Page 58 - Summer 2014

2014 Innovation Showcase Spotlights the Industry’s Most Promising Products ttending NSAA’s Innovation Showcase each year at the National Convention is a bit like being given a really good cheat sheet on A what’s new and noteworthy in the ski industry…but in a very entertaining, high-energy live format. This year’s Showcase featured 15 promising companies that were care- fully vetted for the competition out of 40 applicants. Those selected had three minutes to make their case for why they have the latest great idea, new technology, or best practice to a discerning audience of ski industry owners, operators, and suppliers. NSAA extends a special thank you to Emcee Jack Turner, the creator and producer of Snow Monsters, the national ski and snowboard program for kids, and also to John Jacobs, president of Reliable Racing and NSAA board member, who served as the official timekeeper. Innovation Showcase participants line up for the results of the audience’s live voting. The participants in this year’s Innovation Showcase are as follows. Halley O’Brien We Knew Them When! (see box, p. 57) maximize profitability. It has been tested Mountain Pass for durability and is proven with all of the Systems, LLC SnowGate standard winter tubes. When used along BodyBiometrics RFID Access Gate Ski Locker System with the company’s engineered Tube Wax Ski resorts lose millions in unsold tickets due Can you imagine a ski rack that could secure lubricant, this portable tubing lane provides to ticket transfers. Ski attire makes biometrics skis, snowboards, and personal belongings very fast and repeatable run-out for tubers. like facial recognition, retinal scans, and fin- by an easy click of your mobile phone? Now Plus, these lanes can be quickly moved for gerprinting cumbersome and intrusive. Our you can do just that with SnowGate. The special events like weddings, concerts, and patented process captures the skier’s motion first 24/7 self-automated locker system for mountain bike races. with video as the person moves through our ski resorts that conveniently secures all your Plastisnow LLC gate. Image recognition software estimates storage needs outside in one place through Luke Schrab skeletal locations of major body joints, the company’s mobile technology. Guests lucas.schrab@gmail.com computing distances between them. The can access, reserve, pay for, and check (414) 397-1233 biometrics are stored in a database linked to rentals all from the palm of their hand with the ticket’s RFID code. The next time the RFID the SnowGate app. SnowGate started as ExtenData code is detected, the skier’s biometrics are a class project at CU-Boulder in 2012, and WiFi Solution for Hotels compared to the database. For a near match, the graduates built and launched their first Hotels and resorts can no longer afford to the gate opens. For a mismatch, the gate product at Winter Park Resort, Colorado, for ignore the growing demand for hi-speed remains closed. a successful first year. Visit snowgate.com for WiFi in guest rooms and public spaces Hal Charych more details. throughout the facility. The Motorola T5 hal@mountain-pass-systems.com Christian Nitu (CMO & Co-founder) PowerBroadband solution is easy to install, (631) 689-6988 team@snowgate.com cost effective, and can be completed with- (818) 426-1538 out major infrastructure changes or disrup- Dot Ski tions. Using existing telephone wires, a WiFi .SKI Internet Name Extension People’s Choice Award wallplate can be installed and completed The Internet plays an ever-increasing role in just a few minutes. One of ExtenData’s in how resorts attract new visitors and keep mSnow resort customers, Alyeska Resort, has used people informed. The timing was right to Portable Bumper Tubing the Motorola T5 PowerBroadband system to give resorts the ability to utilize a dedicated mSnow Bumper Tubing is a portable and achieve amazing results. After implementa- Internet name extension exclusively for temporary summer tubing lane that can tion in 2013 the resort has experienced a snowsports. .SKI Internet names are the cut- be quickly set up for summer operations. It near 100 percent decrease in guest com- ting-edge future of snowsports online and consists of mSnow panels and soft, air-filled plaints related to WiFi connectivity. represent the new wave of Internet names guide bumpers that keep tubers within Greg Timmons that actually mean something to resorts and the lane. Bumper Tubing can be laid out timmonsg@extendata.com their visitors. .SKI is scheduled to launch in on an unused slope in a prime location to (866) 260-2556, ext. 222 September 2014, and resorts should protect 56 | NSAA Journal | SUMMER 2014 w w w. n s a a . o rg NSAA Summer 2014 prepressed v6a.indd 56 7/3/14 4:22 PM