Revenues (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2020

Revenues [Abstract]

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block]

3.     Revenues

Revenue Recognition

The following provides information about the Company’s composition of revenue recognized from contracts with customers and other revenues, the performance obligations under those contracts, and the significant judgments made in accounting for those contracts:

• Mountain revenue is derived from a wide variety of sources, including, among other things: lift revenue, which includes sales of lift tickets and pass products; ski school revenue, which includes the revenue derived from ski school operations; dining revenue, which includes both casual and fine dining on-mountain operations; retail sales and equipment rentals; and other on-mountain revenue, which includes private ski club revenue (which includes both club dues and amortization of initiation fees), marketing and internet advertising revenue, municipal services and lodging and transportation operations at the Company’s Australian ski areas. Revenue is recognized over time as performance obligations are satisfied

as control of the good or service (e.g. access to ski areas, provision of ski school services, etc.) is transferred to the customer, except for the Company’s retail sales and dining operations revenues which are recognized at a point in time when performance obligations are satisfied by transferring control of the underlying goods to the customer. The Company records deferred revenue primarily related to the sale of pass products. Deferred revenue is generally recognized throughout the ski season as the Company’s performance obligations are satisfied as control of the service (e.g. access to ski areas throughout the ski season) is transferred to the customer. Transfer of control is based on an estimated number of pass product holder visits relative to total expected visits. Total expected visits are estimated based on historical data, and the Company believes this estimate provides a faithful depiction of its customers’ pass product usage. When sufficient historical data to determine usage patterns is not available, such as in the case of new product offerings, deferred revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis throughout the ski season until sufficient historical usage patterns are available. The Company also includes other sources of revenue, primarily related to commercial leasing and employee housing leasing arrangements, within other mountain revenue.

• Lodging revenue is derived from a wide variety of sources, including, among other things: revenue from owned hotel rooms and managed hotel rooms; revenue from hotel dining operations; transportation revenue which relates to the Company’s Colorado resort ground transportation operations; and other lodging revenue which includes property management services, managed properties other costs reimbursements, private golf club revenue (which includes both club dues and amortization of initiation fees), and golf course fees. Lodging revenue also includes managed hotel property payroll cost reimbursements related to payroll costs at managed properties where the Company is the employer, which are reimbursed by the owner with no added margin. Therefore, these revenues and corresponding expenses have no net effect on the Company’s operating income or net income. Other than revenue from dining operations, lodging revenue is mostly recognized over time as performance obligations are satisfied as control of the service (e.g. nightly hotel room access) is transferred to the customer.

• Real estate revenue primarily relates to the sale of development land parcels. Real estate revenue is generally recognized at a point in time when performance obligations have been satisfied, which is usually upon closing of the sales transaction and in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled.

For certain contracts that have an original term length of one year or less, the Company uses the practical expedient applicable to such contracts and does not consider the time value of money. For contracts with an expected term in excess of one year, the Company has considered the provisions of Topic 606 in determining whether contracts contain a financing component.

The Company presents revenues in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations, net of taxes, when collected from its customers that are remitted or payable to government taxing authorities, except when products are inclusive of taxes where applicable.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company closed its North American destination mountain resorts, regional ski areas and retail stores beginning on March 15, 2020. To encourage the Company’s pass product holders to renew their pass purchases for next season following the closures this past spring, the Company announced a credit offer on April 27, 2020 for existing 2019/2020 North American ski season pass product holders to purchase 2020/2021 North American ski season pass products at a discount (the “Credit Offer”). The Credit Offer discounts range from a minimum of 20% to a maximum of 80% for 2019/2020 season pass holders, depending on the number of days the pass holder used their pass product during the 2019/2020 North American ski season and a credit, with no minimum, but up to 80% for multi-day pass products, such as the Epic Day Pass, based on total unused days. For accounting purposes, the Credit Offer constituted a material right to existing 2019/2020 pass product holders to which the Company allocated a transaction price of approximately $120.9 million. As a result, the Company deferred $120.9 million of pass product revenue, which would have been recognized as lift revenue during the year ended July 31, 2020. The Company expects to recognize the revenue associated with the Credit Offer in the second and third fiscal quarters of the fiscal year ending July 31, 2021 or the second and third fiscal quarters of the fiscal year ending July 31, 2022. While the Company expects most of this revenue to be recognized during Fiscal 2021, in the event that a pass holder obtains a refund under Epic Coverage for the 2020/2021 ski season and is eligible to utilize their credit toward the purchase of a pass product for the 2021/2022 ski season, a portion of this deferred revenue and related deferred cost will be recognized in Fiscal 2022. In addition, as a result of the pass product revenue deferral, the Company also deferred approximately $2.9 million of the associated costs of obtaining a contract (primarily credit card processing fees), which will be recognized commensurate with the associated deferred revenue.

