BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Specialty Sports Venture ("SSV"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) today announced that it has acquired the assets of Outdoor Outlet, LLC, a Wisconsin-based company that owns and operates O2GearShop.com, a rapidly growing online retailer of outdoor/snowsports goods and equipment with more than 2 million total visits last year.
"The addition of O2GearShop.com is a significant opportunity that will allow SSV to now offer an online shopping experience to its broad customer base," said Jeff Jones, co-president and chief financial officer of Vail Resorts. "This acquisition is a perfect complement for Specialty Sports Venture which will be able to leverage its strong vendor relationships and its wide exposure to the snowsports consumer through its more than 150 stores in five states and the broad connections that Vail Resorts has through all of its online and digital media channels."
The O2GearShop.com team, including the founder, Taylor Olsen, will remain with the Company. Olsen will report to Kat Jobanputra, chief operating officer and executive vice president of SSV, who is based at the Vail Resorts and SSV corporate office in Broomfield, Colo.
"Following on the heels of the most successful year in our 15-year history with the addition of 18 new stores including the retail presence at Northstar-at-Tahoe, Specialty Sports Venture and Vail Resorts are well positioned to continue the momentum. Our expertise, customer relationships and vendor partnerships will allow us to significantly expand the O2GearShop.com business model while providing even greater value to our customers," said Jobanputra. SSV plans a series of enhancements to the O2GearShop.com site leading up to the start of the 2011-2012 ski and snowboard season.
For more information about SSV, visit www.ssv.net. For more information about O2GearShop.com or its parent company, Outdoor Outlet, visit www.O2GearShop.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 resort properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado, and the Heavenly Ski Resort and Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort 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 property and hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States and in the Caribbean. 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.
About Specialty Sports Venture (SSV)
Specialty Sports Venture (SSV) has more than 150 retail and rental locations in five states (Colorado, California, Nevada, Utah and Wisconsin) specializing in outdoors/snowsports gear and equipment, including ski, snowboard, golf and cycling. The SSV portfolio includes Colorado Ski & Golf, Bicycle Village, Breeze Ski Rentals and a number of slopeside shops, including Vail Sports, Beaver Creek Sports, Breckenridge Sports, Keystone Sports, Heavenly Sports, Aspen Sports, Telluride Sports and shops located in other Colorado mountain communities. SSV also operates the Any Mountain shops in the San Francisco Bay area. The online division of SSV includes skirentals.com, O2GearShop.com and rentskis.com, North America's largest snowsports rental website and the equipment provider for online travel websites such as Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, Orbitz.com and Ski.com.
SOURCE Vail Resorts, Inc.
