Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Description of New Accounting Pronouncements Not yet Adopted [Text Block]

Standards Being Evaluated

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting," The ASU provides optional transition guidance, for a limited time, to companies that have contracts, hedging relationships or other transactions that reference the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or another reference rate which is expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The amendments provide optional expedients

and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions if certain criteria are met. The amendments in this update are effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The amendments in this update may be applied as of any date from the beginning of an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, or prospectively from a date within an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, up to the date that the financial statements are available to be issued. All other amendments should be applied on a prospective basis. The Company is in the process of evaluating the effect that the adoption of this standard will have on its Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements.

Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements

Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements— In the opinion of the Company, the accompanying Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements reflect all adjustments necessary to state fairly the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Results for interim periods are not indicative of the results for the entire fiscal year, particularly given the significant seasonality to the Company’s operating cycle. The accompanying Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2019. Certain information and footnote disclosures, including significant accounting policies, normally included in fiscal year financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted. The Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet as of July 31, 2019 was derived from audited financial statements.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates— The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill and Intangible Assets— The Company tests goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually (or more often, if necessary) as of May 1 and tests definite-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be fully recoverable. As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the impact it has had on the Company’s operations during the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020, and the expected continuing impact of the pandemic on future operations, the Company determined that it was appropriate to test certain assets within its Colorado resort ground transportation company for impairment as of April 30, 2020. The Company’s testing for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment consists of a comparison of the estimated fair value of those assets with their net carrying values. If the net carrying value of the assets exceed their estimated fair value, an impairment will be recognized for indefinite-lived intangibles, including goodwill, in an amount equal to that excess; otherwise, no impairment loss is recognized. As further discussed in Note 8, the Company recorded an impairment of approximately $28.4 million related to its Colorado resort ground transportation company during the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020, which was recorded within asset impairments on the Company’s Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations, with corresponding reductions to goodwill, net of $25.7 million and to intangible assets, net and property, plant and equipment, net of $2.7 million. See Note 8, Supplementary Balance Sheet Information, for additional information.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments— The recorded amounts for cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, receivables, other current assets and accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. The fair value of amounts outstanding under the Company’s credit agreements and the Employee Housing Bonds (as defined in Note 6, Long-Term Debt) approximate book value due to the variable nature of the interest rate, which is a market rate, associated with the debt. The estimated fair value of the EPR Secured Notes and EB-5 Development Notes (each as defined in Note 6, Long-Term Debt), which were assumed by the Company during the nine months ended April 30, 2020, have been estimated using analyses based on current borrowing rates for debt with similar remaining maturities and ratings (a Level 3 input). The carrying values, including any unamortized premium or discount, and estimated fair values of the EPR Secured Notes and EB-5 Development Notes as of April 30, 2020 are presented below (in thousands):

	April 30, 2020
	Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value
EPR Secured Notes	$	137,739	$	131,086
EB-5 Development Notes	$	47,139	$	45,756

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income Taxes and Other Taxes— On March 27, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government enacted legislation commonly referred to as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act"). The CARES Act includes various amendments to the U.S. tax code that impacted the Company’s accounting and reporting for income taxes during the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020 and the Company expects these amendments will continue to impact its accounting and reporting for income taxes in the future. The primary provisions of the CARES Act that the Company is continuing to evaluate include:

• Allowing a carryback of the entire amount of eligible Federal net operating losses (“NOLs”) generated in calendar years 2018, 2019 and 2020 for up to five years prior to when such losses were incurred, representing a change from previous rules under the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”), in which NOLs could not be carried back to prior years and utilization was limited to 80% of taxable income in future years. Under the CARES Act, the Company expects that it will be able to carry back its pre-existing NOLs to tax years prior to the enactment of the TCJA and obtain an incremental benefit related to the differential in federal tax rates between years that NOLs were generated and years that the NOLs will be carried back to.

• Treatment of certain qualified improvement property (“QIP”) as 15-year property and allowing such QIP placed in service after December 31, 2017 to be eligible for bonus depreciation, which could incrementally add to its pre-existing NOLs; and

• Increases in the allowable business interest deduction from 30% of adjusted taxable income to 50% of adjusted taxable income for calendar years 2019 and 2020.

The CARES Act also provides refundable employee retention credits and defers the requirement to remit the employer-paid portion of social security payroll taxes. As a result, during the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020, the Company recorded a credit of approximately $6.5 million, which primarily offset Mountain and Lodging operating expense as a result of wages paid to employees who were not providing services. Additionally, the Company expects to defer payment of the employer-paid portion of social security payroll taxes through the end of calendar year 2020, and will remit such amounts in equal installments during calendar years 2021 and 2022.

The Company also recognized a credit of approximately $2.6 million during the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020 as a result of the recent Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and Australian JobKeeper legislation for its Canadian and Australian employees, which primarily offset Mountain and Lodging operating expense.

The Company is still in the process of evaluating additional potential benefits that the CARES Act and other COVID-19 related legislation in Canada and Australia will have on the Company’s Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements.

