RFID Rant

[gittist]

I like watching people 'mating' with the cattle gates . I'm one of them if I have to wear 20 year old ski jacket for some reason.

 

[bigbob]

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.

Skyship at needles also has RFID gates along with the quad.

 

[nh2maboarder]

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

At Waterville this past weekend they didn’t have gates or people checking passes. I was like, did I just waste money on a lift ticket? Figured they must have had some kind of other tech, maybe like an EZ pass. Idk.

 

[Smellytele]

At Waterville this past weekend they didn’t have gates or people checking passes. I was like, did I just waste money on a lift ticket? Figured they must have had some kind of other tech, maybe like an EZ pass. Idk.

Maybe that is the place I was thinking of.

 

[ss20]

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?

It is becoming more common to put gates in at all lifts. But yes, the standard was to only put them at base area lifts to check for access. I believe Sugarbush has them at all lifts now?

 

[gladerider]

#1 reason for RFID failure = you have another RFID on you. i read that somewhere.

my first experience with RFID was more than a dozen years ago @ les trois vallee. now it's everywhere because it makes economical sense.

 

[abc]

It is becoming more common to put gates in at all lifts. But yes, the standard was to only put them at base area lifts to check for access. I believe Sugarbush has them at all lifts now?

It doesn't help anyone to have the pass fail and causing delay on upper mountain lifts. Just a hassle.

If I were the executive, I'd put gates everywhere but turnstiles only at access points. A balance of collecting data vs ease of operation.

 

[Masshat]

I believe Sugarbush has them at all lifts now?

Affirmative- they are in place on all lifts, both out-of-base and upper mountain.

I personally have never had a problem with RFID gates. That being said, I will be the first to admit that it is annoying when the pass doesn’t scan successfully, but more often then not if you know where to keep it on your person, everything works smoothly.

 

[da-bum]

It is becoming more common to put gates in at all lifts. But yes, the standard was to only put them at base area lifts to check for access. I believe Sugarbush has them at all lifts now?

They finally realized that a large group of friends could ride all day with just 2 passes?

 

[xlr8r]

Does anyone know what the deal is at Waterville with their RFID. They give you the RFID card, but they do not have any gates, and they never scan you.

 

[Smellytele]

Does anyone know what the deal is at Waterville with their RFID. They give you the RFID card, but they do not have any gates, and they never scan you.

This is what I mentioned earlier. It is like a fastpass on the highway

 

[shadyjay]

#1 reason for RFID failure = you have another RFID on you. i read that somewhere.

Oh ain't that the truth! The first year we had them at Sugarbush, that was the #1 issue. We had signs up saying only one RFID card on you at a time. When a customer would have a problem, we'd ask to see the card, and 4 others would be in the pocket.

I was surprised to see ticket scanners still in use at Okemo and Mt Snow. I visited both this week for the first time since the early 2000s and was issued an RFID-looking card, but there were ticket scanners present at the base lifts. I saw weird overhead gantries at the lift "wait here" area which I thought were RFID readers. For the scanners, I had my pass in my glove pocket (my jacket doesn't have a convenient spot for that) and it worked each time. I wasn't charged $5 for the card either, so I guess they're just typical cards with barcodes and not RFIDs.

 

[SenorQuesadilla]

Currently at Taos and their readers can't scan through clothes at all. Annoying aspect of an otherwise great experience.

 

[millerm277]

I have no problem with RFID.

I have a significant problem with the $5 fee tacked on for getting a card by many ski areas, as it's entirely unjustified and serves as yet another way to sneakily rip off first-time/infrequent skiers. RFID cards cost just about nothing. A few cents more than a traditional printed ticket.

 

[PAabe]

What do you guys do with your cards? I am starting to amass quite a collection. Need to get like a trading card book or something

 

[raisingarizona]

Can you sell your card in the parking lot to the skiers that arrive for the afternoon option?

I used to make some money from time to time doing that selling a friends day pass or comps I had been given for media work. I could easily get enough for a heavy apres session from one ticket around 12 or 1 and on several occasions got my rent paid when having a stack of comps.

 

[shadyjay]

There's no way to tell, just by looking at a card, if its valid, for what date, etc. I had an extra one from Thursday at Okemo that I tossed at the window once I got one for Mt Snow on Friday (wasn't charged $5 for either). I left ~ 12:30 and *could* have given it away but chose not to. (I used as VSAA 4-pass voucher so the day was paid for already, at less than $50). Its not like the old paper tickets with the zip ties, which could have been transferred and with the buyer knowing what he was getting. I certainly wouldn't give someone $20, $50 etc in the lot for an RFID card that may/may not be valid. The wicket was designed so that it couldn't be transferred from person-to-person. That would all be theft of services, anyway.

 

[Cornhead]

I have no problem with RFID.

I have a significant problem with the $5 fee tacked on for getting a card by many ski areas, as it's entirely unjustified and serves as yet another way to sneakily rip off first-time/infrequent skiers. RFID cards cost just about nothing. A few cents more than a traditional printed ticket.

Me too, especially for season pass holders, you pay them $600 to access the lifts, oh, by the way, we're gonna need another $5 for your RF card, petty. I wasn't gouged for my picture ID all these years. I'm sure that cost more to produce than my RF card.

 

[machski]

Oh ain't that the truth! The first year we had them at Sugarbush, that was the #1 issue. We had signs up saying only one RFID card on you at a time. When a customer would have a problem, we'd ask to see the card, and 4 others would be in the pocket.

I was surprised to see ticket scanners still in use at Okemo and Mt Snow. I visited both this week for the first time since the early 2000s and was issued an RFID-looking card, but there were ticket scanners present at the base lifts. I saw weird overhead gantries at the lift "wait here" area which I thought were RFID readers. For the scanners, I had my pass in my glove pocket (my jacket doesn't have a convenient spot for that) and it worked each time. I wasn't charged $5 for the card either, so I guess they're just typical cards with barcodes and not RFIDs.

Vail's hand scanners are RFID scanners. They do not like gates. The gantry thing is the Epic Mix, that records your laps off the RFID cards. But the hand scanners are the "ticket checkers".

 

[raisingarizona]

There's no way to tell, just by looking at a card, if its valid, for what date, etc. I had an extra one from Thursday at Okemo that I tossed at the window once I got one for Mt Snow on Friday (wasn't charged $5 for either). I left ~ 12:30 and *could* have given it away but chose not to. (I used as VSAA 4-pass voucher so the day was paid for already, at less than $50). Its not like the old paper tickets with the zip ties, which could have been transferred and with the buyer knowing what he was getting. I certainly wouldn't give someone $20, $50 etc in the lot for an RFID card that may/may not be valid. The wicket was designed so that it couldn't be transferred from person-to-person. That would all be theft of services, anyway.

I think I’d be ok with reselling a pass (theft of service) from a mega Corp ski resort place, especially Vail. But to be honest, I’ve never been much of a rule follower.

It certainly wasn’t hard to justify doing whatever it took to survive living in an expensive mountain town when you’re surrounded by such extreme wealth.