Rob Katz resumed the CEO role earlier this year after a four-year stint as chairman of the board. His return follows a turbulent period for Vail that included a ski patrol strike, widespread operational challenges and a sharp decline in skier visits and stock performance – events that ultimately ended the brief tenure of former CEO Kirsten Lynch.
“Kirsten and I have worked together for 14 - 15, years, and I, have an incredibly high regard for her,” Katz said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour,” Wednesday [Nov. 4]. “That said, I think the board made a decision that it was time for a change, just given the environment and what was going on, and reached out to me to ask whether I'd come back to do it. And, and I felt like, yeah, this was something that I've been passionate about almost my entire working life. And so, yeah, I wanted to come back and help make a difference.”
While Katz doesn’t plan to stay as long as his previous 16-year tenure, he says there are no immediate plans to recruit a new CEO.
He pushed back on criticism that the company puts profit over people.
“In the end,” he said, “if we have a declining on-mountain experience that is not good for profits.”
Katz emphasized that improving guest satisfaction is his top priority.
“I think we need to understand that the guest experience starts from the moment people are communicating or learning about our company online,” he said. “And guest communication, just like community communication, is very important, especially when things go off track.”
Katz noted that Vail has invested heavily in chairlift infrastructure to increase capacity but acknowledged that long lines at popular resorts remain a reality.
“That is a reality, and I think not something that we all, collectively as a community, want to solve completely, because then we are building the church for Easter. So, ultimately, the question is, is it something that's reasonable given the circumstances? And I think for us, we're constantly looking at that. When you look across our company, 97% of our lift lines are under 10 minutes.”
As for future upgrades, Katz would not say when the Eagle and Silverlode lifts would be replaced or when the resort would submit development plans for the Park City base parking lots ahead of the 2034 Olympics.
“That's something that we very much want to take the next steps on,” he said. “And, I think it goes along with maybe the lifts as well, which is getting community buy in, having the right conversations to understand, right? You know, where the community wants to go with a site like that, what's important to them? We had a lot of things in that project plan, just like with the lifts, in terms of improving parking, in terms of improving transportation, you know, and transit dynamics and so all of that, I think, is important.”
Katz said he’s optimistic about the upcoming season and proud of the company’s recent investment in employee wages, which have increased by more than $175 million companywide over the past few years.
The price of an EPIC Pass goes up November 16. Season pass sales typically close in late November or early December.
