP contains a number of requirements, including indemnifying the Forest Service from third-party claims arising out of our operation under the SUP and compliance with applicable laws, such as those relating to water quality and endangered or threatened species. For use of the land authorized by the SUPs, we pay a fee to the Forest Service ranging from 1.5% to 4.0% of adjusted gross revenue for activities authorized by the SUPs. Included in the calculation are sales from, among other things, lift tickets, season passes, ski school lessons, food and beverage, certain summer activities, equipment rentals and retail merchandise.

The SUPs may be revised or amended to accommodate changes initiated by us or by the Forest Service to change the permit area or permitted uses. The Forest Service may amend a SUP if it determines that such amendment is in the public interest. While the Forest Service is required to seek the permit holder’s consent to any amendment, an amendment can be finalized over a permit holder’s objection. Permit amendments must be consistent with the Forest Plan and are subject to the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), both of which are discussed below.

Master Development Plans

The 1986 Act requires a Master Development Plan (“MDP”) for each ski area that is granted a SUP, and all improvements that we propose to make on National Forest System lands under any of our SUPs must be included in a MDP. MDPs describe the existing and proposed facilities, developments and area of activity within the permit area. We prepare MDPs, which set forth a conceptual overview of all potential projects at each resort. The MDPs are reviewed by the Forest Service for compliance with the Forest Plan and other applicable laws and, if found to be compliant, are accepted by the Forest Service. Notwithstanding acceptance by the Forest Service of the conceptual MDPs, individual projects still require separate applications and compliance with NEPA and other applicable laws before the Forest Service will approve such projects. We update or amend our MDPs for our Forest Service Resorts from time to time. For example, in February 2016, the Forest Service approved construction of a new restaurant to be located on National Forest System lands at Peak 7 in Breckenridge by a Supplemental Information Report. Construction of the new project commenced in June 2016 and construction is expected to be completed in December 2016, with operation of the restaurant anticipated during the 2016/2017 U.S. ski season.

Forest Plans

Operational and development activities on National Forest System lands at our four Colorado mountain resorts are subject to the additional regulatory and planning requirements set forth in the April 2002 Record of Decision (the “2002 ROD”) for the White River National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan (the “White River Forest Plan”). At Heavenly, operational and development activities on National Forest System lands are subject to the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (“LTBMU”) Land and Resources Management Plan, which was adopted in 1988. We have been working with the LTBMU for the past several years as it revises the 1988 Plan. That process was concluded this year and a new plan became effective in August of 2016. At Kirkwood, operational and development activities on National Forest System lands are subject to the Eldorado National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan, which was adopted in 1989. When approving our application for development, area expansion or other activities on National Forest System lands, the Forest Service must adhere to the applicable Forest Plan. Any such decision may be subject to judicial review in federal court if a party, with standing, challenges a Forest Service decision that applies the requirements of a Forest Plan at one of our six mountain resorts located on Forest Service lands.

The operations of Park City, Northstar, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Wilmot are conducted primarily on private land and are not under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service (collectively, the “Private Land Resorts”). While Beaver Creek also operates on Forest Service land, a significant portion of the skiable terrain, primarily in the lower main mountain, Western Hillside, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead Mountain areas, is located on land that we own.

Although not governed by federal regulation, the Private Land Resorts may be governed by local laws and regulations. For example, specific projects and master development plans at Northstar require approval by Placer County, California, and site specific projects at Wilmot Mountain are approved by local townships and Kenosha County, Wisconsin pursuant to a conditional use permit and other operational licenses. Additionally, a portion of Park City is part of the Canyons Specially Planned Area (“SPA”) pursuant to a Summit County, Utah ordinance adopted in 1998, and a Development Agreement and Master Development Plan with affected property owners, developers and the county, the most recent versions of which were adopted in 1999. Other land use within the SPA is within the jurisdiction of Summit County. Land use at Park City is within the jurisdiction of Summit County and Park City Municipal Corporation. The portions of the resort located within Park City Municipal Corporation are subject to a Development Agreement with the municipality, the most recent version of which was entered into in 1998.

