Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2014

Summary On Estimated Useful Life Of Property, Plant And Equipment

Depreciation is calculated on the straight-line method, including property, plant and equipment under capital leases, generally based on the following useful lives:



	Estimated Life in Years
Land improvements	10-35
Buildings and building improvements	7-30
Machinery and equipment	2-30
Furniture and fixtures	3-10
Software	3
Vehicles	3-10

Summary Of Estimated Fair Value Of Financial Instruments

The estimated fair value of the 6.50% Notes, Industrial Development Bonds and other long-term debt as of July 31, 2014 and 2013 is presented below (in thousands):



	July 31, 2014				July 31, 2013
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
6.50% Notes	$	215,000	$	223,600	$	390,000	$	409,500
Industrial Development Bonds	$	41,200	$	48,003	$	41,200	$	47,512
Other long-term debt	$	5,163	$	5,758	$	5,383	$	5,852

Allocation Of Stock-Based Compensation Expense

The following table shows total stock-based compensation expense for the years ended July 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands):



	Year Ended July 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Mountain stock-based compensation expense	$	10,292	$	9,007	$	7,614
Lodging stock-based compensation expense	2,203		1,917		1,744
Real estate stock-based compensation expense	1,729		1,425		2,641
Pre-tax stock-based compensation expense	14,224		12,349		11,999
Less: benefit from income taxes	5,435		4,709		4,567
Net stock-based compensation expense	$	8,789	$	7,640	$	7,432