In the 1950s, streets in Vail Resorts, Inc.’s (MTN, Financial) Vail Village were unpaved and children reached school on skis purchased from a local sawmill. Vail is the beneficiary of President Eisenhower’s program to build the Interstate Highway system. The Eisenhower Tunnel allows guests using Interstate Route 70 to reach Vail from Denver in less than two hours. Before that tunnel was completed it took more than four hours. Talk about competitive advantage! More than 70% of skiers at Vail’s 40 ski mountains purchase their season Epic lift ticket passes before a single snowflake hits the ground.
From Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio)'s Baron Funds first-quarter 2023 letter.