Perisher is located in the Kosciuszko National Park, the largest national park in New South Wales, Australia. The resort includes four villages (Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega and Blue Cow) and their associated ski fields, as well as the site of the Skitube Alpine Railway at Bullock’s Flat, which is accredited in accordance with the Rail Safety National Law (NSW) No.82a. The Office of Environment and Heritage (“OEH”), an agency of the New South Wales government, which is part of the Department of Planning and Environment, is responsible for the protection and conservation of the Kosciuszko National Park. The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW) (“NPW Act”) establishes the National Parks and Wildlife Service and is responsible for the control and management of the Kosciusko National Park.

The NPW Act requires the Kosciuszko National Park to be managed in accordance with the principles specified in that legislation, including the provision for sustainable visitor or tourist use and enjoyment that is compatible with the conservation of the national park’s natural and cultural values. The legislation also authorizes the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Heritage (the “Minister”) to grant leases and licenses of land within the Kosciuszko National Park for various purposes, including for purposes related to sustainable visitor or tourist use and enjoyment. Under this power, the Minister has granted to Perisher a lease and a license of specified land within the Kosciusko National Park until June 30, 2048, each with an option to renew for an additional period of 20 years. The Minister has also granted Perisher a lease of the parking lot at Perisher Valley that expires on December 31, 2025. Subject to certain conditions being met, the lease for the Perisher Valley parking lot can be extended until June 30, 2048, with an option to renew for a further 20 years. The lease and license provide for the payment of a minimum annual base rent with periodic increases in base rent over the term, turnover rent payments based on 2.0% of certain gross revenue, remittance of park user fees and certain other charges, also subject to periodic increases over the term.

GTLC operates three lodging properties, food and beverage services, retail, camping and other services within the Grand Teton National Park under a concessionaire agreement with the NPS. Our concessionaire agreement with the NPS for GTLC expires on December 31, 2021, and we pay a fee of 8.01% to the NPS on the majority of our sales occurring in Grand Teton National Park.

In August 2011, the NPS selected Flagg Ranch Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to provide lodging, food and beverage services, retail, service station, recreation and other services on the Parkway located between Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Our concession contract with the NPS for the Parkway expires on October 31, 2026, and we pay a fee of 5.3% to the NPS on the majority of our sales occurring in the Parkway.

Upon expiration of these concession contracts, we will have to bid against other prospective concessionaires for award of a new contract. The NPS may suspend operations under the concession contract at any time if the NPS determines it is necessary to protect visitors or resources within the Grand Teton National Park or during a Federal Government shutdown. NPS may also terminate the concession contract for breach, following notice and a 15 day cure period or if it believes termination is necessary to protect visitors or resources within the Grand Teton National Park.

National Environmental Policy Act; California Environmental Quality Act

NEPA requires an assessment of the environmental impacts of “significant” proposed actions on National Forest land, such as expansion of a ski area, installation of new lifts or snowmaking facilities or construction of new trails or buildings. We must comply with NEPA when seeking Forest Service approval of such improvements, except in limited cases where projects are not expected to have environmental impacts, which can be submitted to a Categorical Exclusion. The Forest Service is responsible for preparing and compiling the required environmental studies, usually through third-party consultants. NEPA allows for different types of environmental studies, depending on, among other factors, the scope and size of the expected impact of the proposed project. An

Environmental Assessment (“EA”) is typically used for projects where the environmental impacts are expected to be limited. For projects with more significant expected impacts, an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) is more commonly required. An EIS is more detailed and broader in scope than an EA.

During the requisite environmental study, the Forest Service is required to analyze alternatives to the proposed action (including not taking the proposed action), as well as impacts that may be unavoidable. Following completion of the requisite environmental study, the Forest Service may decide not to approve the proposed action or may decide to approve an alternative. In either case, we may be forced to abandon or alter our development or expansion plans.

In January 2015, after our submission of a proposal for summer recreation activities at Breckenridge, the Forest Service released a draft EIS related to such summer activities, including zip lines, canopy tours, ropes challenge courses and new mountain biking and hiking trails. The draft EIS analyzed environmental affects and alternatives included in our proposal. In August 2015, the Forest Service released its final EIS and draft record of decision approving various new facilities and summer recreation activities at Breckenridge, and final Forest Service approval for summer activities at Breckenridge was obtained in November 2015. Construction for many of the approved summer activities occurred during the summer of 2016.

