Where to Ski And Snowboard - Vail Resorts takes over Canyons

Vail Resorts takes over Canyons

4th June 2013, by Abi Butcher

Skiing over nine mountains: Canyons is on of the five biggest areas in the US

Vail resorts, the company that owns ski resorts across the US, will be running Canyons in Park City, Utah from next season. The deal will cost upwards of $25million a year.

Canyons has 4,000 skiable acres over nine linked mountains, making it one of the five biggest ski areas in the US. It is the eleventh resort to be taken over by Vail Resorts, which currently operates Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan; and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Vail Resorts has a 50-year lease on Canyons, with the option to extend the same term six times (300 years). The company will make inflation-linked payments starting at $25million a year to Canadian company Talisker Corporation, which owns Canyons. Under the lease, Vail Resorts has assumed all resort operations of Canyons while Talisker has retained its development rights for four million square feet of real estate at the resort.

Great news for skiers and snowboarders is that the area will be included on Vail Resort’s Epic Pass for next season. The $689 (£445) pass will include Canyons as well as Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Northstar, Heavenly and Kirkwood in the US as well as five day’s skiing in the Arlberg, Austria and Verbier in Switzerland.

The Epic Pass represents an absolute bargain for Canyons regulars — where the 2012/13 season pass cost $849.