The view is best from the top. It’s the moment you disembark from the
chair lift that’s borne you over the boulevards of snow carved with
“S”-shaped grooves. Some skiers cherish the first morning vista, in the
thin and freezing air, before they tighten their boots and point their
twin sheaths of metal down a vertical field of white. I prefer the last
run, wobbly and a little reckless, down the peak’s backside at three
o’clock, toward the room with a fire, a hot mug, and a bag of ice. These
moments, and the many between them, inspire 60 million cumulative ski-
and snowboard-days, adding up to a $3 billion businesses in the U.S.
To those millions of skiers, Robert A. Katz would like to say, Thank you. And also: You’re welcome.
Katz is the CEO of Vail Resorts, the largest ski resort company in the
United States and the proud owner of America’s most popular mountain,
Vail.
