An Australian Ski Resort System

Kayleigh Rumbelow, Peter Busch and Deborah Richards

Department of Computing, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Keywords: Ski Resorts, Information System, Social Computing, XML, Databases, RFID, Design Science.

Abstract: The aim of this system was to use and display existing ski access data in a new way to create business as

well as social enhancement opportunities for resorts and their guests. Radio Frequency Identification

(RFID) enabled passes, were used as input mechanisms captured by a scanner on snow at various locations.

Each scan was stored in a relational database and information extracted from this was shown to a user via a

webpage. A comparative analysis of two major resorts, both of which are currently using RFID ticket

technology was used to assess what information was currently provided to guests and how it was delivered.

This analysis was used to identify areas for future growth and development of an improved system. The use

of these services was often more of an after-ski activity rather than during (Jambon and Meillon, 2009). The

improvement described herein allowed the user display to operate on a delay rather than instantaneously.

The significance of this improved solution enabled a resort to differentiate itself from competitors. An

alternative data display is presented detailing the technologies employed and additional functionality that

could be explored.

1 INTRODUCTION

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology

has been heavily deployed as part of supply chain

management strategies, tracking parts or products to

help enable greater visibility throughout. Access

management using RFID has been implemented in

ski resorts, car parks, theme parks, office buildings

and public transport environments (Anon, 2003).

With many ski resorts adopting RFID as part of their

access solution the potential access to huge amounts

of data begs the question ‘what can be done with all

this data?’ and ‘how can it be displayed to users in

different ways to provide an enhanced experience?’

Investigating how data is currently collected using

variations of RFID technology ticketing solutions

can help identify the challenges faced and the

limitations created by hardware and software.

Working within these constraints, an alternative data

display is explored.

2 SKI RESORTS AND RFID

Invented in 1948, RFID is commonly used for

resource/asset tracking and management. High

frequency (HF) passive RFID tags have become

standard for ski pass applications (O’Conner, 2008).

HF tags use inductive coupling to transmit data. The

reader and the tag form an electromagnetic field

which is used to give the chip within the tag, power

to run its circuitry to change the magnetic field and

embedded in a card that can be customized to

contain the resort logo, some advertising and the

pass-holder’s name. RFID lift access cards cannot be

punctured and attached to the user, they must be

stored in a pocket or protective sleeve. While

previous ticketing required line of sight for

checking, the RFID system does not, allowing users

to store the card within a pocket for the duration of

its use (O’Connor, 2008). Although HF passive tags

are common in ski ticketing, Vail resorts have opted

to use ultrahigh frequency (UHF) (O’Connor,

2008b). The method used to transmit data with UHF

systems is called propagation coupling - a reader

emits electromagnetic energy in the form of radio

waves to power the tag instead of an electromagnetic

field. The microchip backscatters this by changing

the load on the antenna and reflecting back an

altered signal (Violino, 2005). UHF tags have a

longer scanning range that Vail is expected to

leverage for other applications, such as estimations

for how long the wait is for each lift (O’Conner,

Rumbelow K., Busch P. and Richards D..

An Australian Ski Resort System.

DOI: 10.5220/0005356800650070

In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS-2015), pages 65-70

ISBN: 978-989-758-098-7

 2015 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

2007).

The motivation to employ RFID pass technology

include reducing ticket fraud, and increasing

customer service by allowing guests to move

through lift lines faster (Rafter, 2008). The gated

access system checks all tickets are valid, as this is

stricter and easier than previous human operated

hand held checking devices (O’Conner, 2010). The

ability to reload tickets online or over the phone

means guests can bypass ticket windows altogether

and head straight to the lifts (Anon., 2011). Within

Europe the option to purchase passes that allow

access to more than one resort was a major factor in

the adoption of RFID ski passes. RFID solutions

have been fully tested and widely accepted by both

resorts and guests for over a decade in Europe

(Barto, 2009), and likewise in Australia (table 1).

Table 1: Current RFID ticketing in Australia.

With the introduction of RFID ski passes, resorts

have the ability to search a specific pass and find the

last scanned location and time an individual was

there, which can be of assistance for a missing

person or child, and be the starting point for a

search. Supervisors also have the ability to hotlist a

pass and send a message to it. A children’s ski

school can also use this feature if a parent cannot be

contacted via the mobile number provided and their

child needs to be collected early due to illness.

