More ski resorts going to RFID

[snoWYmonkey]

The one delay with RFID is that the employee is so busy looking at their screen that they are slow to notice the line behind the person who's pass is not reading right. When hand sxanning it becomes obvious faster. We have empty chairs all the time as a result of RFID

 

[cvana]

MAD RIVER of all places has RFID now.

 

[marzNC]

MAD RIVER of all places has RFID now.

With all the creative pass options, it makes a lot of sense for MRG to to RFID. If Bousquet can justify the installation cost, there really isn't any reason that any ski area shouldn't be seriously considering the advantages of using an RFID system for lift access.

Online ticketing has become standard. Integrating that with RFID lift access may not add that much expense if the investment is considered over a few years. Must be less expensive than even five years ago given how technology keeps evolving.

 

[marzNC]

Sun Valley and Snowbasin are moving back to the MCP and will be on Ikon for the first time during the 2022-23 season. Wonder if there is any discussion happening about moving to RFID for lift access.

Note that even small resorts can take advantage of RFID for more than lift access. Timberline in WV uses the same RFID card for credit that can be used for Food & Beverage or in the resort shop. What's really nice is that credit can carry over to the next season. The way Timberline prices half day lift access for a morning or midweek tickets is that a credit is added. For morning skiing, can get credit if you stop by 12:30pm. For midweek, get the credit the next time you ski Timberline midweek. Really encourages return visits.

 

[Iwannaski]

re: dining spend, this is how Disney has been doing rfid for years, so I’m happy to see more people getting on board. It’s actually better and smarter business for the organization.

 

[SmuggsSkier]

Smugglers' Notch in Vermont went RFID a few years ago. Its' simplified a lot of processes including scanning for lessons. I wonder about recycling the cards though.

 

[marzNC]

Interesting . . . VR has ended up with different RFID systems for N. America and Australia. VR owns Perisher, Hotham, Falls Creek in Australia. There is a separate Epic Australia pass but some Australians choose to buy a N. American Epic pass instead if they are planning a ski vacation in USA or Canada.

From Aussie forum post in early May 2022:
" . . .

Thank you for contacting the Epic Australia Pass Team.

The RFID scanning technology used in Australia and the Northern Hemisphere is different, and a unique card type is issued by each of the teams for use in those areas.

In the lead up to the Australian winter season (around April/May 2022) we will be sending Mountain Access Cards out to US Epic Pass holders for use in the Australian resorts.
. . ."

 

[marzNC]

The switch to RFID cards for lift access is continuing for smaller mountains. Bear Valley in CA and Diamond Peak in NV are the latest that I've heard about that are installing RFID for 2022-23.

 

[marzNC]

Grand Targhee not only added a lift for the former cat skiing terrain, they also went to RFID for lift access starting ion 2022-23. GT is on the MCP, but not Ikon.

Grand Targhee webpage in late Oct 2022

"Get your lift ticket to access all that Targhee has to offer, including 600 new lift-served skiable acres off the Colter Lift. Purchase your lift tickets in advance to secure the biggest savings.(*) If you are eligible for a special discount, please visit our Ticket Window or Activity Center.

This winter Grand Targhee Resort is introducing the TARGHEE CARD. All lift access will be loaded to a reloadable RFID card. Purchase your ticket in advance to skip the lines and pick up your Targhee Card at any of our four pickup boxes located throughout the resort. With the reloadable Targhee Card, you can easily add more days online and head straight to the lifts."

 

[marzNC]

I may have noted this before, but in case I didn't . . .

Monarch installed RFID gates for the 2021-22 season. Like smaller mountains in the northeast, there are advantages for RFID that make it worth the investment. Probably helps that the costs are lower given the improvements in technology. European ski resorts have been using RFID for quite a while. The American resorts were slow to adapt.

Solitude and Alta were among the first American resorts to install RFID. They use Axess. The other common vendor is SkiData. Both companies are based in Europe. For a bit of the history of RFID for lift access in the USA, look back at Post #42 from 2018 in this thread.

 

[marzNC]

@TNtoTaos noted that Taos hasn't gone to RFID yet in another thread. I'm sure TSV will implement RFID lift access as soon as finances allow. There were too many other more important capital projects that had to be planned and completed first after the sale to Louis Bacon in 2013.

The manager responsible for ticketing as part of his role was my guide for a free mountain tour in 2017. He would love to go to RFID for lift access.

 

[marzNC]

West Mountain, just north of Albany, NY, has installed RFID gates for 2022-23. West is on the Indy Pass. It's a small mountain that is family owned. The current owners have made major changes that are benefitting the local community in significant ways. Not only for the winter season, but also adding activities that make West a place for fun in all seasons.

I had a chance to spend a morning at West on President's Day last season using Indy. The quality of the operation was obvious.

Podcast #44: West Mountain, N.Y. Owners/Operators Spencer and Sara Montgomery

How an eight-year, $17 million transformation has revitalized the mountain

www.stormskiing.com

 

[marzNC]

RFID lift access has made it to North Carolina. Appalachian is moving to RFID for 2022-23 from sticky wicket tickets. App is small, only 27 acres, but opens early and stays open as long as possible because their snowmaking can't be beat. The night skiing is very popular with the students of App State, a mid-size college that's part of the Univ. of NC system.

