The other day, I caught up with my colleague Alison Polly.

Lately, she's been writing about the ski industry.

Do you ski?

I do ski.

I learned as an adult, though, so I did not grow up skiing.

Uh-huh.

So you don't go out there and, like, shred the gnar.

I don't. I don't. Um, I try to embody that, though. Like, I have an alter ego when I'm skiing.

Uh-huh. Called the grade A shredder. And that's me in that persona.

Wow. This is definitely going to make it into the podcast.

She's finally getting her public recognition.

Grade A shredder, or Allison, as she's more commonly known,

knows the biggest name in skiing is Vale Resorts.

Vale started out as just one resort near its namesake in Colorado.

But over the years, it's grown into a behemoth, and now owns and operates 42 ski resorts around the world.

And the company has completely revolutionized the business. Vale markets itself as the experience of a lifetime, and it's a premium product.

It is a luxury experience where they have created these little mountain villages that are emblematic of what you might see in Switzerland.

The trails are immaculately groomed.

You have high-speed chair lifts.

I mean, I feel like even just like in pop culture almost just the name Vale.

Like I'm going to veil is like, ooh, that's a really high-end, classy thing you're going to go do. Exactly. It's fancy. It's desirable.

Vale has amassed a large customer base over the years.

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