Organization and Business

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization and Business

Organization and Business

Vail Resorts, Inc. (“Vail Resorts” or the “Parent Company”) is organized as a holding company and operates through various subsidiaries. Vail Resorts and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) currently operate in three business segments: Mountain, Lodging and Real Estate. In the Mountain segment, the Company operates eight world-class ski resort properties at the Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone and Beaver Creek mountain resorts in Colorado; the Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood mountain resorts in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; the Canyons mountain resort in Park City, Utah; and the ski areas of Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan ("Urban" ski areas); as well as ancillary services, primarily including ski school, dining and retail/rental operations. These resorts (with the exception of Northstar, Canyons and the Urban ski areas) operate primarily on Federal land under the terms of Special Use Permits granted by the USDA Forest Service (the “Forest Service”). In the Lodging segment, the Company owns and/or manages a collection of luxury hotels under its RockResorts brand, as well as other strategic lodging properties and a large number of condominiums located in proximity to the Company’s ski resorts, National Park Service (“NPS”) concessionaire properties including the Grand Teton Lodge Company (“GTLC”), which operates destination resorts in the Grand Teton National Park, Colorado Mountain Express (“CME”), a Colorado resort ground transportation company, and mountain resort golf courses. Vail Resorts Development Company (“VRDC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary, conducts the operations of the Company’s Real Estate segment, which owns and develops real estate in and around the Company’s resort communities. The Company’s mountain business and its lodging properties at or around the Company’s ski resorts are seasonal in nature with peak operating seasons primarily from mid-November through mid-April. The Company’s operations at its NPS concessionaire properties and its golf courses generally operate from mid-May through mid-October. The Company also has non-majority owned investments in various other entities, some of which are consolidated (see Note 8, Variable Interest Entities).