November 8, 2022

New RFID Ticketing System for 2022-23 - Appalachian Ski Mtn.

Appalachian Ski Mtn is excited to introduce North Carolina’s first RFID Ticketing system for the 2022-23 season.

appskimtn.com

 

[Mudgirl630]

I am a bit confused. If the RFID system is a plastic card you get that stores all your info, your pass, also you can buy lunch and such without using your credit cards?

 

[marzNC]

I am a bit confused. If the RFID system is a plastic card you get that stores all your info, your pass, also you can buy lunch and such without using your credit cards?

That depends on the resort. The Epic pass can be used at retail outlets at most VR resorts. At the other end of the resort size spectrum, the small resort in West Virginia run by the family who have owned and operated Perfect North in Indiana for decades installed RFID that also works for food and in the shop when they re-opened Timberline for the 2020-21 season.

Boyne Resorts spent a lot of time and money getting a new dual-frequency system developed by the vendor relatively recently. I assume that was to allow use for lift access and at resort retail outlets.

The most common use of RFID for charging to a credit card at a ski resort is to add another day of lift access without going to a ticket window. Alta has been doing that for years. RFID was installed there in 2008. Jiminy Peak went to RFID early on and also installed a high-speed 6-pack long before small mountains in New England, so early adopters exist in all regions. Someone with a Mountain Collective Pass at a resort that can tie a credit card to the RFID card at most, but not all, MCP resorts can do that.

 

[marzNC]

RFID can be implement in a variety of ways, using different hardware and software. The USA is far behind Europe in the use of RFID at ski resorts. Like chairlifts, the major companies that develop and install RFID systems are based in Europe. The cost of installing an RFID system has come down, as is the case for many systems based on computer-related technology that continues to improve.

Aspen installed RFID lift access relatively early using a SkiData system. However, adding capability away from lifts came later.

2020 Case Study by rf IDEAS

https://www.rfideas.com/sites/default/files/2020-09/rf_IDEAS_Aspen_Snowmass_Case_Study_CS-500A.pdf

2015, marketing info for rf IDEAS

Aspen Snowmass Gets Guests on Slopes Faster with WAVE ID

Aspen Snowmass is a world class destination resort, owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company. Located in Pitkin County in western Colorado, the resort’s four skiing/snowboarding areas are located on adjacent mountains in the vicinity of the towns of Aspen and Snowmass Village.

www.rfideas.com

Marketing for SkiData, Aspen system installed in 2008

https://www.skidata.com/fileadmin/Assets/downloads/references/mountain/rfs_aspen_en.pdf

 

[Mudgirl630]

Aspen has been using it at least 10 years.
We have the Aspen card and the gates clock us in. There is also the app that connects to the Aspen card. The app has many info and even show how much you skied. We do not have to even carry a credit card to pay for lunch if one wishes to.
As for Ikon, I am not 100 percent sure if one needs to get the Aspen card first.

 

[marzNC]

Aspen has been using it at least 10 years.
We have the Aspen card and the gates clock us in. There is also the app that connects to the Aspen card. The app has many info and even show how much you skied. We do not have to even carry a credit card to pay for lunch if one wishes to.

Aspen installed RFID in 2008. That's also the year that VR installed the first Epic pass systems. VR spent money having a custom system created that had more functionality in order to start having EpicMix. EpicMix has been around longer than other resort-specific apps as far as I know.

Fair to say that since I like exploring small ski areas and large destination resorts in multiple regions, my sense of the shift to RFID in the last decade is based on first-hand experience as well as online research.

Alta, Solitude, Aspen, and Vail were exceptions in the west by 2010 when I started doing mid-season trips to destination resorts. New England was slow to adopted the technology. There were only five resorts with RFID before the 2017-18 season. Cost was an issue for many of the smaller resorts. But not wanting to change was a factor too. There were plenty of complainers every time a resort converted to RFID cards for lift access. It was always easy to spot skiers at Alta who had never used an RFID gate during my annual spring break trips that started in 2008. In April 2022 there were relatively few people who had never used an RFID card for lift access.

 

[marzNC]

As for Ikon, I am not 100 percent sure if one needs to get the Aspen card first.

The introduction of Ikon was probably a factor for Ikon Partners that weren't already using RFID for lift access to make the investment required to implement an RFID system. Note that an Ikon pass can work with more than one type of RFID gate or hand scanner system.

Taos is still not using RFID for lift access, but has hand scanners at the two lifts that load at a base. I can't think of another Ikon resort in the west I've been using Ikon to that isn't using RFID lift access. The first season for Ikon was 2018-19.

 

[altagirl]

RFID can be implement in a variety of ways, using different hardware and software. The USA is far behind Europe in the use of RFID at ski resorts. Like chairlifts, the major companies that develop and install RFID systems are based in Europe. The cost of installing an RFID system has come down, as is the case for many systems based on computer-related technology that continues to improve.

Yeah, I mean, DH bought me a Swatch watch that was an RFID ski pass in Europe back when we were dating and living there. So like.... 1999 maybe?