Vail Resorts, Inc.

Please stand by. Your program is about to begin. If you need operator assistance today, just press star zero. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Vail Resorts Fiscal Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. Currently, all callers have been placed in a listen-only mode, and following management's prepared remarks, the call will be opened up for your questions. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you need to remove yourself from the queue, press star 2. To get as many questions as time permits, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. At any time, should you need operator assistance, press star 0. I will now turn the call over to Kirsten Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts. You may begin.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our fiscal 2024 third quarter earnings conference call. Joining me on the call this afternoon is Angela Korch, our chief financial officer. Before we begin, let me remind you that some information provided during this call may include forward-looking statements that are based on certain assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties as described in our SEC filings, and actual future results may vary materially. Forward-looking statements in our press release issued this afternoon, along with our remarks on this call, are made as of today, June 6, 2024, and we undertake no duty to update them as actual events unfold. Today's remarks also include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures are provided in the tables included with our press release, which along with our quarterly report on Form 10-Q were filed this afternoon with the SEC. and are also available on the investor relations section of our website at www.valeresorts.com. Let's turn now to our fiscal 2024 third quarter results. Given the unfavorable conditions across our North American resorts for a large portion of the 2023-2024 North American ski season, we are pleased to see improved results in March and April, with visitation across our Western North American resorts in particular benefiting from improved conditions. While past products visitation returned as expected, as we communicated in April, lift ticket visitation did not return to typical historical guest behavior for the spring, primarily at Whistler Black Home, which was down significantly relative to the prior year period. Despite these challenges, the company grew resort net revenue and resort reported EBITDA to record levels in the third quarter, supported by the stability created from our advanced commitment strategy, operations, executional excellence, and continued strong growth in ancillary spending per skier visit across our ski school, dining, and rental businesses at our resorts. Our results through the 2023-2024 North American ski season highlight both the stability provided by our season pass program and the investments we have made in our resorts and employees, The winter season included significant weather-related challenges, with approximately 28% lower snowfall for the full winter season across our western North American resorts compared to the same period in the prior year, and limited natural snow and variable temperatures at our eastern U.S. resorts, which comprise our Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast resorts. For the 2023-2024 North American and European ski season, total skier visits declined 7.7% as compared to the prior year period, which we believe was driven by a combination of unfavorable conditions and broader industry normalization post-COVID following record visitation in the U.S. during the 2022-2023 ski season. Skier visitation from lift ticket guests which is refundable and not committed in advance of the season, was particularly impacted, declining 17% compared to the prior year period. Despite the decline in visitation, ancillary spending was strong across our ski school, dining, and rental businesses at our resorts. Resort net revenue for the second and third quarter combined period increased 1%, and resort reported EBITDA increased 6% over the prior year. supported by our advanced commitment strategy, strong growth in guest ancillary spending per visit, and continued cost discipline.

Now I would like to turn the call over to Angela to further... 2024 outlook. Thanks, Kirsten, and good afternoon, everyone.