Vail Resorts Re-Imagines How Skiers and Snowboarders Experience the Mountain with EpicMix Guide
- EpicMix Guide allows Vail Resorts’ guests to ski the whole mountain with the inside knowledge of an expert local
Vail Resorts has re-imagined how skiers and snowboarders will maximize their time on the mountain this winter, with the fifth generation of its award-winning, multi-channel app, EpicMix™. EpicMix™ Guide uses guest input to generate a customized, step-by-step navigational guide to experience Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge or Keystone in Colorado, Canyons in Park City, Utah, or Heavenly, Northstar or Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe like a long-time local.
“EpicMix Guide will enhance the way many of our destination guests experience our resorts,” said Kirsten Lynch, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Vail Resorts. “Skiers and riders can input what kind of skiing they like to do, what kind of terrain they want to explore and how much time they have available, and EpicMix Guide provides a custom itinerary to help them navigate the mountain in a care-free way, maximizing the fun they’ll have that day.”
Guests log into any one of the various EpicMix channels (app, mobile web, desktop) and answer a variety of questions including: desired resort, starting location at the resort, terrain difficulty desired, and length of time available. EpicMix Guide then pours over 350 possible itineraries to automatically generate the optimal route for that guest on that day.
“EpicMix Guide is like handing you 20 years of experience at that resort on your first visit there,” said Lynch. “We’re putting this power at the fingertips of every one of our guests.”
The EpicMix development team sought the insider knowledge of each resort’s most experienced Ski and Ride School instructors to build itineraries which would let guests explore each mountain in a unique way that is appropriate for the corresponding skill level.
Once an itinerary is completed, skiers and riders can share their itinerary, along with photos and other stats about their day, on social media through Facebook and Twitter.
“We’ll give you all the assets you need to share the story about your epic day,” said Lynch.
EpicMix debuted in 2010 as an RFID-based system which allows skiers and riders to track their days on the slopes and share their accomplishments via social media, while never getting in the way of the on-hill skiing and riding experience. The RFID chip in season passes and day tickets tracks vertical feet, number of lift rides and other data. Vail Resorts followed the original EpicMix with EpicMix Photo, EpicMix Racing and EpicMix Academy, a ski-school app. After receiving input that guests wanted the app to provide recommendations, EpicMix Guide was designed to push those boundaries.
“EpicMix was the first RFID-enabled ski application to combine physical performance tracking with social media sharing,” said Robert Urwiler, Vail Resort’s executive vice president and chief information officer. “EpicMix Guide is pushing skiing and riding to new technological frontiers by making the transition from passive tracking to active recommendations.”
EpicMix Guide will be available in early December 2014. Guests can activate their free EpicMix accounts at www.epicmix.com.
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Park City and Canyons in Utah; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan; and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.