PODCAST · business
Epic By Nature
by Vail Resorts
There are so many heroes in the story of Vail Resorts and in the ski industry as a whole. Those are the journeys that CEO Rob Katz explores on this podcast, while also tackling some tough questions, like crowding, labor, and accessibility. Joined by his Chief of Staff and the occasional guest, Rob dives into the values that guide our company, the decisions that shape our future, and the stories that inspire us to keep pushing forward.
Episodes
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Epic Experience: What Comes Next
What brings guests back to a mountain year after year? In this episode of Epic By Nature, CEO Rob Katz sits down with his chief of staff to share why Vail Resorts is investing in guest experience as the next frontier of growth in the ski industry. Together, they discuss rising guest expectations,...
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The Strength of Our Network: What It Means for Employees, Guests, and Shareholders
For nearly two decades, our integrated network of world-class resorts has been at the heart of our success as a company. In this episode of Epic By Nature, CEO Rob Katz explains how that owned-and-operated model will play an even bigger role in driving future growth. He also addresses external...
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Blazing the Trail: Pat Campbell and her Incredible Leadership Journey
Earlier this month, Pat Campbell—a trailblazing leader who has helped to shape our company and our broader industry—became the first woman to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). In this episode, Rob sits down with Pat shortly after her…
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Predicting Powder: The Science, Stress, and Stoke behind OpenSnow
In this episode of Epic By Nature, CEO Rob Katz sits down with Joel Gratz, Founder and CEO of OpenSnow to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to predict a powder day. From translating complex weather models, to the emotional weight of knowing millions of people are watching every…
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Mountain Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction
Our sport runs on passion—which means that sometimes, strong opinions can be treated like absolute truths. From “skiing is dying because it’s too expensive” to “skiing is ruined because the mountains are too crowded,” there are several commonly held myths that can shape how people feel about the...
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From Lifts to Livestreams: Meet Skiing’s Next Generation
Our sport is at the beginning of a generational handoff—for the first time, a cohort of new skiers and riders are arriving to the mountains fully fluent in a digital world where community and identity are often built first online and reinforced later in person. As Vail Resorts launches new young...
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Belonging is Built: How to Welcome More People to the Mountain
In our latest episode of Epic By Nature, we’re building on the conversation we started earlier this season around how to make skiing and riding more accessible and more welcoming to more people. CEO Rob Katz sits down with Quincy “Q” Shannon, a leading organizer in Denver’s Black snowsports...
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Weathering the Weather: The Hidden Work of Winter
The start of the North American ski season has largely been a tale of two winters. While parts of the country saw historic early snowfall, the Rockies experienced one of the worst early-season snowfalls in more than 30 years. And yet for all our teams, winter has been anything but slow. In this...
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Beyond the Bargaining Table: How Vail Resorts Thinks About Organized Labor
What does it mean to balance labor unions, employee needs, guest expectations, and community commitments? One year after the labor strike at Park City Mountain, CEO Rob Katz and his Chief of Staff reflect on lessons learned, share insights into the company’s approach to organized labor, and…
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Raising the Bar on Mountain Dining
Food is more than just fuel when you’re skiing or riding—it’s a core part of the fun. But as trends and expectations change, so too must the dining experience—which is why Vail Resorts recently announced a series of strategic investments and upgrades to elevate mountain dining across our…
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Closing the Lift Ticket Gap: A Conversation with Industry Guru Stuart Winchester
In 2008, the Epic Pass revolutionized skiing and riding, delivering unmatched value for guests and long-term stability for the industry. But for those who cannot commit to skiing and riding ahead of the season, the rise of season passes left a gap—one that Vail Resorts is trying to bridge with a...
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Why Olympian Nick Goepper Isn’t Afraid to Ski in Jeans
Making skiing and riding more accessible is an imperative for Vail Resorts—and a topic we’ll explore on Epic By Nature from multiple angles. In this first conversation, Rob Katz sits down with three-time Olympic medalist Nick Goepper to tackle one of the more subtle barriers in the sport: the...
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The state of our business and the need to reimagine (again)
In the second episode of Epic By Nature, Rob Katz takes a hard look at Vail Resorts as it stands today, exploring the challenges, opportunities, and innovations shaping the company. From evolving the Epic Pass to reshaping the guest experience, he reflects on the difficulty of taking stock of...
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Epic By Nature is back and so am I, why?
Rob Katz returns as CEO of Vail Resorts and revives Epic By Nature, sharing why he came back and what it means to lead the company today. In conversation with his chief of staff, Sara Schwandt, Rob reflects on the challenges, opportunities, and the people who make the mountain experience…
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Navigating Leadership Terrain
This episode of Epic By Nature share the story of leadership within our company, and is Rob Katz’s final appearance as our narrator. The leaders featured in this episode are the epitome of our talent philosophy at work. Their paths have been anything but linear, they have faced disappointment and...
