RFID Rant

[urungus]

I miss this guy

 

[machski]

I'm in different to RFID, as long as I don't have to pay extra for it.

It's no "improvement" for the customers. At least not until they have vending machine that dispense RFID cards like they do in Europe.

As for now, the benefit of re-loading is offset for the extra charge for the card itself.

Actually, Boyne resorts do have those now (and last year too)!

 

[machski]

Between loon, sr and ragged I have probably had rfid read 300+ times this year, had an issue once that I can remember. RFID is a huge improvement over the vail scanners from last year.

Vail uses hand scanners still, but they are not bar code scanners. They are hand held RFID scanners and seem to work extremely well (assuming you tell the scanning employee where on your body your card is). Been mostly flawless when I have gone to Vail resorts and smoother than gates. I have to at least give them that.

 

[Smellytele]

View attachment 52598

I miss this guy

Go to Indy pass resorts and you could be that guy

 

[urungus]

Go to Indy pass resorts and you could be that guy

Berkshire East, my home mountain, has RFID. So do Catamount, Jay Peak, Bolton Valley, Waterville Valley, Saddleback

 

[cdskier]

You can get a real time visualization of ski area traffic flow by sticking your head out of the office and taking a glance at where people are actually skiing or perhaps even counting them in line. This may be hard to do from locations such as Broomfield though

That gives you data for 1 specific point in time for whatever you can see from 1 specific vantage point (which at most resorts would not be all your lifts at once). RFID gives you the data for the entire day in 1 nice view for every single lift that you have gates setup at.

Useful for far more than just people working at some central management location. Local management or even independent resorts can gain a significant amount of data via RFID that they can't gain easily across the board simply by looking out the window.

Actually, Boyne resorts do have those now (and last year too)!

Sugarbush has had those ticket dispensers for at least a year or two as well. I saw them at Windham today. Pretty sure K has them from what I remember.

 

[Smellytele]

Berkshire East, my home mountain, has RFID. So do Catamount, Jay Peak, Bolton Valley, Waterville Valley, Saddleback

One of those I think Waterville has more like a speed lane as there are no gates. Jay has a weird one I think that they just point the gun in your general direction and it reads you no gates.

 

[PAabe]

One interesting point about the data aspect- at least at ORDA ski centers, only the lifts out of the base area have RFID gates. The upper mountain lifts have no validation of the tickets, as it is assumed you have already went through an RFUD gate to reach that point. Is this common at other areas?

 

[hub8]

SB, Killington, Loon, Sugarloaf was all like that.

My son and I had to have our IKON RFID replaced at Killington, Loon. They were just dead. Seem fragile. No physical damage that we know of or can see.

 

[chuckstah]

One of those I think Waterville has more like a speed lane as there are no gates. Jay has a weird one I think that they just point the gun in your general direction and it reads you no gates.

Jay had gates last season, haven't been yet this year.

 

[urungus]

One of those I think Waterville has more like a speed lane as there are no gates. Jay has a weird one I think that they just point the gun in your general direction and it reads you no gates.

But no ticket wickets to hang from your jacket

 

[PAabe]

Maybe I'll tape my RFID card to a ticket wicket for easy scanning accessibility and to complete my ski outfit

 

[cdskier]

One interesting point about the data aspect- at least at ORDA ski centers, only the lifts out of the base area have RFID gates. The upper mountain lifts have no validation of the tickets, as it is assumed you have already went through an RFUD gate to reach that point. Is this common at other areas?

Sugarbush started out that way, then added gates to the upper mountain lifts either the 2nd or 3rd year they had the RFID system.

 

[Great Bear]

One interesting point about the data aspect- at least at ORDA ski centers, only the lifts out of the base area have RFID gates. The upper mountain lifts have no validation of the tickets, as it is assumed you have already went through an RFUD gate to reach that point. Is this common at other areas?

I'll pay closer attention the next time I am there, but I believe that Needles Eye is the only upper mountain lift at Killington with an RFID gate.

 

[Great Bear]

Overall I prefer the RFID system. Direct to lift, reduces theft of services, more reliable than the hand held bar-code scanners.

 

[Smellytele]

Overall I prefer the RFID system. Direct to lift, reduces theft of services, more reliable than the hand held bar-code scanners.

I don't want any scanning personally if it is going to slow things down and don't care about theft of services

 

[Great Bear]

I don't want any scanning personally if it is going to slow things down and don't care about theft of services

The mountain losing money can have a direct affect on your skiing experience through reduced grooming / snowmaking / staffing budget.

 

[urungus]

The mountain losing money can have a direct affect on your skiing experience through reduced grooming / snowmaking / staffing budget.

Also freeloaders take up space in the lift line and on the slopes.

 

[crank]

Correct me if I'm wrong . Does not scanning give them the same data as RFID?

BTW, I am perfectly happy with RFID. MY pass stays in my shell's pass pocket all season.

 

[mister moose]

I agree with the concept, but the current tech blows. If I can be blasting down the highway at 75mph through an electric toll and every time have it either register my EZ pass or capture a license plate number to bill, then why are the readers at the gates so piss poor?

I have the pass position in our jackets dialed for me and my kids and rarely have an issue, but newbies have issues constantly at Gunstock and other places I've skied with the gates. The result can often be empty chairs going up. That's annoying on busy days with long lift lines.

It's a sensitivity issue. The spacing is better when you're driving at 75. When people stand on your skis up close to the gate with you, the sensitivity has to be down to where it won't read adjacent lanes or someone right behind you. That plus people not heeding the request for the pass to be in an outer pocket with no other credit cards or old/other passes.