With unemployment rates dropping & 'Help Wanted' signs appearing all over the place ski areas are going to be hard pressed to staff all their low wage positions this year. Focused people checking tickets will be more a spot check than a career opportunity going forward.
Hopefully the RFID implementations going forward will use the best available technology & avoid the pitfalls mentioned, it really is a pain to get called back after sliding though a checking unit at speed.
Anyone else agree with me that RFIDs are a pain-in-the-butt? Perhaps they will be improved, but for now, I wouldn't categorize "installing an RFID system" as an improvement!
No I think they are great. Never had any real problems with them. Was great last winter as I just stuffed it in my Max Pass in my pocket and got on the lifts at Winter Park and Steamboat. No ticket window. park where we wanted etc.
Anyone else agree with me that RFIDs are a pain-in-the-butt? Perhaps they will be improved, but for now, I wouldn't categorize "installing an RFID system" as an improvement!
Agreed, they make the lines move slower because they don't work if they aren't positioned perfectly.
Not that I ever would, but if I got caught without a ticket, it blew off too. Oh and my wife held on to that little stub for me. Let me go find her....
Not a fact of course, but it seemed to me last season that at the Peak Resorts they mainly scanned season passes. I assume for marketing.
I think they should buy back the cards if you no longer want it or they discontinue RFID, like at Ragged.
My favorite is when the parents insist on holding the cards for their kids...and they are behind them..
ISNE-I Skied New England | NESAP-the New England Ski Area Project | SOSA-Saving Our Ski Areas - Location SW of Boston MA
Anyone else agree with me that RFIDs are a pain-in-the-butt? Perhaps they will be improved, but for now, I wouldn't categorize "installing an RFID system" as an improvement!
Agreed, they make the lines move slower because they don't work if they aren't positioned perfectly.
Example please. I have never seen it when done properly, even at a place like Blue Mt in Pa where lines can be horrendous. Almost every time I've seen people have trouble it's because they have something else in the pocket/area which they tell you specifically not to do. No problems last year at Okemo, Solitude, Brighton or like I said Winter Park and Steamboat. It's like E-Z Pass to me. I think its more of a hassel to go digging for my pass so some half frozen liftie can scan it.
Anyone else agree with me that RFIDs are a pain-in-the-butt? Perhaps they will be improved, but for now, I wouldn't categorize "installing an RFID system" as an improvement!
Agreed, they make the lines move slower because they don't work if they aren't positioned perfectly.
Example please. I have never seen it when done properly, even at a place like Blue Mt in Pa where lines can be horrendous. Almost every time I've seen people have trouble it's because they have something else in the pocket/area which they tell you specifically not to do. No problems last year at Okemo, Solitude, Brighton or like I said Winter Park and Steamboat. It's like E-Z Pass to me. I think its more of a hassel to go digging for my pass so some half frozen liftie can scan it.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Both times that I've skied at areas with RFID cards I've noticed it. Those areas were Ragged and Jay Peak.
Anyone else agree with me that RFIDs are a pain-in-the-butt? Perhaps they will be improved, but for now, I wouldn't categorize "installing an RFID system" as an improvement!
Way better than scanners, so for Sugarbush its definitely an improvement!
I agree RFID is better than scanners. Scanners suck.
Jay had a rocky start with RFID but they got their RFID sensors fixed up and I can't recall the last time I've seen line issues caused by RFID. Chairs are always fully loaded in all of my visits during the last few years.
The only RFID issue that pisses me off is places like Stowe that pork you for the cost of the RFID card. With enough areas doing that, you'll need to keep a business card wallet in your car during ski season for all the cards you may need to pay for. Thankfully, I think only Stowe is doing this though I may have read Bush is going that route too? Not sure but I thought I saw that somewhere.
I agree with riverc0il's points. I hate scanners too. When there is no lift line and I want to just ski on to the lift, who wants to stop to be scanned? I usually just try to blow by them but someone in my group invariably stops or gets stopped.
Jay's wasn't good at first. Ragged's didn't work well, but they dumped it for some reason the season after I bought a card. I thought they all charged $5 for them included in the rate. Okemo's worked well for me as I recall no issues.
ISNE-I Skied New England | NESAP-the New England Ski Area Project | SOSA-Saving Our Ski Areas - Location SW of Boston MA
Back in the day some friends used to go to Killington without a ticket. I had the ASC pass, so I didn't need to. If they could make it on one of the lower mtn. lifts then they could ride Canyon or other upper mtn lift all day since they only checked at the base lifts.
Back in the day some friends used to go to Killington without a ticket. I had the ASC pass, so I didn't need to. If they could make it on one of the lower mtn. lifts then they could ride Canyon or other upper mtn lift all day since they only checked at the base lifts.
A couple of times, I've actually seen a ticket checker at the North Ridge. But 90% of the time, that's a successful strategy.
Just saw on HKD snowmaking's FB page that Mount Snow will be getting another 200 impulse low e guns this year (the orange headed guns for those not well versed in "snowmaking geek speak" :P
That augments their arsenal already of over 600 low-e air/water guns and 250+ fan guns!
Ugggh.... I get to spend an hour per week checking RFID's. The resorts that are using them have invested quite a bit of money on these systems! You might be (I was) surprised at how many people try to scam a lift ticket. ...and presumably they are all "nice" people! Mom and Dad can spend upwards of a thousand dollars for a week of lift tickets for the family! Tryin' to save a buck...
That said, I am not a fan of the RFID ticket for the simple reason that they do not work all the time. Until the RFID system gets as good as the bar scanners, I'll stick with the "paper" tickets. The bar code readers at least appear to work nearly all the time; I've never had a misread or bad scan from a barcode. Tear off the stub for your pocket in case the ticket is lost! Can't do that with RFID. And I don't want to get started on the $5. fee for the damn card!
I've had two instances with unattached tickets. One was a guy scamming for his kids and the other was just two clowns trying to get a twofer. There's a lot more ticket "theft" going on than one might think....
Never had any problems with the early heavy stock paper tickets stamped with a unique 3-4 code attached to the lower hem of my parka with real heavy duty staples. No theft, no loss and a good reason for a new parka the next year... :-$
Comments
Cannon is going all RFID as well and they will be replacing
cash with Bitcoin for all retail transactions.
FOOLS! J
Agreed, they make the lines move slower because they don't work if they aren't positioned perfectly.
Not that I ever would, but if I got caught without a ticket, it blew off too. Oh and my wife held on to that little stub for me. Let me go find her....
Not a fact of course, but it seemed to me last season that at the Peak Resorts they mainly scanned season passes. I assume for marketing.
I think they should buy back the cards if you no longer want it or they discontinue RFID, like at Ragged.
My favorite is when the parents insist on holding the cards for their kids...and they are behind them..
Both times that I've skied at areas with RFID cards I've noticed it. Those areas were Ragged and Jay Peak.
thesnowway.com
I agree with riverc0il's points. I hate scanners too. When there is no lift line and I want to just ski on to the lift, who wants to stop to be scanned? I usually just try to blow by them but someone in my group invariably stops or gets stopped.
Jay's wasn't good at first. Ragged's didn't work well, but they dumped it for some reason the season after I bought a card. I thought they all charged $5 for them included in the rate. Okemo's worked well for me as I recall no issues.