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A Conversation on Inclusion: Henri Rivers, the National Brotherhood of Skiers
For the first time, we have invited someone who is not an employee of our company to join us in a conversation. Henri Rivers, is the President of the National Brotherhood of skiers and a frequent guest at our resorts. This mini-episode features Henri and President of the Mountain Division, Pat...
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We Are Part Of The Problem
This episode of Epic By Nature explores the journey of several members of our company who are Black, Indigenous or other People of Color. Their stories are all unique, their journeys very much their own... What was their path to our company? What were some of the challenges and barriers they…
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Part 1: The Decision - No Playbook. Navigating Through COVID-19
"No Playbook. Navigating Through COVID-19" explores in detail our company’s journey through the crisis that COVID-19 has presented. The first part "The Decision," documents our decision to close our resorts on March 14
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Part 2: The Impact - No Playbook. Navigating Through COVID-19
"No Playbook. Navigating Through COVID-19" explores in detail our company’s journey through the crisis that COVID-19 has presented. The second part "The Impact," explores the impact of the decision on employees and our company.
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Part 3: The Future - No Playbook. Navigating Through COVID-19
"No Playbook. Navigating Through COVID-19" explores in detail our company’s journey through the crisis that COVID-19 has presented. The third part "The Future," explains how we crafted the plan to honor our pass holders, and Rob Katz shares his thoughts and perspective on the future.
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Ski & Ride for Life
Right now across our Company, our ski and snowboard instructors – our pros – are opening up our sport and mountains to guests across North America. From child to adult, from beginner to highly-skilled, our pros spend more time with guests than most of us and are therefore uniquely positioned to...
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The Magic of Snowmaking
Right now across our Company we are preparing for the North American winter season. Keystone has already opened, in Colorado we had record snow fall in October, we are welcoming our seasonal employees, anticipation is building, and our snow guns are fired up. So it is only appropriate that in…
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The Big Idea
The Epic Season Pass is the engine of our business, but once upon a time it was just an idea. Over a decade ago we drastically reduced the price of skiing when we introduced the Epic Season Pass. We were risking revenue, for stability for our company and flexibility for our guests. Today we are...
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Integrating a Winning Team
One of our four strategic pillars of our Company is Acquisitions & Integrations. Acquisitions build our geographic diversity to protect us from weather variability; increases the diversity of our guest experience adding value to our guests from our season pass programs; and broaden the breadth…
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Legends of Patrol
In this episode we are exploring what it takes to join patrol, to learn the skills and to come back season after season in sometimes arduous weather conditions. We are also exploring how patrol has evolved over the years, the pioneering history, the technical advancements and the stories of the...
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Trailblazers
Having successfully navigated their way to the top of traditionally male dominated areas of our business, our pioneering women leaders in ski-industry operations roles have changed the face of an industry and paved the way for those coming behind them. In honor of International Women's Day, this...
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Redefining Dining at 10,000ft
The restaurant business can be challenging on any given day, but it becomes far more complex when that business is located in remote locations at 10,000ft. Join Rob Katz and some of our Executive Chefs and F&B leaders, as we explore just what goes into creating the mountain dining experience. How...
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From Eco-terrorism to Environmentalism
Our Company has been on a journey since October 1998 when Vail Mountain was subject to a fire-bombing attack by eco-terrorists. In the 20 years since, we have undergone a metamorphosis to one of the leading environmental companies in the world. This journey has not always been a clear and direct...
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A Crossroads at Park City
On this first episode of Epic by Nature, Rob sits down with Keystone Resort COO Geoff Buchheister to discuss his Leadership journey - from being acquired at Park City, to helping launch the Urban Resorts, and finally to running Keystone.
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What is Epic By Nature?
An introduction to Epic by Nature.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
There are so many heroes in the story of Vail Resorts and in the ski industry as a whole. Those are the journeys that CEO Rob Katz explores on this podcast, while also tackling some tough questions, like crowding, labor, and accessibility. Joined by his Chief of Staff and the occasional guest, Rob dives into the values that guide our company, the decisions that shape our future, and the stories that inspire us to keep pushing forward.
HOSTED BY
Vail Resorts
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Epic By Nature have?
Epic By Nature currently has 30 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Epic By Nature about?
There are so many heroes in the story of Vail Resorts and in the ski industry as a whole. Those are the journeys that CEO Rob Katz explores on this podcast, while also tackling some tough questions, like crowding, labor, and accessibility. Joined by his Chief of Staff and the occasional guest, Rob...
How often does Epic By Nature release new episodes?
Epic By Nature has 30 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Epic By Nature?
You can listen to Epic By Nature on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Epic By Nature?
Epic By Nature is created and hosted by Vail Resorts.
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