The Company estimated the standalone selling price of the Credit Offer by utilizing historical pass holder renewal data to estimate the total amount of credits that are expected to be redeemed. Estimates and assumptions made regarding expected renewal rates impacted the estimate of the transaction price allocated to the Credit Offer and could vary materially from the amount of revenue deferred depending upon actual customer redemptions.

Disaggregation of Revenues

The following table presents net revenues disaggregated by segment and major revenue type for the years ended July 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):

	Year Ended July 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Mountain net revenue:
Lift	$	913,091	$	1,033,234	$	880,293
Ski School	189,131		215,060		189,910
Dining	160,763		181,837		161,402
Retail/Rental	270,299		320,267		296,466
Other	177,159		205,803		194,851
Total Mountain net revenue	$	1,710,443	$	1,956,201	$	1,722,922
Lodging net revenue:
Owned hotel rooms	$	44,992	$	64,826	$	65,252
Managed condominium rooms	76,480		86,236		70,198
Dining	38,252		53,730		48,554
Transportation	15,796		21,275		21,111
Golf	17,412		19,648		18,110
Other	44,933		54,617		47,577
	237,865		300,332		270,802
Payroll cost reimbursements	10,549		14,330		13,841
Total Lodging net revenue	$	248,414	$	314,662	$	284,643
Total Resort net revenue	$	1,958,857	$	2,270,863	$	2,007,565
Total Real Estate net revenue	4,847		712		3,988
Total net revenue	$	1,963,704	$	2,271,575	$	2,011,553

Arrangements with Multiple Performance Obligations

Several of the Company’s contracts with customers include multiple performance obligations, primarily related to bundled services such as ski school packages, lodging packages and events (e.g. weddings and conferences). For such contracts, revenue is allocated to each distinct and separate performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price. The standalone selling prices are generally based on observable prices charged to customers or estimated based on historical experience and information.

Contract Balances

Contract liabilities are recorded primarily as deferred revenues when payments are received or due in advance of the Company’s performance, including amounts which may be refundable. The deferred revenue balance is primarily related to accounts receivable or cash payments recorded in advance of satisfying the Company’s performance obligations related to sales of pass products prior to the start of the ski season, private club initiation fees and other related advance purchase products, including advance purchase lift tickets, multiple-day lift tickets, ski school lessons, equipment rentals and lodging advance deposits. Due to the seasonality of the Company’s operations, its largest deferred revenue balances occur during the North American pass product selling window, which generally begins in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. Deferred revenue balances of a short-term nature were $256.4 million and $335.7 million as of July 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Deferred revenue balances of a long-term nature, comprised primarily of long-term private club initiation fee revenue, were $121.9 million and $124.3 million as of July 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For the year ended July 31, 2020, the Company recognized approximately $266.5 million of revenue that was included in the deferred revenue balance as of July 31, 2019. As of July 31, 2020, the weighted average remaining period over which revenue for unsatisfied performance obligations on long-term private club contracts will be recognized was approximately 16 years.

Contract assets are recorded as trade receivables when the right to consideration is unconditional. Trade receivable balances were $106.7 million and $270.9 million as of July 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Payments from customers are based on billing terms established in the contracts with customers, which vary by the type of customer, the location and the products or services offered. The term between invoicing and when payment is due is not significant. For certain products or services and customer types, contracts require payment before the products are delivered or services are provided to the customer. Impairment losses related

to contract assets are recognized through the Company’s allowance for doubtful accounts analysis. Contract asset write-offs are evaluated on an individual basis.

Costs to Obtain Contracts with Customers

The Company expects that credit card fees and sales commissions paid in order to obtain season ski pass products contracts are recoverable. Accordingly, the Company records these amounts as assets when they are paid prior to the start of the ski season. As of July 31, 2020, $3.5 million of costs to obtain contracts with customers were recorded within other current assets on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. Deferred credit card fees and sales commissions are amortized commensurate with the recognition of season ski pass revenue. The Company recorded amortization of $11.0 million, $10.6 million and $8.3 million for these costs during the years ended July 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, which were recorded within Mountain and Lodging operating expenses on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Utilizing the practical expedient provided for under Topic 606, the Company has elected to expense credit card fees and sales commissions related to non-season ski pass products and services as incurred, as the amortization period is generally one year or less for the time between customer purchase and utilization. These fees are recorded within Mountain and Lodging operating expenses on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.