“I’m very optimistic over the future there.” And they also have a lot of experience with lease contracts at some of their operations with other resorts around the nation,” Bellas said. “It’s my understanding they were out here four or five times looking before the sale was finalized. Ligonier Mayor Ormond “Butch” Bellas, who taught his family to ski on Laurel Mountain slopes and is a former ski patrol member, is optimistic about the new ownership’s impact on the slope. Baltimore Cleveland and the surrounding areas,” Kelsey said. In regards to Laurel Mountain, we believe all three are fantastic resorts with distinct offerings that are a great complement to our existing 34 North American resorts, creating a much stronger connection to skiers and riders in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania and providing a regional destination for our passholders located in Washington, D.C. “We look forward to welcoming back longtime fans and newcomers alike next season - all three resorts will be on the Epic (ski) Pass. Kelsey dismissed concerns about the future of Laurel Mountain. Vail now owns the assets - ski lifts and lodge - and took over a 35-year lease that Nutting’s Springs at Laurel Mountain LLC signed with the state in October 2018 under the sale. Locals have expressed concern about the future of Laurel Mountain because the land where it operates is owned by the state and administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources instead of the resort.

The company updated its fiscal 2022 guidance range and is expecting resort-reported earnings to be between $813 million and $837 million. The newly added local resorts were mentioned in the public report. The company’s net income in the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 was $206.4 million. Those net income figures did not include income generated by the three local resorts because of the date of the closing, company officials said.Ĭompany officials noted that the increase is primarily because of the greater impact of covid-19 and related limitations and restrictions on results in the prior year. The company also reported net income of $223.4 million for the second fiscal quarter of 2022 compared with $147.8 million in the same period in the prior year. Season-to-date total skier visits were up 2.8% and total lift revenue up 10.3% through March 6, compared with the fiscal year 2020 season-to-date period through March 8, 2020. In its second-quarter fiscal report to investors this week, the company disclosed skier visits rose throughout its 37 resorts in North America during January and February relative to results through the peak holiday period. We currently have 74 inches of natural snowfall. “Last year, we skied 99 days at Seven Springs. “We are open through this weekend and again next weekend,” he said. And despite temperatures climbing into the 70s late in the week, the resort is expected to easily surpass its annual century benchmark of skiing days as the slopes remain open the next few weeks. On Friday, Seven Springs marked 100 days of skiing. “We have had a very good season despite the challenges Mother Nature gave us in December, as it was unseasonably warm then,” Moser said. Vail Resorts raises base minimum wage to $20 an hour next ski seasonĪlex Moser, longtime Seven Springs director of marketing and communications, also confirmed it was a successful season at the three resorts after a slow start.Nutting purchased the assets of the long-closed Laurel Mountain Ski Area in Ligonier Township in 2016 from Somerset Trust Co. The Nutting family owned Seven Springs in Champion since 2006 and acquired the property for nearby Hidden Valley Mountain Resort in 2013 for a reported $7.5 million. Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting sold the three ski resorts in the Laurel Highlands for $118 million to Vail Resorts in late 2021.

“We are pleased with the season and are thrilled to see the extra inches of snowfall earlier this week,” said Quinn Kelsey, director of communications and resort marketing at Vail Resorts, based in Broomfield, Colo.

As the ski season at Seven Springs begins to wind down, all indications are that the three most well-known Western Pennsylvania ski resorts - Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain- bounced back after the covid-19 pandemic.Īlthough the resorts’ new owner, Vail Resorts Inc., does not disclose resort-specific visitor numbers, company officials said this season was a success.

Hidden valley ski area photos