Park City, Utah — As Vail Resorts fights for its future, a man who arguably sparked an ongoing proxy fight made his case again to buy one of the company’s most important properties.
Last week, Stuart Winchester of The Storm Skiing Journal & Podcast interviewed Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince. During the interview, Prince discusses his Park City background, why he believes Vail has mismanaged the ski resort, what he would do differently, and his thoughts on the proxy fight (which may have hurt Oasis’s push against Vail Resorts).
If you’re short on time, here’s his elevator pitch to Vail Resorts and skiers/riders in general.
This is Prince’s first interview on this topic with a member of the ski media. He’s done interviews with local Utah outlets that devote lots of coverage to skiing, but this is the first time someone has really pushed him on his ideas, especially someone with extensive industry knowledge.
The Good & Bad Ideas Presented
There are some good ideas brought up. Snowmaking upgrades should be a focus on both sides of the mountain, as they’re vital to on-time ski resort openings in Park City (PC). The terrain expansion and lift ideas are generally good, minus putting a high-speed chairlift up Jupiter. He also pointed out that Park City Mountain Resort hasn’t updated its master plan since the late 1990s, which is one of my core issues with Vail’s management strategy in PC.
Here’s where his plan needs some work: Tying the Town Lift to having an interconnected gondola to Alta is a bad idea. Replacing the Town Lift should be the next priority following the Silverlode and Eagle/Eaglet replacements. However, tying it to this grand gondola proposal risks derailing the needed lift replacement.
Here’s what the message should be: “We need to replace the Town Lift. While we want to build a multi-stage gondola, the main priority is the town lift. If we get buy-in from existing resorts and other parties, THEN we would add the other stages to the gondola.“
IMO, the current messaging would tie the replacement into regulatory hell.
There’s also the issue of how much buy-in the Wasatch Interconnect would get from other resort communities. Deer Valley and Park City should have been linked years ago, so that part likely wouldn’t be an issue. However, convincing Alta skiers, backcountry skiers, and environmentalists on it would be a challenge. Like Vail Resorts, Prince has also seen resistance from locals on projects.
To me, if it were a powder day and I was in Park City, I’d just take the gondola to Alta. There would also be avalanche closures, and getting guests back would also present a challenge. It would ultimately create more congestion in the Cottonwoods in a period where they’re looking to reduce it.
And it’s not like Vail isn’t letting the ski resort rot. Since 2015, Vail Resorts has invested over $200 million at Park City Mountain Resort. This includes new lifts (such as the Canyons Village Skyway opening later this year), buildings, and snowmaking. They also have two more new lifts lined up for 2027, barring some tomfoolery.
These criticisms don’t mean Prince wouldn’t make a great owner. The passion for the ski resort and community is clearly there. Rich people have also run ski resorts successfully, including recently at Killington and Taos. But pulling it off at America’s largest ski resort would be a challenge.
Image/Video Credits: Matt Omann, SThe Storm Skiing Journal & Podcast, Park City Mountain Resort