Accounting for Hedging Instruments

Accounting for Hedging Instruments— From time to time, the Company enters into interest rate swaps (the “Interest Rate Swaps”) to hedge the variability in cash flows associated with variable-rate borrowings by converting the floating interest rate to a fixed interest rate. As of April 30, 2020, the Company hedged the future cash flows associated with $400.0 million of the principal amount outstanding of its Vail Holdings Credit Agreement (as defined in Note 6, Long-Term Debt). The accounting for changes in fair value of hedging instruments depends on the effectiveness of the hedge. In order to qualify for hedge accounting, the underlying hedged item must expose the Company to risks associated with market fluctuations and the financial instrument used must reduce the Company's exposure to market fluctuation throughout the hedge period. Changes in estimated fair value of the Interest Rate Swaps are recorded within change in estimated fair value of hedging instruments on the Company’s Consolidated Condensed Statements of Comprehensive Income, and such changes were recorded as losses of $16.5 million and $21.0 million, respectively, for the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020. As of April 30, 2020, the estimated fair value of the Interest Rate Swaps was a liability of approximately $21.0 million and was recorded within other long-term liabilities on the Company’s Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet (see Note 9, Fair Value Measurements).

Leases

Leases— The Company determines if an arrangement is or contains a lease at inception or modification of the arrangement. An arrangement is or contains a lease if there is one or more assets identified and the right to control the use of any identified asset is conveyed to the Company for a period of time in exchange for consideration. Control over the use of an identified asset means the lessee has both the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from the use of the asset and the right to direct the use of the asset. Generally, the Company classifies a lease as a finance lease if the terms of the agreement effectively transfer control of the underlying asset; otherwise, it is classified as an operating lease. For contracts that contain lease and non-lease components, the Company accounts for these components separately. For leases with terms greater than twelve months, the associated lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the estimated present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at commencement date. The Company’s leases do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate; therefore, the Company uses an estimated incremental borrowing rate to discount the future minimum lease payments. For leases containing fixed rental escalation clauses, the escalators are factored into the determination of future minimum lease

payments. The Company includes options to extend a lease when it is reasonably certain that such options will be exercised. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. See Note 4, Leases for more information.

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Adopted Standards

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842),” which supersedes “Leases (Topic 840).” The standard requires lessees to recognize the assets and liabilities arising from all leases on the balance sheet, including those classified as operating leases under previous accounting guidance, and to disclose key information about leasing arrangements. The standard also allows for an accounting policy election not to recognize on the balance sheet lease assets and liabilities for leases with a term of 12 months or less. Under the new guidance, lessees are required to recognize a lease liability and an ROU asset on their balance sheets, while lessor accounting is largely unchanged. In July 2018, the FASB released ASU No. 2018-11, “Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements” which, among other items, provided an additional and optional transition method. Under this method, an entity initially applies the standard at the adoption date, including the election of certain transition reliefs, and recognizes a cumulative effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption.

The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-02 on August 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective transition method as provided by the standard. In accordance with this transition method, results for reporting periods beginning on August 1, 2019 are presented under the new standard, while prior periods were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with the previously applicable accounting guidance. The Company has elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance which allowed the Company to not reassess: (i) whether any existing or expired contracts are or contain leases; (ii) lease classification of any expired or existing leases; or (iii) initial direct costs for any existing leases. The Company has made an accounting policy election to not record leases on the balance sheet with an initial term of 12 months or less. The Company will recognize those lease payments in the Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Additionally, the Company has elected the practical expedient to not evaluate existing or expired land easements that were not previously accounted for as leases. At adoption, the Company was not able to determine the interest rate implicit in its leases; therefore, for existing operating leases, the lease liability was measured using the Company’s estimated incremental borrowing rate. For existing leases, the incremental borrowing rate used was based on the remaining lease term at the adoption date. For leases with minimum lease payments adjusted periodically for inflation, the lease liability was measured using the minimum lease payments adjusted by the inflation index at the adoption date.

On August 1, 2019, as a result of adopting the standard, the Company recorded $225.6 million of operating ROU assets and $258.0 million of related total operating lease liabilities in the Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet (of which $223.1 million was recorded to operating lease liabilities and $34.9 million was recorded to accounts payable and accrued liabilities). As a result of the adoption, the Company reclassified $32.4 million of unfavorable lease obligations, deferred rent credits and other similar amounts to the operating ROU assets balance, primarily from other long-term liabilities, which reduced the amount recognized as operating ROU assets to $225.6 million. The adoption of the new lease standard did not result in a cumulative effect adjustment to beginning retained earnings, and did not materially affect the Company’s Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended April 30, 2019 or Consolidated Condensed Statement of Cash Flows for the nine months ended April 30, 2019. The Company’s Canyons finance lease was not affected by the implementation of this standard as the arrangement is classified and recorded as a finance lease arrangement under both the previous and new accounting guidance.

In April 2020, the FASB issued clarifying guidance on accounting for certain lease concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic under ASC Topic 842, allowing companies to make an election to either account for such lease concessions (i) in the period that they occur as though enforceable rights and obligations for those concessions existed (regardless of whether those enforceable rights and obligations for the concessions explicitly exist in the contract) or (ii) ratably over the remainder of the lease term as modifications to the contract. The Company made a policy election to account for such lease concessions as though enforceable rights and obligations to make those concessions existed in the contracts and as a result, will account for concessions in the period in which they occur. This election did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements for the three and nine months ended April 30, 2020.