BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) today announced the Company achieved its 10-percent energy reduction goal announced in 2008. Through a continuous focus on energy conservation, the Company was able to reduce its electricity and natural gas usage by 10.75 percent in three years through operating more efficiently. Examples of the energy savings initiatives include performing energy audits at all Vail Resorts properties, replacing inefficient lighting and using motion sensors to shut off lights when rooms are unoccupied, making snowmaking systems more energy-efficient by using less compressed air, implementing a company-wide 'Idle-wise' program that limits the time company vehicles are idling, and much more.

To help put Vail Resorts' 10 percent energy savings into perspective, the energy saved over the last three years is the equivalent to:

• Annual energy usage of 1,400 average U.S. homes
• 22,801 metric tons of CO2 emissions
• 2,335 acres of pine forest planted

"We are thrilled to achieve our energy layoff goal. However, we are not stopping here. Vail Resorts remains committed to reducing our energy use further both because it's the right thing to do for the environment and also because it's the right thing to do for our Company,"  said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts. "Today I am announcing a new energy reduction goal, 'The Next 10.' Vail Resorts can reduce its energy consumption by another 10 percent by 2020 while continuing to provide the experience of a lifetime for all of our guests and employees."

Vail Resorts is already beginning 'The Next 10' with several projects and programs to help the Company continue to operate more efficiently. Cutting energy usage by an additional 10 percent will take some time to achieve, however the Company is committed to attaining this goal and will begin by reassessing operational efficiencies and examining ways to improve snowmaking, increase building automation, invest in free cooling and additional LED lighting upgrades, and research and implement additional energy efficient technologies to help achieve The Next 10 percent goal by 2020.   

For more information on Vail Resorts' environmental commitment, visit  www.vailresortsecho.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, and Heavenly and Northstar in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, 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

SOURCE Vail Resorts, Inc.