Vail Resorts Announces EpicMix a New Online and Mobile Application
Written by Vail Resorts
Friday, 03 September 2010
Vail Resorts Announces EpicMix a New Online and Mobile Application,
Allowing Skiers and Riders a Seamless and Effortless Way to Digitally
Capture and Share Their Mountain Experience
30 August 2010 EpicMix leverages radio frequency (RF) technology
installed at each of the Company's 89 lifts across its five mountain
resorts and RF chips embedded in the Company's season passes and lift
tickets.
EpicMix will allow guests to track vertical feet skied and days on the mountain.
EpicMix enables guests to share their experiences with family and friends on Facebook and Twitter.
EpicMix will recognize special achievements by rewarding guests with collectible digital pins.
The free EpicMix mobile app will alert guests when their Facebook
friends are on the mountain, and can be used to send private messages
to meet up.
An EpicMix site for kids will feature special content and privacy restrictions.
BROOMFIELD, Colo. - August 30, 2010 - Today, Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:
MTN) unveiled EpicMixT, a first-of-its-kind online and mobile
application for the 2010-2011 ski and snowboard season. EpicMix allows
Vail Resorts guests, at any of its five world-class mountain
resorts-Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly-to
effortlessly utilize technology to digitally capture their ski and ride
experience and share it with friends and family.
EpicMix is a digital application that guests can access online, at
their computer or via a free mobile application that can be downloaded
for the iPhone, Android or other smart phone. EpicMix automatically
captures the activity of guests throughout each of its resorts, by
leveraging Vail Resorts' state-of-the-art radio frequency (RF) scanners
that are being installed at each of its 89 lifts across all five
mountain resorts. An RF-enabled chip embedded in Vail Resorts' season
passes and PEAKS lift tickets will automatically track guests' lift
rides, calculating vertical feet skied and days on the mountain and
will recognize special achievements and accomplishments by granting
guests commemorative, collectible digital pins. EpicMix will have
hundreds of available digital pins for a multitude of unique
experiences available at each resort.
EpicMix will allow guests to share their statistics and accomplishments
through updates on Twitter and Facebook and guests can create special
EpicMix leader boards with their Facebook friends. The EpicMix mobile
application will alert guests when any of their Facebook friends are
skiing and where they are on the mountain. The application will also
allow guests to send messages to their private groups of Facebook
friends on the mountain. The mobile application will also provide trail
and grooming information, snow and weather reports, as well as resort
news and traffic updates. EpicMix will also have a special website for
kids under the age of 14, which will allow them to connect with their
parents' accounts, but will have content designed specifically for them
and unique pins only kids can earn. The kids' site also will have
special privacy restrictions. Parents will also be able to use EpicMix
to track the lift rides of their kids in real time.
"With the advent of new technology in equipment and new features on the
mountain, skiing and riding have become the ultimate form of creative
expression in sports and travel. At the same time, the rapid growth of
social media has given people a whole new way to express themselves
online and connect with friends and family. EpicMix is a groundbreaking
experience that brings both together in a seamless and hassle free way
for all of our guests," said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive
officer of Vail Resorts. "EpicMix takes the fun of playing and sharing
online and marries it with the very real experience of skiing and
riding. By not requiring our guests do anything new, EpicMix is
accessible to everyone, not just those already familiar with social
media. EpicMix has the ability to track your physical accomplishments,
similar to applications like Nike+ and then combine it with the
community experience of location-based social media, similar to
applications like Gowalla."
The basic functionality of EpicMix does not require Vail Resorts'
guests to do anything but ski and ride as they always have. There is
nothing to buy, nothing new to wear and no required check-ins with
their mobile devices. The application is embedded into Vail Resorts'
existing season pass and PEAKS lift tickets. EpicMix can be used by any
guest at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly,
whether they purchase a season pass or a PEAKS single day lift ticket.
EpicMix will launch on opening day at Keystone Mountain on Nov. 5,
2010. The Company has posted a comprehensive video demonstrating the
features and functionality of EpicMix at www.epicmix.com.
The privacy of Vail Resorts guests is of paramount importance to the
Company and no information collected through EpicMix will be shared
unless a guest "opts in" and specifically chooses to share their
information. All information collected through EpicMix is subject to
the strict privacy policies of Vail Resorts. Guests can choose to
disable the RF chip in their pass to prevent any scanning. Children
under 14 participating in Epic-Mix will have limited features and a
connection only to their parents' account.
Epic Mix and Vail Resorts Season Passes
EpicMix is available to all Vail Resorts guests who have a PEAKS lift
ticket or a season pass. The Vail Resorts' Epic Pass, Epic 7-Pack,
Summit Pass, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin Pass, Heavenly Pass and PEAKS
Lift Ticket are all enabled with RF technology and allow guests to
participate in Epic Mix. All Vail Resorts season passes are currently
on sale now and the revolutionary Epic PassT is back for its third
season providing unlimited, unrestricted access to six world-class
resorts, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and
Heavenly, as well as at Arapahoe Basin at $599 for adults and $299 for
children (ages 5 to 12). New this year is the Epic 7-PackT
(www.epicpass.com): A seven-day unrestricted ticket that skiers and
snowboarders can use at any one of Vail Resorts' five mountain resorts
and Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season at a price of $449, or
almost 35-percent off of a single-day lift ticket price at the window.
