Is Vail Resorts eyeing further expansion in Europe?
Colorado-based Vail Resorts looks set to continue its advance on the Alps this season. After acquiring its first ownership stake in a Swiss resort last year, the massive mountain resort company is reportedly in talks to buy Crans-Montana in Switzerland.
According to Swiss newspaper Le Temps, Vail Resorts management has been holding meetings with Czech billionaire Radovan Vitek regarding purchase of the ski lifts and parking lots. As explained by Unofficial Networks, the main sticking point regarding the negotiations is the issue of the parking structures, which are in need of extensive repairs. So far, both Vail Resorts and Vitek have declined to comment on the potential deal.
Crans-Montana ski area is two hours east of Geneva in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais. The resort is composed of 140km (87 miles) of completely south-facing marked pistes. Crans-Montana is often on the World Cup schedule, usually for women's speed events.
Should the sale go through, it will mean that Epic Pass holders will have 42 resorts across the world to choose from this winter. Vail already has a 55 percent holding in Switzerland's Andermatt-Sedrun, which it acquired last year marking its first European property.
If the company's history is anything to go by, Crans-Montana won't be the last European acquisition for the ski giants either – their seemingly unlimited expansion has caused friction in ski communities in recent years, but for many looking to get more use out of their ski pants is cause to celebrate.
