It is time to rally Skiers

It is time to rally Skiers

The global climate issue is certainly one that can be overwhelming when one tries to envision solving this problem. Yes, we have some who believe there is no problem, but I would hope anybody associated with snow sports is a believer.

Ski areas certainly need to do their part in trying to reduce their carbon emissions and lessen their dependency on fossil fuels. However, if every ski area on the earth’s surface was at a zero carbon footprint, it really would not have a significant impact on the problem from a global perspective.
So, what can ski areas do? My suggestion would be to follow Aspen’s lead. Their Give a Flake campaign is the most meaningful step the ski industry can do. I don’t think Aspen will mind others following their lead. Our customer base, skiers and riders, needs to be rallied to become a meaningful and vociferous force to make politicians and companies make the right decisions relating to protecting our climate. Within that customer base are many corporate leaders, academic leaders, and politicians who have significant clout within the decision-making community in the country. Ski areas can make a difference by enlisting their customers to speak out.
A recent piece I read jolted me a bit when the piece showed the willingness of consumers by global region to pay for sustainability as it relates to climate impact.
The fact that North America and Europe in 2014 were less willing than the Global average and way behind the other three regions of the globe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East/Africa was truly baffling in my mind.
If this truly is the case, then there definitely needs to be more awareness generated. The recent headlines have stated that the oceans are warming at a faster pace than predicted, which does not bode well for snowy winters.
Give a shout out to your state and federal legislatures, make some noise. Better yet, enlist your skiers and riders to make noise and save our winters.

Data and Information

Database of record: Centralized and organized data assists in recognizing and evaluating patterns, resulting in more thoughtful planning and informed predictions.

Rapid, intuitive retrieval of current and historical data (accessible on or offsite) improves decision making at all levels of management.

Simple report generation.

Reduces risk and potential lawsuits.

Supports visualization of current and future mountain infrastructure (e.g. Gazex explosives locations, forest thinning, designing new runs, parking, etc.).

 

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Ski Patrol

  • Ease of real-time data entry (no more logbooks or spreadsheets!).
  • Use of common language allows for consistent communication and information sharing.
  • Increases safety by minimizing accidents through pattern analysis of incidents.
  • Accident Investigation and Risk Management.
  • Snow Safety (Ski Patrol) Training.

The web and mobile application suite will provide editing and data collection tools for mapping incidents (wrecks, accidents) of any kind.

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Avalanche Module

 

Ability to document, track and analyze slope conditions with one tool.

Ease of real-time data entry (no more logbooks or spreadsheets!).

 Centralized and organized data assists in recognizing and evaluating patterns, resulting in more thoughtful planning and informed predictions.

Provides detailed current and historical weather patterns for visualizing/predicting.

Saves money through more precise use of explosives. 

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Dispatch

The dispatch and risk module leverage Esri’s Survey 123 for ArcGIS, providing an intuitive survey-form, data-driven workflow for point feature collection and reporting. Data collected with SmartMountain Survey apps, which are available for both web browsers and native desktop and mobile apps for standard operating systems, are integrated with one or more SmartMountain modules, providing real-time or disconnected and later synchronized workflows for data collection and integration.

Each ski resort decided what they wish to display on the Dispatch Dashboard including on-hill incidents, walk-in incidents, on-hill refusals,  missing persons, work details for different departments, ski patrol rosters for the day, clearances, and sweeps.

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OPERATIONS LOGBOOK

  • Logs for Lift Maintenance, Lift Operations, and Groomer inspections, as well as building inspections.
  • Logs can record data and signatures, can record stops, station assignments.
  • Logs are tracked by calendar.

INFORMATION

  • Management review made easy through the use of Excel – reviewing a major grouping of assets or a single component of an asset such as a drive or a gearbox.
  • All information related to a system(asset) is in one place whether it be a lift inspection report, a manual, oil analysis, a service bulletin, or a letter from a vendor.

DASHBOARD

  • Every user has a unique dashboard.
  • Dashboards can be customized to reflect a user’s specific needs.
  • Quick access to the status of work and cost .

SCHEDULE/ WORK ORDERS​

  • The schedule function in MountainOffice provides for detailed instructions by task, recording of data such as the temperature of a gearbox, and service bulletins.
  • All schedules can have a time or counter trigger.