Ski Industry Proxy Fight Heats Up as Vail Resorts and Oasis Make Their Cases

In dueling letters, Vail Resorts and the shareholder that hopes to shake up the company’s nine-member board of directors, Oasis Management, each recently made their case as a proxy battle once mostly hidden from plain view spills further into the open.

Oasis opened its letter by stating that it owns about 9.6% of Vail Resorts’ stock, equivalent to more than half a billion dollars. 

Then, it offered a compliment, writing, “We believe [Vail Resorts] is one of the leading hospitality businesses in the world, with a valuable network of irreplaceable mountain resorts, a robust competitive position and a highly attractive customer base.”

The kind words didn’t last for too long, though. 

“Despite these advantages, the Company’s stock price is down more than 50% over the last five years, erasing more than $8 billion of market value,” the letter continued. “In fact, before media reports of our engagement with the Company, Vail Resorts’ total shareholder return had significantly underperformed the median of the Company’s self-selected peers and the Dow Jones U.S. Travel & Leisure Index over each of the last one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten years!”

Oasis highlighted three issues it believes contribute to Vail’s stock performance: a stagnated guest experience, deteriorated operating performance, and a failure of oversight from the board. 

Those perceived failures ranged from ones skiers might recognize—long lift lines, overcrowding, too few options for price-conscious visitors—to more nitty-gritty business details.

“Resort Reported EBITDA margins have declined for four consecutive years, reaching their lowest level since fiscal 2014 (excluding the pandemic-impacted fiscal 2020),” the letter reads. “Moreover, despite an approximately 45% increase in effective ticket prices since fiscal 2016, Resort Reported EBITDA per skier visit has increased by only 8%.”

In an upcoming vote on December 14, Oasis hopes to sway shareholders so that they select its board submissions: former Disney CEO Bob Chapek and Utah businessman M. Ashton Hudson. It appears to be a tough sell for Oasis. Vail Resorts’ largest shareholder, Ron Baron, recently backed the current board. 

“I do not believe the Oasis nominees would serve the best long-term interests of investors and strongly oppose their candidacies,” Baron said in a statement that appeared in the letter from Vail Resorts’ board. 

(Two previous nominees, Olympic medalist Picabo Street and venture capitalist Bryce Roberts, are no longer part of the Oasis bid.)

Vail Resorts’ board letter urged shareholders to maintain the status quo, arguing that the board and management team recognized the need for change and acted. 

The letter pointed to several measures, from reinstating Rob Katz as CEO in 2025 to unveiling a suite of more affordability-minded ticket and pass products. 

“Vail Resorts’ actions are already translating into measurable progress,” it reads. “Despite the historic weather challenges this past season, the Company achieved record guest satisfaction scores and strong employee engagement and retention. Its new marketing approach—increased paid media investment, a broader social-media presence, and more resort-focused storytelling—as well as its lift-ticket product and pricing initiatives, helped the Company to outperform the broader industry in lift-ticket visitation during Fiscal 2026.”

The letter said that the current board has a “deep knowledge of Vail Resorts’ resort network and season-pass business model with relevant expertise across hospitality, consumer businesses, digital innovation, finance, governance, and talent development.”

In recent years, Vail Resorts’ board has welcomed several new directors, including William Hornbuckle, CEO of MGM Resorts International.

Yet, Oasis still thinks there’s a need for more change. 

It forwarded several proposals that included expanded ticket options, modernized marketing, better food, and a “more compelling loyalty program to strengthen customer engagement,” among others. Some of the proposals resemble those already included in a guest-focused strategy called the “Epic Experience” Vail Resorts unveiled over the summer.

Notably, Oasis did not suggest that Vail Resorts should sell off its mountains, an idea that had previously been part of the rumors swirling around ski country.

Previous reporting from Semafor in June 2026, citing anonymous sources, suggested that Oasis was considering a proxy fight that would include exploring the sale of Vail Resorts’ mountains. And Matthew Prince, the tech billionaire, had made public his interest in buying Park City Mountain Resort, Utah, from Vail. 

Prince became a point of contention in both letters. Vail Resorts claimed Prince introduced the two previous nominees, Street and Roberts, to Oasis about a week before they were formally nominated. 

“Mr. Prince is running a very public campaign against the Company to advance his goal of breaking up our network of resorts,” the Vail Resorts letter reads. “These connections to Mr. Prince present a clear conflict and call into question the judgment of Oasis Management, the independence of their nominees, and the true motive of their campaign.”

Oasis’ letter said it was not coordinating with Prince in any way and argued that Vail Resorts sought to distract shareholders by fabricating a theory that coordination was taking place. 

“Neither of our two nominees [Chapek and Hudson] has ever spoken with Mr. Prince. And, notably, our plan for improving Vail Resorts’ performance does not include moving to an asset-light model,” the letter reads. “In fact, we regard the Company’s integrated resort network as one of its greatest competitive strengths.”

Prince said that he holds no shares in Vail Resorts, per The Park Record, and has no agreement with Oasis or its board nominees. 

“I have not talked to Oasis, I have not talked to Bryce, and I have not talked to Picabo … since about a month ago,” Prince told the outlet on Friday. “I’m just a guy, right? So I think it’s really funny that Vail thinks I’m as influential as I am.”

You can find the Vail Resorts letter here. You can find the Oasis letter here.

The 2026/27 print issue of POWDER Magazine is here. Click here to have a copy shipped to your front door. Copies can also be found on newsstands at major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, and more.

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