2.1 Capturing Data

While RFID solutions have been adopted in many

areas, specialist solutions need to be sought for the

ski industry. White Pass resort (Washington USA)

found that inclement weather conditions including

snow and rain, dramatically reduced the effective

read distance of passive tags. While antennas could

be configured to allow for the drop-off in read

distance, to do so each time the weather became an

issue would be impractical (Collins, 2004).

2.2 Going Social

Although ski resorts are using RFID as a ticketing

solution allowing access to lifts, some are using it

for other services such as tracking the number of

vertical feet skied and earning points based on this,

along with the ability to share experiences with

others via social media (Swedberg, 2012). In 2010

Vail resorts debuted EpicMix, a platform enabling

users to track their stats online and connect with

each other using social media. The amount of

vertical feet skied is calculated using the difference

between lifts ridden. Users can earn “pins” based on

vertical feet achieved or other criteria specified by

the resort, such as riding a lift a certain number of

times within one day. Users will also be able to

publish their stats to Facebook and Twitter.

RFID combined with social media was used to

increase popularity for a series of festivals known as

‘Coca-Cola Village’ in Israel during summer 2010.

A RFID enabled wrist band was issued to each

teenager that was linked to their Facebook account.

Machines containing readers were placed across the

festival site and when a wristband was scanned, it

would post information related to a specific

attraction to the users Facebook page, photos could

also be posted. The system was a hit with Israeli

teenagers, claiming 100% reach with every teenager

knowing about it (Swedberg, 2010). Furthermore, in

a study conducted by Tampere University of

Technology it was found that a user’s primary use of

an online sports service was to keep a personal

sporting diary, yet sharing training information and

social features were also essential (Ojala and

Saarela, 2010).

2.3 Visualisation

Given the above considerations, what was missing

was to incorporate visual aspects to data captured at

a single resort by the ski lift access gates. Bederson

and Shneideman (2003) describe visualization as a

way to interpret and translate data from computer

understandable formats to human ones by employing

graphical models, charts, graphs and other images.

Information visualization is concerned with abstract

phenomena, whereas scientific visualization is

concerned with visualization of three-dimensional

physical objects such as blood flow, protein

structures and crystal growth. However a physical

reality may not even exist for many information

visualization projects such as stock market

movements, social relationships and supermarket

purchases (Bederson and Shneideman, 2003).

Google fusion tables are one such example that can

be used to display a variety of data which often has a

geographical nature; this can be overlaid on to a

google map to allow relationships within the data to

ICEIS2015-17thInternationalConferenceonEnterpriseInformationSystems

be seen. Papatoniou (2011) utilized google fusion

tables to create a framework for visualizing the web

of data, this was then used to create a mashup of

information and knowledge related to the

Mediterranean Sea. Dunlop, Elsey and Masters

(2007) used a map of Val Thorens (a French ski

resort), to develop a mobile application assessing the

suitability of runs based on the physical conditions

of the slope; such as its classification, grooming and

weather conditions along with user-set preferences.

They displayed the suitability of each run on the

map in a variety of ways including colour saturation,

direct labelling and line width. Line width was

deemed the most suitable parameter, allowing for

many runs to be displayed on one map clearly. The

colours used corresponded with the classification of

the run they represented: green, blue, red and black

(European classification). Classification of runs in

North America and Australia use green, blue, black

and double black. Distinguishing between black and

double black using this representation could be

confusing.

3 APPROACH

The method adopted for this project used a design

science approach (Recker, 2013), where the key

outcome was an ‘instantiation’, that is to say an

implemented or prototyped system that could be put

to use. In line with design science there was a focus

on providing “novelty of the demonstrated utility of

an artefact; [and] a positive difference of the utility

of an artefact in comparison to existing work”

(Recker, 2013 p. 108).

A total of 14 tables were obtained from

Pulveriser ski resort as XML files ranging from 4KB

to 4GB in size. These files contained: access detail,

access location, access location group, instructor

location, instructor schedule, IP, IP type, lesson

level, location, pass media status, person profile,

prepaid access profile and status. In short, data

collected from readers around the Pulveriser resort

was obtained and stored in a MySQL database. The

data was then imported into pre-constructed tables.

After examination of the data, a number of ideas for

how the IT could deliver social enhancement came

to mind. Some options are provided below:

3.1 Visualisation of Ski Lifts Taken

throughout the Day

One idea is to present the skier with a visualisation

of lifts and times of ski-lifts used throughout their

day.

