Description
Vail Resorts is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 40 mountain resorts in three countries, Vail Resorts Hospitality owns or manages hotels, lodging, condominiums and golf courses, and the Vail Resorts Development Company oversees property development and real estate holdings.
History
Vail Resorts was founded as Vail Associates Ltd. by Pete Seibert (former WWII 10th Mountain Division ski trooper) and Earl Eaton in the early 1960s. Earl and Peter were both ski patrol guides at Aspen, Colorado, when they shared their dream of finding the "next great ski mountain". Earl, a lifelong resident and son of pioneer families in the area led Peter to the area in March 1957. Peter set off to secure financing and Earl engineered the early lifts. The ski resort was founded and it opened in 1962. George N. Gillett Jr. purchased Vail Associates in 1985. Vail Associates changed its name to Vail Resorts and went public in 1997 after Gillett Holdings (owned by George N. Gillett Jr.) went bankrupt. Apollo Management, headed by Leon Black, bought the company out of bankruptcy and took Vail Resorts public, controlling Vail Resorts through its growth until around 2003, when Apollo divested themselves of the controlling interest.
Former Apollo executive Rob Katz currently runs the company. The skating rink at Beaver Creek, Colorado, was named the Black Family Skating Rink after Leon Black.
