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WHAT ARE THE COSTS FOR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS? the tune of $70,000. The video clearly showed that his injury
was the result of the skier’s misjudgment—not an inattentive
Simply put, surveillance cameras and their related infrastruc- lift attendant, as he initially claimed.
ture are surprisingly affordable. In fact, the costs for outdoor Within just the first month after Perfect North installed
weather-protected systems have been dropping dramatically its surveillance cameras at the main base area lift, the system
in the last five to 10 years, and this is part of the reason there captured footage of two separate guests injured from chair-
has been a surge of interest in using them as a risk manage- lift incidents caused by skier error. “The surveillance totally
ment tool. There are a number of competing camera systems validated our decision to install the systems, and it simply
ranging in cost, but price points run as low as $350 per confirmed our need to aggressively complete the rest of our
camera, which may include the cost of an outdoor enclosure. lifts and tubing park,” said Perfect North’s Davis.
Perfect North installed camera systems this season for less And if over time the surveillance system leads to fewer
than $1,000 per lift (with cameras at both top and bottom lift claims, that may have a positive impact on insurance rates
terminals). Given the success of the new lift surveillance, the with your provider.
resort is in the process of installing systems at its other three
lifts, as well as in its tubing park, said Jonathan Davis, Perfect
North’s IT manager. WHAT ABOUT PRIVACY CONCERNS?
Before investing in sophisticated camera systems, a ski
area may want to first experiment with surveillance at lifts. Legally, the issue of privacy (or in legal terms, invasion of
If you only have an initial limited budget for surveillance, privacy) typically does not come into play when individuals
consider starting small, and build on your surveillance net- are in a public setting, as when visiting a ski area. When in-
work over several seasons. Start by using surveillance at one dividuals are accessing any public area, they do not have any
or two of your main base area lifts, or at lifts that typically reasonable expectation of privacy, and courts have consistent-
serve beginner terrain where lift incidents may arise. Anoth- ly upheld this. Furthermore, all ski area releases and waivers
er key consideration is starting only at loading areas, which
may be closer to power sources than unloading areas.
“It becomes more expensive to extend a network a mile
up to an unloading area of a lift, so it may be more practical
to start by installing cameras at the loading area,” suggested
Jason Perl, the lift services manager at Mount Snow, which is All New Premium
seeking capital approval for about 10 surveillance cameras at Digital Signage
some of its bigger chairlifts.
After experimenting with a few cameras, ski areas realize
the rapid return on investment and their overall value and CPS (Computer Panorama &
ease of installation, and expand from there, spreading the Parking Guidance System)
installation costs over a couple of seasons and to more lifts.

iSKI App Service &
WHAT’S THE ROI ON SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS?
Interactive Trail Map
This is likely one of the first questions management will ask
when approached about investing in chairlift video sur-
veillance. The argument for a clear return on investment is MediaCam 3.0
straightforward if not convincing, and most areas embracing
surveillance at lifts can likely recoup the installation costs in (Live Streaming)
the first season alone.
Consider this: If the approximate cost of installing a
surveillance system is roughly $1,000 for the top and bottom
of a lift, just preventing one frivolous claim can pay for itself
in one season. In fact, one ski area using surveillance at lifts
used the footage to deny a skier’s claim for a broken hip to

CONVENTION 2017 | NSAA JOURNAL | 41