Also for the second year, The Summit PassT is available to purchase
online at www.epicpass.com and provides unlimited, unrestricted lift
access at the top Summit County resorts-Breckenridge, Keystone and
Arapahoe Basin-at $409 for adults, $319 for teens (ages 13 to 18) and
$209 for children (ages 5 to 12). Also new this year is a Keystone and
Arapahoe Basin Pass, which offers unlimited, unrestricted skiing and
riding at both resorts and is priced at $359 for adults, $299 for teens
and $199 for children. Prices on all pass products are guaranteed until
Sept. 7, 2010.
Mobile Technology Feature - Top 10 Business Apps for Android - Android has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems
in the world due to advanced software, competitive manufacturers, and an
app market that is filled with exciting and useful applications. Read
on for this fine Top 10 List compiled by tech writer, Blake Sanders
The Really Big List of Mapping, Geo location Mobile developer resources, APIs and Tools - The Mobile Ecosystem... no question that mobile is huge and
the opportunity for developers, in particular, geo developers! There's
loads of developer resources on the web so to help the developer,
here's a listing of just some of the fine dev resources, blogs,
toolsets and more to consider when developing or porting your app to a
smartphone or Tablet.
ArcGIS.com Mashup Tutorial with Flickr and Foursquare data-
Here's a simple "how to" tutorial on working with the free ArcGIS.com
to easily import KML or RSS data from Flickr and foursquare into ArcGIS
to create your own custom map mashup. ArcGIS.com has some recent
updates including support for KML, be sure to check it out!
Most Users of Free Photo Apps Say Adding Cool Effects is Most Useful - Adding cool effects
to photos was rated as the most useful thing by more than halfof
consumers surveyed using free online photography services, according to
CatchFree a free
online service that helps people find the best free mobile and web applications
to perform useful tasks.
Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Up Close - No Replacement for the iPad But Pretty Darned Sweet - As could be
expected, speculation and blogging is rampant with many stories and
pseudo "reviews" coming out, many of them touting the next "iPad
killer".
Mobile Developer Resource - MapQuest & The Mobile Worker - Facility management companies, surveyors, multi-level marketing,
insurance claims, pipeline companies, water utilities; all have field
workers who would benefit from mobile applications. Not only checking in
to work sites, but keeping a record of the work done
Flickr GPS Photo Tag Tip - Here's a tip for Flickr users who want to share their GPS information
with their photos. note, in order to do this you'll need to be
capturing photos using a GPS-enabled or GPS-aware camera (see you're
smartphone hardware settings to ensure that GPS or location sharing is
turned "ON)".
Mobile data usage in Canada to triple between 2010 and 2012 - Some interesting, yet not terribly surprising, numbers on mobile
usage coming out of Canada. According to a report summarized on
Techvibes, mobile usage is soaring, in particular, the smartphone
segment
Social Location Directory
Do you have a location-aware application, social location service or other location-sensitive service that you'd like to share with us? Please browse this growing directory of Social location Services and feel free to leave a link to your favorite service! See the Directory HERE
Suggested Reading
The Underground Guide To The iPhone:
The iPhone is – if I may say so – one of the greatest mobile
revolutions of the past decade. More and more, mobile phones seem to
materialize out of our wildest dreams. Because of the tight integration
of third-party applications, you can do nearly everything with your
device — be it gaming, working, fooling around, and of course phoning.
Good Mobile Messaging: Executives and professional field forces spend an increasing amount of time on the road tending to business.
Mobile Apps - Native or Web?:
You probably have a plan to build a mobile app, but you've struggled
with the basic question - Should I build it using open web standards
such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or should I build it as a native app
for the devices I want to target?
iBike Coach App- a new “Always On” feature always gathers data
Nike+ GPS App- for sports tracking, recording and sharing
Featured Events
Content & Apps for Automotive Europe 2012 (18-19 April, Germany)
will give you key insights on how in-vehicle connectivity is being
revolutionised as OEMs integrate dynamic content to stay relevant
throughout the vehicle life cycle.
Location Intelligence for Enterprise - Europe 2012, January 16-17, London Hear from Google, Jones Lang LaSalle, Tesco, Willis, Oracle,
ESRI, Microsoft, PBBI and many more as they debate the best strategies
for business models and integration.
Consumer Telematics Show 2012 (Jan 9, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA) is the most prestigious and
dynamic consumer telematics focused meeting for the automotive industry.
Held in Las Vegas on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
this year's senior-level speakers will include General Motors, Audi,
Toyota, Panasonic, Continental, Hughes Telematics, Gartner, KIA,
Mercedes-Benz and many more
Esri Dev Summit - The
Esri Developer Summit (DevSummit) brings together developers and GIS
professionals from all over the globe. March 26-29, 2012, Palm Springs,
CA
