Where to Ski And Snowboard - Track ski lift waiting times at Vail

Track ski lift waiting times at Vail

16th August 2015, by Abi Butcher

Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek and Keystone will be using the new app this season

Four ski resorts in Colorado will be using an app this winter that tells users how long they will have to wait in a lift queue.

Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone have installed technology called EpicMix Time that estimates lift queue wait times using anonymised, crowd-sourced wifi and Bluetooth signals to allow skiers and snowboarders to maximise their time on the slopes. The queues are shown on a piste map within the EpicMix app.

Vail Resorts — which owns all four ski areas — is currently testing the technology at Perisher ski resort in Australia, which it bought earlier this summer. If all goes well, the company plans to roll out EpicMix Time across the rest of its ski resorts and expand the programme so people can judge how busy restaurants are across the mountain — and even shops.

“Providing real-time lift line wait times is a first for the ski industry,” said Robert Urwiler, Vail Resorts’ executive vice president and chief information officer.

“Similar to apps showing traffic flow, like Google Maps or Waze, we’re applying unique and sophisticated analytics to aggregated, anonymous location data generated by smart phones and other mobile devices across the distinct topography and layout of our chairlifts to calculate reliable wait time information for our guests.

“We are truly leading the travel industry in how to incorporate technology into the guest experience.”

Launched in 2010, EpicMix also allows skiers and snowboarders to track their days on the slopes, which they can share on social media, take free photos, record amateur racing stats and set goals for ski school and mountain challenges.