Vail Resorts is Elevating the Ski and Snowboard School Experience in Colorado and Lake Tahoe with EpicMix Academy
- EpicMix Academy has tracked nearly 80,000 students who have progressed to the next level since Nov. 1, 2013
- Guests and our Ski and Ride Schools can track the skills they have mastered and see what’s in store for their next lesson
BROOMFIELD, Colo.– Jan. 16, 2014– With Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month in full swing, Vail Resorts has released early metrics showing that nearly 80,000 ski and ride school students enrolled in EpicMix Academy in Colorado and Lake Tahoe have advanced to the next level, learning the skills and snow sports safety lessons necessary to enjoy a lifetime in winter sports.
In September Vail Resorts announced EpicMix Academy, the fourth generation of its award-winning application. EpicMix Academy allows the Company’s ski and ride school instructors to certify the achievement of certain skills and levels in their classes. Children and adults in both group and private ski and ride lessons can earn permanent recognition and review their accomplishments online and share them over Facebook and Twitter. Parents can track the progress of their kids, and ski and ride schools will immediately know the ability level of every student before the start of each lesson. Guests can activate their free EpicMix accounts at www.epicmix.com.
“EpicMix Academy is a powerful way to track your progress and your kids’ progress in our ski and ride schools,” said Vail Resorts’ chief marketing officer, Kirsten Lynch. “EpicMix Academy is giving our guests new visibility into their ski school learning progression and accomplishments, and giving parents and students the ability to play a bigger role in their on-snow development. This is the Ski and Ride School of the future.”
Of the nearly 105,000 report cards issued across the seven Colorado (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone) and Lake Tahoe (Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood) resorts since EpicMix Academy was available on Nov. 1, 2013, nearly 80,000 “level-ups” have been granted. Over 46,000 certified pins have been awarded and students are learning, on average, nine new skills per lesson.
Ski and Ride School levels are universal in the U.S. Levels 1-3 denote a beginning skier, levels 4-6 are intermediate and levels 7-9 are advanced. Examples of beginning skills include: Gliding and stopping in a wedge, controlling speed and linking turns, knowledge of the Skier’s Responsibility Code. Examples of intermediate skills include: Proper pole position and usage, performing a “hockey stop,” consistently skiing in a parallel stance throughout a turn. Examples of advanced skills include: Demonstrating dynamic turns on steep terrain, confidence in bumps and trees, and blending techniques and tactics to match more difficult terrain.
After completing a lesson, the instructor will upload lesson accomplishments into EpicMix Academy. Later that evening, the guest will be able to see their lesson accomplishments under the "My Academy" tab in their EpicMix profiles. Children will continue to receive a paper report card in addition to the digital version available in EpicMix.
“It seems pretty clear that if you truly want to learn to ski or snowboard this month, or anytime this season, Vail Resorts Ski and Ride Schools will provide you with the way to do it,”said Lynch.
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; Canyons in Park City, 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.
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; Canyons in Park City, 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.