Vail Resorts Closes Its Acquisition of Two Urban Ski Areas in Midwest, Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan

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Dec 18, 2012, 12:49 ET

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) today announced that the Company has closed on its acquisition of two premier urban ski areas in the Midwest, Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan, for total cash consideration of $20 million. Both ski areas serve major snow sports markets in the Midwest with more than 468,000 active skiers and snowboarders in the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit metropolitan areas. Vail Resorts plans to upgrade and enhance the guest experience at each ski area and create opportunities to connect guests from each of these ski areas to its seven world-class resorts in Colorado and Lake Tahoe through season pass and other lift ticket products.

Vail Resorts is planning season pass products for both Afton Alps and Mount Brighton in time for the 2013-2014 season pass sales period, beginning in March 2013. In the meantime, to welcome both ski areas into the Vail Resorts family, Afton Alps and Mount Brighton season pass holders will immediately receive a 25-percent discount off of the window rate on lift tickets at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood this season.

For more information, visit http://www.aftonalpsisepic.com and http://www.mtbrightonisepic.com.

About Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan; and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.