3.2 Find Your Instructor/Suggest to

Friends

Another option would be to analysing lift access

data to identify potential relationships, perhaps

looking for friends that have used the same lifts

within a given timeframe as a means of sharing

social information and experiences

3.3 Infer Ski-level for Days-ridden and

Trails to Be Accessed

Another option could be to allow instructors access

to the lifts-ridden-history of guests participating in

lessons. Logistically this would be difficult as extra

hardware would be required at lesson locations or to

be carried by instructors. Even if instructors could

see last lifts ridden, there is still huge variation in

ability within each slope, which could nonetheless

be useful. What if the skier had skied overseas or

grown substantially in the last year, makes

incorporating these options technically difficult.

3.4 Infer Ski-level for Days-ridden and

Trails to Be Accessed

Specifically for children, a social addition to the

skiing experience could be using a child’s lift access

data, to provide a quiz for children containing simple

questions about where they skied during a specific

day, such as “did you ride a chair lift today?” or “did

you go on a tbar today?” Admittedly, this would be

difficult to make accurate but still be interesting for

all age-levels. Within the Pulveriser children’s

learning area there is a mixed poma and T-bar lift

that does not have a RFID reader at the base of it,

which could result in a child riding a T-bar, yet the

ride not being registered to their pass. Other options

could include general skiing questions for children

about safety on the hill, as well as challenges such as

“find the height of Mount Kosciusko”, or whatever

peak may be shown on any given trail maps.

4 PROTOTYPE

In line with a design science approach to

‘instantiation’, the following introduces a prototype

system. In this case the system relates to one resort

specifically being that of ‘Pulveriser’ in New South

Wales. One approach to working with the prototype

AnAustralianSkiResortSystem

was to incorporate extra features which would be

located in a separate tab labelled “MY MAP” within

the layout of Pulveriser’s current dashboard, as

shown at the bottom of figure 1.

In order to visualize data that would be collected

from the RFID system of ski lifts taken throughout

the day and enhance the online service provided,

three different techniques were explored. Firstly

Google Fusion Tables, as the lift access data is

related to a geographical place within the resort,

where a google map could be used to display the

geographical data.

Figure 1: Pulveriser Dashboard with “MY MAP” tab.

In order to accomplish this process, a table was

created containing the names of three different lifts

and the longitude and latitude of their summits, and

the number of times it was ridden by any one user.

The resulting map is of this process is shown in

figure 2. The red dots illustrated relate to a row in

the table and can be selected to display further

detail.

Figure 2: Resultant map using Google fusion tables.

An added aspect to the prototype was to select a ski-

run of the Pulveriser ski resort map commonly

known as Front Valley, and alter the colour from the

original to allow an image to be seen more clearly

when the map was used as a background. Front

Valley has 3 major lifts servicing it, the Village 8

(V8 - that is an eight seater chair lift and two T-

bars), and two more slopes known as Mitchell and

Sturt. Mitchell is located on the right side when

looking at the map and Sturt on the left, with the V8

in the middle, the whole area is indicated by orange

hatch on the trail map. This section was chosen as it

is often the first access point for many skiers and

snow-boarders, as it is the first area to open and the

last to close each season.

Next a simple outline image of a skier riding a

chairlift was placed on top of the selected section of

the trail map as an extra layer to indicate a user’s

location. This indicator was placed along the route

of a lift to create a series of 12 separate images.

These images if displayed in sequence, visualize the

movement of a skier up a lift. Two methods of

displaying this visualization were implemented,

firstly a moving .gif file was created within

Photoshop using the 12 images each as separate

frames (figure 3). The second method of showing

the movement of a skier up a lift, used each of the 12

sequence pictures together as one picture, like a

filmstrip.

Figure 3: Using Photoshop to create a moving gif.

The image is loaded in to a div (division or a section

in an HTML document – figure 4), that has a set

height and width equal to that of one frame. The

overflow is hidden, giving the effect that the picture

is only of the rider at the bottom of the lift.

Figure 4: Div section in HTML.

A javascript function (figure 5 – following page) is

then used to change the position of the frame along

the filmstrip, showing each frame for a set time

interval, currently set to a tenth of a second, however

this can be changed if required.

While this is not a suitable visualization method

for resort guests, it could be utilized within the resort

for staff members who are already familiar with the

lift layout. A table of currently working instructors

with details of the last lift they rode, may be useful

ICEIS2015-17thInternationalConferenceonEnterpriseInformationSystems

for managers to see where lessons are currently

taking place around the mountain, or finding out

who is in a certain area if assistance was required.

