Snowmaking returns. New iPhone navigation app. Do we lie?
Posted December 3, 2009
The day crew will spend a good part of their shift setting things up on the mountain so when the night crew arrives, we’ll get the World’s Most Extensive Snowmaking System charged and ready to fire when temperatures permit.
Some re-surfacing will be needed; however, snowmaking will go into expansion mode as we hope to have the Snowdon Triple and Upper Snowdon Poma open for the weekend with Upper Bunny and Mouse Run trails open. Snowmaking will continue on Chute this weekend as we hope to have the Snowdon Quad on line in the next few days as well.
Augment reality to find your way around Killington
We started testing a new iPhone app here at Killington that uses Augmented Reality and overlays digital graphics showing nearby lifts, runs and resort facilities in real view and real-time.
Developed by Colorado-based Resort Technology Partners (RTP), REALSKI allows skiers and riders with an iPhone 3GS to navigate the mountain and scan their surroundings in real time to find locates and points of interest.
Killington is one of five test-mountains to use the initial version of the application, which should be available on iTunes next week. Later in December, a full version of the application will be available offering maps for most North American resorts.
Do ski resorts inflate their snow totals?
According to a new Dartmouth study based upon information gathered at weather reporting stations miles from resort areas, we do. Feel free to read the report, but here are some points we must clarify:
1. The report actually concludes that the National Weather Service does also report that there actually is more snow on the weekends studied.
2. The assumption of weekend exaggeration for promotional purposes is illogical. Travelers do not want to drive in snowy conditions and bookings for lodging are made in advance of the weekend (often midweek).
3. Elevation Variance. In Vermont, there might be a significant difference in elevation between an official weather station and a ski resort. At a ski resort, there may also be a variance in elevation between base elevation and summit elevation reporting sites.
At Killington for instance, our nearest official weather reporting station is located at the Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional Airport, which is approximately 11 miles away and at a significant lower altitude (approx. 650 feet vs. our official measuring stations at 2,000 and 4,000 foot levels) than Killington Resort.
For more on the subject, here are stories from the Rutland Herald, WCAX and Vermont Public Radio.
posted by Chris on December 10, 2009 7:25 AM EST
A suggestion on the phone front- map out the trails as a Google Maps KML file. This will allow anyone who can use Google Maps or Google Earth (IE, not just iPhone 3gs users) to get a useful digital GPS-enabled trail map... this isn't hard to do either.