18.3 % vs 9.6 %: Vail Resorts' biggest owner backs the board against Oasis

A skier on a run at Beaver Creek, Colorado, one of the 42 resorts of Vail Resorts. Photo: Joe Lin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Baron Capital, which holds 18.3 % of Vail Resorts, said on Friday 30 October 2026 that it will vote for all nine directors the company proposes. The same evening the activist fund Oasis Management, with 9.6 %, dropped two of its four board candidates. Both sides had signed a confidentiality agreement on Monday 26 October to talk about a settlement. The vote on Monday 14 December decides who oversees 42 ski resorts, from Whistler Blackcomb to Park City and Breckenridge.

• Baron Capital owns 6,536,697 shares, 18.3 % of Vail Resorts, and backs CEO Rob Katz and the full board slate.
• Oasis cut its slate from four to two on 30 October: ex-Disney CEO Bob Chapek and financier M. Ashton Hudson stay, Picabo Street and Bryce Roberts are out.
• Oasis and Vail Resorts signed a non-disclosure agreement on 26 October; neither side has said what the talks cover.
• The annual meeting is a virtual vote on Monday 14 December 2026 at 9 a.m. Mountain Time; the record date was 19 October.
• Oasis says it does not want an "asset-light" Vail; the fight over a sale of Park City Mountain to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince runs in the background.

On 9 and 10 September 2026 Oasis nominated four candidates, according to the revised proxy statement Vail Resorts filed with the SEC on 2 November. On 16 September Oasis filed its Schedule 13D, the form that signals activist intent, with a stake of about 6.2 % at the time, as KPCW reported from Park City.

The Vail Daily read the slate cut as a possible path to a deal that seats Oasis's two remaining nominees. Oasis gave no reason for dropping Street and Roberts. A third candidate, the self-nominated shareholder Gregory Meyer, stays on the ballot with his own gold proxy card.

The revised proxy statement lists the holders above 5 % as of the record date. Vail Resorts had 35,717,551 shares outstanding on 19 October 2026.

Oasis itself reported 3,429,033 shares, about 9.6 %, in its own definitive proxy of 2 November. Reuters wrote on 30 October that the stock had climbed 13 % since January to $151.37, but had fallen by nearly 50 % over five years, and put the company's market value at about $5 billion.

In its letter of 2 November, Oasis argues that Vail Resorts' North American skier visits fell 15 % in the 2025-26 season while the industry fell 10 %. For the 2026-27 season, Oasis says unit sales of pass products are down about 12 %, after two seasons of about 3 % declines. Oasis also writes that the stock is down more than 50 % over five years, "erasing more than $8 billion of market value", with FactSet and Bloomberg data as of 30 October as its source.

Oasis founder Seth Fischer said in the release: "Our goal is to make Vail Resorts better, not break it up." The fund lists six initiatives: new pass and ticket products, better food and drink, year-round use of the mountains, a modern marketing strategy, a loyalty programme and technology upgrades. The letter states that the plan "does not include moving to an asset-light model".

The board's letter of 30 October says the company has executed a clear strategy in the 17 months since Rob Katz returned as CEO in May 2025. It claims record guest satisfaction last winter and pass sales ahead of the industry for the coming season. It cites over $2 billion of capital spent across the resorts from 2016 to 2025.

Ron Baron, a shareholder for 30 years, is quoted in that letter: "Vail Resorts' opportunity is in using the full power of its network of irreplaceable resorts, not dismantling it." The board calls the Oasis campaign "disruptive, ill-informed". Investing.com reported that Vail's shares slipped 1.74 % on 30 October.

Vail Village in February 1974. Photo: Ron Hoffman, US National Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The sharpest words concern Park City Mountain in Utah. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, a Park City resident, has said since May 2025 that he wants to buy the resort. Vail's board writes that Prince introduced Roberts and Street to Oasis about one week before their nomination, and that this casts doubt on the independence and judgment of the Oasis nominees.

Oasis denies any coordination: "Neither of our two nominees has ever spoken with Mr. Prince", the letter says. Prince told the Vail Daily: "I'm amused that I live rent-free in Ron Baron's head." He added that he owns no Vail shares and has no agreement with Oasis. Park City is also where a ski patrol strike over a $2 increase in the hourly base wage closed terrain during the 2024-25 holiday season, an episode Oasis uses as proof of a stagnant guest experience.

As of 3 November 2026, no settlement has been announced. Finimize notes that a slate cut plus a confidentiality agreement usually means both sides are exploring a deal. SnowBrains pointed out in August that Vail is the only major listed ski resort operator, so the outcome sets a template for the whole industry.

Whoever wins on 14 December, the Epic Pass network runs as usual this winter: Keystone opened on 30 October, Breckenridge and Vail follow in November. The terrain is the same mix: high Colorado groomers and bowls, Utah powder at Park City, long Whistler runs and firm New England snow at Stowe.

For that spread, an all-mountain ski between 88 and 96 mm under foot is the safe pick. The Atomic Maverick 88 Ti is 88 mm at the waist in 176 cm with an 18.2 m radius, according to Atomic's figures. The K2 Mindbender 89Ti sits at 89 mm. If you ski more of the bowls, the Blizzard Rustler 9 and the Elan Ripstick 96, both 96 mm, give more float. Our best all-mountain skis list compares them side by side, and Pick-a-Ski ranks the catalog for your own level and terrain.

• Vail Resorts, revised definitive proxy (DEFR14A) and board letter (DEFA14A), SEC, 30 October and 2 November 2026.
• Oasis Management, shareholder letter and definitive proxy (DFAN14A, DEFC14A), SEC, 2 November 2026.
• Reuters, Bloomberg, Investing.com, 30 October 2026; Vail Daily, 31 October 2026; Finimize, November 2026.
• KPCW, 16 September 2026; SnowBrains, 17 August 2026.