James Niehues, a resort and panoramic artist, has

made a living creating maps for over 75% of the

large ski resorts (Harris, 2006), including areas in

the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and

Korea. Each one is hand-painted using watercolour

and many aerial photographs for reference, bringing

everything into a single view while maintaining

accuracy of relationships between elements. A

section of one of his ski maps was used for the final

two visualizations. Although the final 2

visualizations essentially achieve the same result and

look the same to the user, they were created using

two very different methods, namely animated .gifs

as well as a filmstrip picture. Examining the file size

of each of these methods for a single lift

visualization of the V8, the animated .gif file is

213KB yet the filmstrip is considerably bigger at

2.4MB.

Figure 5: Javascript function to change position.

Each of the individual pictures used to create the

filmstrip was 201KB, the quality of each could be

reduced to create a smaller filmstrip file if needed.

As the filmstrip is considered to be one file, the

whole file will be loaded just 1 time when the

corresponding web page is visited. The loading of

such a file compared to multiple individual files, has

implications for speed of page loading, efficiency

and accessibility. Although single lift rides can be

visualized with the current prototype, linking more

than one is a long process requiring editing of files

within Photoshop. The time frame between the

display of each frame of the filmstrip can be altered

within the JavaScript, this may be necessary if

multiple lift rides are simulated to keep the length of

the animation to a minimum.

4.1 Further Work

Naturally there is further work for the resort to

consider, including options of displaying multiple

lift rides without editing Photoshop files, allowing

reusability for many different combinations of routes

taken. Possible solutions could include: an in-depth

look at CSS options allowing the background to be

separate from the moving lift picture - reducing the

file size of each frame or allowing a HTML5 canvas

to be used. Alternatively one could use JavaScript to

order events and add a time delay where necessary,

allowing the move-skier function to be called

multiple times but for different lifts, and displayed in

an order that reflects pass data.

Once multiple lift rides are displayed in a

satisfactory manner, it is possible to link the lift

rides undertaken by any given skier in their own part

of the resort database, so as to enable an individual

visualization to be created dynamically for each user

within their own personal dashboard. The idea being

largely a social one in this case so that the skier is

able to show their friends what they have done and

make recommendations for others. Different options

could be available, such as last the 10 ski-lift rides

undertaken for perhaps a whole day, or the whole

week. A limit of how many lift rides may need to be

imposed to offer a balance between page loading

speed, visualization length and quality of images. An

option to customize the version of the resort map

displayed could be added, allowing a clearer view of

different resort areas if a user did not need to see the

entire map, for example just Guthega runs (a

separate area of the Pulveriser resort), could be

displayed on a Guthega specific map which would

be easier to see due to different aspects of the hill.

One can imagine the impact of these

recommendations particularly amongst the social

extroverted and Facebook savvy Generation Y.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Digital representations of ski resort access data

offered to users depend heavily upon the data

collection method employed at each resort. Two

different online displays of ski statistics were

compared and additional functionality considered.

An alternative visualization was developed within

the constraints of the data available, showing lifts

ridden using a resort map. The digital offering a

resort can produce is limited by the data it obtains

from tickets and passes. While many sport tracking

networks use global positioning from a mobile

AnAustralianSkiResortSystem

devices, the data collected from RFID passes at the

resort investigated here (Pulveriser), only provides

information about which lifts were ridden, there are

often many routes that can be taken from the top of

one lift to the bottom of another. Such data is

collected using High Frequency RFID enabled

passes and readers positioned at the bottom of each

lift. With over 200 million skiers worldwide and

many resorts adopting RFID ticketing solutions,

online offerings have been labelled the ‘evolution of

the skiing industry’. For the resort in question,

online statistics are currently displayed via a

dashboard that uses bar graphs, pie charts and tables

to show which lifts have been ridden and how many

vertical meters have been skied. Five of the nine

well known ski resorts in Australia currently have

RFID ticketing systems in place, with only one of

those providing access to personal statistics online,

which suggests a huge growth area in future years.

A visualization of a single lift ride was

developed using a filmstrip of different frames put

together in Photoshop to create an animation when

displayed in sequence on a web page, whereby

JavaScript was used to move through the frames. A

Google-Maps image was trialled for this

visualization but deemed unsuitable leading to the

resort map developed by James Niehues, being used

as the background for further tests. Further work

would involve expansion of the visualization created

as shown here, developing a method that could be

linked with resort data to dynamically produce a

visualization of multiple lifts ridden in varying

combinations, to reflect the actual course of a skier

throughout a day or given time period. The social

implications of such an action are particularly

relevant to the age group most interested in such

physical and social activities.

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