California Environmental Quality Act

Proposed actions at Kirkwood, Northstar and certain portions of Heavenly may also be subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), which is similar to NEPA in that it requires the California governmental entity approving any proposed action at Kirkwood, Northstar, or on the California portion of Heavenly to study potential environmental impacts. Projects with significant expected impacts require an Environmental Impact Report while more limited projects may be approved based on a Mitigated Negative Declaration.

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW, Australia)

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (“EPA Act”) is the principal legislation regulating land use and development in New South Wales, Australia. Perisher relies on a suite of planning approvals (and existing use rights) granted under the EPA Act to operate the resort. Various types of development that facilitate commercial ski resort operations are also permitted to be carried out without planning approval pursuant to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Kosciusko National Park - Alpine Resorts) 2007 and the Snowy River Local Environmental Plan 2013. Strategic planning documents have been adopted to provide a framework for the assessment and approval of future development at the resort, including the Perisher Range Resorts Master Plan, Perisher Blue Ski Resort Ski Slope Master Plan and Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management. Perisher holds a number of environmental approvals to regulate its operations, including an environment protection license for the sewage treatment plant at Bullock’s Flat and a suite of licenses for the storage of diesel, heating oil and propane in storage tanks across the resort. Perisher implemented an Environmental Management System to manage compliance with the environmental regulatory framework, and mitigate potential environmental risks arising from its operations.

In addition to federal and environmental regulations, each resort is subject to and must comply with state, county, regional and local government land use regulations and restrictions, including, for example, employee housing ordinances, zoning and density restrictions, noise ordinances, and wildlife, water and air quality regulations.

We rely on a supply of water for operation of our ski areas for domestic and snowmaking purposes and for real estate development. Availability of water depends on existence of adequate water rights, as well as physical delivery of the water when and where it is needed.

To provide a level of predictability in dates of operation and favorable snow surface conditions at our ski areas, we rely on snowmaking, which requires a significant volume of water, most of which is viewed as a non-consumptive use. Approximately 80% of the water is returned to the watershed at spring runoff.

In Colorado, we own or have ownership interests in water rights in reservoir companies, reservoirs, groundwater wells and other sources. The primary source of water for Keystone and Breckenridge is the Clinton Reservoir, in which we own a non-controlling interest. For Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek, the primary water source is Eagle Park Reservoir, in which we own a controlling interest.

Park City receives water for snowmaking from the Park City Municipal Corporation and Summit Water Distribution Company pursuant to various long-term agreements. Park City’s water is stored in retention ponds located at the Park City Golf Club, a retention pond located at the resort, and at facilities owned or operated by Summit Water Distribution Company.

Heavenly’s primary sources of water purchased for domestic and snowmaking uses are the South Tahoe Public Utility District and Kingsbury General Improvement District, which are California and Nevada utilities, respectively. The delivery systems of each utility are limited and may not be able to provide the immediate physical supply of water needed for optimal snowmaking. These sources are augmented by on-mountain underground wells that provide water for domestic uses at on-mountain lodges and for snowmaking. The underground water rights that are used for the East Peak Lake snowmaking well are held jointly with the Forest Service.

Northstar obtains water through a cooperative arrangement with the Northstar Community Services District (“NCSD”). Together with NCSD, we, through our lease with affiliates of CNL Lifestyles Properties, Inc., control surface water rights that we use for snowmaking. In addition, we have contractual rights to ground water from NCSD and from the adjacent Martis Camp residential development. We receive domestic water from NCSD and, for on-mountain facilities, from on-mountain wells and a series of significant near-surface springs.

Kirkwood co-owns with the Forest Service surface water rights sufficient for current and planned snowmaking at the resort. Kirkwood’s water is stored in nearby Caples Lake under contract with its owner/operator. Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Wilmot rely on on-site water wells and reservoirs for snowmaking. Perisher is subject to the Water Act of 1912 (NSW) (“NSW Water Act”), which regulates the use of water sources (such as rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers) in the Kosciuszko National Park. Perisher relies on six water licenses issued under the NSW Water Act and a water extraction agreement with an independent third party for the purposes of extracting water for snowmaking.

We file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reports, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These reports, proxy statements and other information are available free of charge on our corporate website www.vailresorts.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Materials filed with or furnished to the SEC are also made available on its website at www.sec.gov. Copies of any materials we file with the SEC can be obtained at www.sec.gov or at the SEC’s public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the public reference room is available by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.