Vail Resorts chairman & CEO, Adam Aron was so pleased with his company’s Q3 results that he could hardly contain his excitement during a conference call with analysts. The resort set a new record for Mountain revenue during the quarter in spite of warm weather throughout March, the conglomerate’s busiest month.

Mountain revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2004 was $234.2 million, a 11.1%, increase from $210.8 million for the comparable period last year. Lodging revenue for the quarter grew 7.5%, to $49.6 million. Resort revenue, the combination of mountain and lodging revenues, rose 10.4%, to $283.8 million. Resort expense increased 8.0% to $164.9 million, up $12.2 million. Total revenue at Vail Resorts increased 7.1% to $287.9 million, and total operating expense decreased 4.7% to $178.8 million.

Third quarter Resort Reported EBITDA grew $16.3 million to $120.1 million, a 15.7% improvement over the comparable period last year, and Vail’s third quarter net income was $62.5 million, or $1.77 per diluted share, an 86.6% increase compared to net income of $33.5 million, or 95 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year.

While total skier visits declined 1.9% for the quarter and 1.6% for the year, Aron pointed out that this was mainly due to fewer visits from season pass holders, and destination skier visits actually increased in Q3.

“The drop in skier visits was almost entirely due to a measurable decrease in local and front-range skiers, all of whom reside in Colorado,” said Aron. He went on to say that even though Coloradoans did not take advantage of their season passes as often, more passes were sold. Season pass sales for next season are already ahead of schedule, running up 8.3% in year-over-year dollars.