Vail Resorts Names Timothy April Chief Information Officer

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE :MTN ), today announced that Timothy April, currently Vice President of Information Technology and Guest Experience, has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, effective October 29, 2018. April will join the Vail Resorts Executive Committee and oversee all facets of technology for the Company, including innovative enhancements to the guest experience and best-in-class systems throughout the Company's operations. April replaces Robert Urwiler, who is retiring after 12 years with Vail Resorts.

"We have spent more than a decade pioneering technological firsts in the mountain resort industry in order to deliver the Experience of a Lifetime to our guests," said Rob Katz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts. "Tim has been a critical part of that journey, involved in every significant advancement we have made and knowledgeable about every aspect of our business. I'm confident that Tim's passion for innovation and capacity to embrace disruption will ensure that we continue to leverage technology to reimagine the mountain resort experience around the world."

Since joining Vail Resorts in 2002, April has led several award-winning innovations, including new RFID technologies for our pass and lift ticket products which enable our "Easy Scan" process and power "EpicMix," a ground-breaking app that allows skiers and riders to track their vertical feet skied and view actual lift line wait times for any day throughout the season, among other things. He also oversaw the launch of the "EpicDay Express Lift Tickets" program, which allows guests to skip the ticket line completely, and led the development of our next generation point-of-sale and resort management system, with the goal of shortening wait times and helping guests quickly get on the mountain. During his career, April has also had oversight of our information security effort.  

As the Company has grown, April has led the business and technology integrations of more than 10 mountain resorts, including enabling all of our systems to support multi-currency functionality for the first full integration of an international resort, Whistler Blackcomb. 

In his new role, April will continue to oversee integrations and technological innovations, including the launch of "Emma," the world's first digital mountain assistant. Emma leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to provide guests with information on everything from grooming, lift line wait times and parking, to recommendations on rentals, lessons and dining options. Emma is expected to launch at nine Vail Resorts this season. 

April received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Originally from St. Louis, he has spent the last 18 years in Colorado, living in Breckenridge and Avon before moving to the Denver area in 2006 when Vail Resorts relocated to Broomfield. April, his wife, Rachel, and their 15-year-old son, Andrew, love to ski and snowboard, play golf and travel around the world as a family.