Vail buys Wilmot ski area between Chicago, Milwaukee
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (FOX 32 / AP) — Vail Resorts says it has acquired the Wilmot Mountain ski area in Wisconsin, between Milwaukee and Chicago.
The Broomfield, Colorado-based company said Tuesday it plans to improve terrain parks, instruction, dining, snowmaking, parking and other aspects of the resort.
“I'm looking forward to a lot of changes,” skier Richard Spicak.
Spicak has skied Wilmot Mountain for nearly five decades. He says the lodge could use an update and the chairlifts, too.
“You know Vail's got them four-man lifts and those six-man lifts, that would be nice,” Spicak said.
Well, if Spicak wants chairlifts like Vail, he might be in luck. Vail Resorts this week acquired Wilmot Mountain. The Colorado company already operates eight ski resorts out West and two others in the Midwest.
“I used to come up here with my dad on weekends,” said Taylor Ogilvie.
Ogilvie, Wilmot's new general manager, grew up in Lincolnshire. He says upgrades are planned in chairlifts, snowmaking and the lodge.
“I think, some pretty major dining upgrades, try to open it up, make it lighter inside, more seating,” Ogilvie said.
“Ski food is always kind of iffy. So if they could improve that, it would be good,” said skier Lori Olson.
Skiers say Wilmot's bar looks a lot like it did in the 1950’s when famed columnist Irv Kupcinet joined the Today Show for a broadcast here.
“It's got a lot of history, some people like the old rustic look, but I think modernization would probably be a good thing for vail to do here,” said skier Lew Possehl.
Vail Resorts is hoping that skiers who enjoy their experience at Wilmot will decide it's time to start skiing at some of Vail Resorts out West.
Lift tickets out West can run $165, which is more than three times as high as Wilmot's. Vail Resorts' other Midwest acquisitions haven't raised their prices, and skiers say that's important.
“It’s already a little pricey, so we have to come on the discount days, so we try to do those days,” said skier Eddie Harper.
As for the impact of climate change on Wilmot's future, Wilmot's new GM recalls two years ago when the polar vortex provided one of the longest skiing seasons ever in the Midwest.
The price that Vail Resorts paid for the ski area wasn't disclosed.
Wilmot is 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee and 65 miles north of Chicago. Vail Resorts says Wilmot currently has 25 trails, four terrain parks, a tubing hill, a ski and snowboard school and a ski racing program.
Wilmot will be included in the company's Epic Pass and Epic Local Pass for the 2016-2017 season.
Vail Resorts owns two other urban resorts, Afton Alps near Minneapolis-St. Paul and Mount Brighton near Detroit.
Vail has eight mountain resorts in California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah.