Rob Katz is back.
Vail Resorts on Tuesday announced that chief executive Kirsten Lynch, who had led the company since 2021, is leaving and Katz, who served as CEO for 16 years before handing control to Lynch, is returning to the helm.
Katz, in a letter to the company’s employees Monday, said he and the board “have a tremendous amount of gratitude” for Lynch and “her immense contributions.”
Katz said his 30 years with Vail Resorts — as a member of the board and CEO — has fostered his deep appreciation for “the passion of our employees, our guests, and our communities, for this sport, the mountains, our values, and each other.”
“There is nothing like it,” Katz wrote. “I am as passionate today as I was back in 1991 when I first started a working relationship with Vail Resorts and made my first trip to ski ‘out west’ at Vail Mountain. That passion is an incredible gift we all share, but it’s also a special responsibility.”
Lynch took over the company as it bounced out of the pandemic in 2021, with record-setting demand and reduced staffing challenging the company’s operations. Housing prices have soared in mountain communities where Vail Resorts operates major ski areas in British Columbia, California, Colorado, Utah and Vermont, creating unique staffing issues for a company that hires more than 45,000 seasonal workers every winter across its network of 37 North American ski areas.
Vail Resorts endured very public blows last winter as its ski patrollers at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah — the largest ski area in the country — went on strike and the mountain was unable to open terrain. The irked skiers and long lines during the 12-day strike marked one of the worst public relations debacles in company history.
Lynch, who led the company’s marketing efforts before serving more than three years as the company’s first female CEO, has had a rocky road as boss. Vail Resorts in 2022 ended up in a condemnation lawsuit with its namesake town, Vail, over a proposed housing project on company land. The company had to delay opening of new terrain at its Keystone ski area for one season in 2022 after expansion work damaged fragile alpine terrain.
Kirsten Lynch was the head of marketing for Vail Resorts when she was named CEO in 2021. (Handout)On her watch, Lynch raised company pay and shepherded a record investment in workers. She oversaw three years of record sales — reaching 2.3 million for the 2024-25 season — of the company’s Epic Pass, which Katz launched in 2008. She also guided the acquisition of new resorts in Europe and the launch of new gear rental and ski school options through the company’s Epic app.
But Wall Street did not react favorably to Lynch’s reign.
When she took over the company, Vail Resorts stock was a record high nearing $375 a share. It has traded below $200 a share since early 2024 and below $150 a share for the past two months, despite consistent, albeit slowing, annual growth in revenue and earnings.
In a statement, Lynch applied the company’s marketing tagline — about how the resorts are an “experience of a lifetime” — to her tenure at Vail Resorts. She rarely missed an opportunity to publicly repeat that phrase.
“I am a lifelong champion of Vail Resorts and look forward to seeing the next phase of the company’s journey,” said Lynch, who will work as a “strategic advisor” for the company.
Katz, 58, has been on Vail Resorts’ board of directors since 1996 and served as chairman of the board since 2009. He also owns more than 245,000 shares of Vail Resorts stock and often donates proceeds from stock sales to local communities. Since 2017, the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust that he formed with his late wife, Elana Amsterdam, has donated more than $200 million to community organizations that work to improve access to mental health services.
The statement from the company included perspective from the board, saying “now is the right time for this leadership transition.”
“Rob’s 16 years as CEO included reinvigorating the company during times of industry stagnation and challenging macro environments,” reads a statement from Bruce Sewell, the top independent director on the company’s board, who praised Lynch’s stewardship “through unprecedented challenges.” “We look forward to continuing to work closely with him to ensure that Vail Resorts consistently delivers for our employees, guests, communities, and shareholders as the worldwide ski industry leader.”
Katz, in his letter to his workers, said some might be wondering how he might be a different CEO than his 2006-2021 run. He promised he would be focused on improvement.
“Improve the service for our guests, the experience for our employees, the vibrancy of our communities, and, yes, the returns for our shareholders,” he said. “As for me personally, I have changed quite a bit. My own life experiences, both personal and professional, give me a different perspective and insight than I had three and a half years ago. I never stopped my own leadership development. And, I am cognizant that there is a lot I don’t know. The opportunities and challenges our company faces today are different, and my goal is to be a CEO who is constantly learning.”
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