Oasis Mobilizes to Seat Two Nominees on Vail Board as Season Pass Sales Fall 12%
Key Facts
Oasis Management has asked Vail Resorts shareholders to vote for its nominees Robert Chabeck and M. Ashton Hudson at the annual meeting scheduled to be held virtually on December 14, 2026. The Oasis-linked group says it owns 3,431,293 shares, representing about 9.6% of shares outstanding, according to a preliminary proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The campaign puts the company’s performance and season pass sales at the center of a debate over board accountability and refreshment. Oasis points to a three-year decline in season pass units, viewing it as a sign of a shrinking customer base. But that interpretation comes from the activist investor, not from a separate company disclosure of its customer count.
Vail’s figures for the 2026-2027 North American season show season pass units sold down about 12% through September 18, compared with the corresponding period ended September 19, 2025. Paid skier visits were down about 10%, while sales value, including taxes, fell about 6%. The figures distinguish between the number of units and the value of sales; the 12% decline applies to units, not total revenue. Oasis had cited a roughly 3% decline in pass units in each of 2024 and 2025, followed by about 12% in 2026, at corresponding measurement dates in September, in its proxy statement. The company describes weak demand as concentrated in less frequent destination products, particularly passes used less often by visitors. It added that its local markets in Colorado and Utah showed modest improvement after May, and attributed part of the weakness to difficult conditions in the prior season.
The proxy campaign comes after a fiscal year in which Vail’s results declined. Net income attributable to the company was $147.5 million in the fiscal year ended July 31, 2026, compared with $280 million in the prior year. Reported resort-segment EBITDA also fell to $745.7 million from $844.1 million. In its proxy materials, the company said snowfall in the mountains of the western U.S. was 55% below the 30-year average from the start of the season through April 2026. Despite that, lift revenue declined 3.5% during the fiscal year, according to its filing. The results provide financial context for the contest between the board and Oasis, while the reasons for weak demand remain subject to two accounts: the impact of seasonal conditions and less frequent products, according to the company, and a shrinking customer base, according to the activist investor.
Oasis says season pass units fell about 3% through September 20, 2024, about 3% through September 19, 2025, and about 12% through September 18, 2026; it cites the sequence as a sign of a shrinking customer base. Vail, meanwhile, told the Securities and Exchange Commission that Oasis had notified it of its intention to nominate four candidates, not two, for the board slate. Vail’s board recommended that shareholders vote for the company’s nine nominees, explaining that the nine seats would go to the candidates receiving the highest number of affirmative votes. That means the vote concerns the selection of board members from competing slates; Oasis’s request does not seek to replace the entire board. Reuters reported that Oasis nominated four people in September, including Robert Chabeck, the former chief executive of Disney, and Picabo Street, a former Olympic skiing champion. Reuters also reported that Oasis was Vail’s fourth-largest shareholder, with a 9% stake at the end of September.
Baron Capital, which owned 18% of Vail shares at the end of June, announced its support for the company’s management and said it would vote for its nominees. Ron Baron said he believes Chief Executive Rob Katz has the right strategy to restore sustainable earnings growth. In its account of the dispute, Vail accused some Oasis nominees of being associated with businessman Matthew Prince and seeking to change the company’s direction or sell Park City Mountain resort. Oasis responded that the board was distracting shareholders from weak performance with misleading accusations, and renewed its call for board refreshment, saying: "We continue to believe in the value of the assets and the need for board refreshment." These are the two sides’ positions in the context of the vote, not independently established findings.
On the stock’s performance, Reuters said Vail shares had risen 13% since January, but had fallen nearly 50% over five years through October 30, 2026. On that day, the stock closed at $151.83, down 1.75%, according to market data cited by Reuters and EL 7 data. Vail’s fiscal 2027 guidance included net income of $158 million to $233 million and reported resort-segment EBITDA of $805 million to $865 million. The earnings outlook includes about $14 million in one-time costs. The company said its board appointed William Hornbuckle in August 2026, and that Sue Decker plans to leave the board after 11 years. Vail expects to complete its search for a new independent director in early 2027 and said the appointment would bring the number of independent directors added over three years to four; the vote on nominees is scheduled for the December 14 meeting.