This iciness, Vail lodges is making an attempt one thing totally different on its ski slopes: Crowdsourced, actual-time wait times for ski lifts supplied by the use of smartphone app. Vail hotels says that an update to its EpicMix smartphone app will acquire knowledge from the RFID-enabled season passes skiers lift at the resort. It’s probably the most formidable efforts but to convey Waze-fashion crowdsourced area data into the sports activities and vacation spheres.

“offering actual-time raise line wait occasions is a primary for the ski trade,” Vail resorts government vice president Robert Urwiler said in a observation. “similar to apps showing site visitors flow, like Google Maps or Waze, we’re applying unique and sophisticated analytics to aggregated, nameless region knowledge generated by way of smartphones and different mobile devices across the dissimilar topography and layout of our chairlifts to calculate dependable wait time information for our visitors.”

in step with the Denver put up, the crowdsourced wait time technology will probably be to be had for fifty five core lifts and gondolas at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Keystone. Vail lodges plans to set up the expertise at lodges in Utah and California within the 2016-17 season as well. In 2011, fast company examined how Vail blended knowledge mining with consumer loyalty programs in an earlier iteration of the EpicMix app.