TECHNOLOGY
“Essentially the system is creating
a sales channel, a chance
to communicate directly.
And that’s marketing gold.”
– John Keefe, SKIDATA
particular chair, and the pass can’t be used again within that
time frame.”
At Panorama, RFID enables another level of fraud protection
at the lifts. “When pass holders first purchase their
passes, we take photos to verify ID,” said Orchiston. “Now
we’re prototyping technology that takes a photo every time a
skier goes through the gate. Using a tablet system, the operator
can make sure that person is indeed the pass-holder. The
software has some components for tracking usages, and over
time this information will be available online.”
And skiers love being able to follow their ski “history.”
Claudia Kopetzky, chief marketing officer with Axess AG,
global provider of ticket and access management systems,
calls this the new “gamification” of the sport of skiing. “RFID
technology allows skiers to get statistics on their smart
phones or computers covering where they skied, how many
verticals they did in one day, in one season and compare
themselves to friends.”
RFID tracking also has an important safety application. As
long as a pass has been registered, should a skier go missing,
the system can identify the last lift used by that skier, enabling
faster search and rescue.
Between seasons
Many mountain resorts have extended activities beyond
the winter season, and RFID technology can be applied
year-round.
Working with Intermountain in Kelowna, Panorama had
aluminum gantries custom-built to hold the gates above the
ground. Mounted on a skid mechanism, the gates can be
pushed out of the way in winter to allow groomers in. In summer,
those same gates allow ease of entry when mountain
bikers and hikers take their turn on the hill.
This summer, Panorama is adding hand-scanning for summer
activities: archery, mini-golf, gold-mining and more.
Orchiston said, “We can capture the card ID, look it up on our
database and respond back to the agent as to whether or not
that person has access.”
Destination management
It’s the marketing and sales capability of RFID that is the real
power behind RFID technology. Orchiston said, “At Panorama
we are developing the payment system, PocketMoney, that
will allow guests to add credits to their online RFID account,
then use those credits at the resort to purchase food, services
and merchandise simply by presenting their ski pass.”
SKIDATA takes this even further with what it calls Passport
to the Resort. “Depending on the installed system, a
guest tethers the encrypted chip in the RFID card to a credit
card,” said Keefe. “A family can then buy food, services such
as locker rentals, even use the card to unlock their rooms at
the resort.”
Reciprocal pass products are also becoming more popular
in North America, allowing skiers to buy a pass at one resort,
use it to move around and try the snow at different mountains,
thus sharing revenue amongst the different hills.
Making it happen
Axess has installed RFID systems in 50 countries, generally
beginning the process in early spring to be ready for the next
ski season. “The initial costs for such a program are comparatively
low,” said Kopetzky. “The whole investment for a smaller
resort is less than the cost of two complete snow guns on a
tower (including shaft, control panel, etc.).”
Orchiston said, “We did a lot of investigation into ROI prior
to purchasing the system in June 2017. We took into account
various factors – for example, labor savings and fraud elimination.
The technology frees up staff to work on other lifts, interact
more with the guests and better focus on fraud control.
“We had discussions with various vendors and in the
end purchased SKIDATA hardware units as they integrated
very well with the software component that came from
Active Networks RTP Software. Other than a few minor
glitches with product setup that the staff was able to mitigate,
the RFID technology has been working better than
we initially expected.”
Bergen notes that the system at WinSport Canada Olympic
Park has been operating for two years in all weather conditions
– extreme cold, the heat of summer, even rain. “It is an
investment up front, but other than a very few glitches, the
technology has been efficient and has multiple payoffs.”
RFID technology has been at ski resorts for many years,
and that experience has developed a product that is pretty
much bullet-proof, bringing the mountain experience into
today’s interconnected, online world.
44 April 2018 | snowopsmag.com