A Day in a Ski resort in The Future.
3rd January 2033. John Stuart report.
First afternoon of a sunny day, in a fascinating and trendy ski resort. After checking my app I decide to take the less crowded ski lift, also giving a quick glance at the real-time weather forecast in every single spot of the ski resort. There are no relevant accidents and queues at the gates of ski lifts. After passing the gates, I receive some boring ads from the small flat screen monitor embedded into the safety bar. But displayed there is as well meaningful information related to the risky parts of slopes, with some graphical representations[1]. Eventually after descending through seven slopes I decide to return to my house. At the bottom of the first ski lift some robots are performing maintenance operations, by shooting snow created from recycled sewage water. Once at home a further check at my mobile which is suggesting a visit to the local astronomy where some explanations of stars and comets orbits is carried out by using data. After the event, I have a quick dinner at a local vegan restaurant, with dishes prepared from local products. Afterwards I see some drones inspecting the zones in order to guarantee an adequate level of protection against avalanches. Before sleeping I check my profile in the ski resort’s app to discover that I have gathered over 9000 points and my profile corresponds to an ecological snowboarder, involved in cultural mountain activities. Some suggestions are made about how to redeem my points. The most convincing one is to support a local organization that aims to preserve the mountain environment. I discard the suggestion to redeem my points in a local shop, by buying special AR (augmented reality) goggles. Before going to sleep I sell the surplus power produced through the PV (Photovoltaic) plant of my house to the network, as my needs are covered for at least one week.
This could be a future scenario within 15 years because of environmental factors like global warming, progressive concentration in the market of ski resorts, market expansion in Asia, the growing constellation of apps for each ski resort, an increased offering of services, usage of robots to automate operations and a new concept of living in the mountain. Let us analyze the possible innovations for every area.
A constellation of apps.
Several resorts have developed mobile applications to expand their value offering or to offer multi-channel services. According to Weisse Arena Gruppe’s CEO Reto Gurtner[2], no ski resort gathers enough data to have a comprehensive image of their customers. Not enough is known
about the customer’s needs and emotional ties or preferences. The lack of insight is an obstacle for making better value propositions. With more relevant data, an improved service offering can be created to gain a competitive advantage, since storing data is relatively inexpensive. The challenge lies in determining the correct methods for collecting data, the interpretation of this data and understanding whether it might be critical for the business. All collected data is useless unless it can be analyzed, combined and understood to ultimately guide and aid decision making[3].
Atos Consulting, a Swiss consulting firm, conducted a comparison of the digital service offerings in 12 Swiss and 2 Austrian ski resorts with more than 150km of slopes. The comparison was made at the end of 2016. (Atos Consulting, 2016)
Atos Consulting’s study found that although many ski resorts to various degrees have realized that digital technology has a role to play in their business, the implementations and applications still leave more to desire. The functionality of these mobile apps was in general found to be lacking, and not meeting customer requirements or satisfying real needs. The variance between ski resorts is large.
Mobile versions of web sites do not exist or do not utilize the capabilities of mobile devices. Most web sites were found to have potential for improvement. The way information is presented and grouped was by all test persons found to be a point of weakness. Relevant information was found through trial and error. The comparison found, that the most common neglected aspect was the use of imprecise or confusing terminology.
In several resorts, the organization structures of the companies running the ski resorts are visible all the way down to the point of customer contact. This leads to situations where a customer might have to gather information about ticket prices on one site and lift open hours on another. This was found to be the case for ski resorts which are mergers of smaller resorts. A company’s service offering should not be restricted by the underlying organizational structure, or this restricting effect should at least be minimized. Services should be designed to cater for customer needs rather than the company’s restrictions.
Atos Consulting’s study ranked Zermatt as first in terms of digital transformation[4]. The study especially commended Zermatt’s mobile application, Skiguide Zermatt. Zermatt was found to have the most coherent experience across different digital channels. The Swiss ski resort Laax placed fifth in the comparison. According to Damian Amherd (2017), Solution Area Lead for Customer Experience & Digital Marketing at Atos Consulting, the digital service offering has changed a lot since the comparison was done in the end of 2016. At the time when the study was performed by Atos, Laax had launched the app called INSIDE LAAX, which content is periodically changed depending on the season offering and the time of the year. Strategically speaking, the launch of the app relates to the effort of transforming Laax into a year-round brand representing urban Alpine lifestyle. By proceeding in this way the number of prospects will be increased, and customers can be attracted to become year-round guests.
The winter version of INSIDE LAAX (see figure 2) introduced several new features. Users are able to collect virtual badges and points by performing different activities on the mountain. Gamification is a feature that has engaged customers and received wide attention (Gurtner, 2017). Gamification includes the enticing social and competitive aspect of comparing one’s results to others’ results. Both the winter version and the summer version of the application have gamification features. Points are also collectable outside the resort. Points can be gathered by checking in on the INSIDE LAAX application at different geographical locations. Check-ins based on GPS are available in different parts of Switzerland as well as in a few other European countries. The check-in furthest from Laax can be found at the London Heathrow airport. Points are redeemable for products or discounts in the resort[5].
The results of the Atos Consulting study would have most likely been different if the study was done half a year later (Amherd 2017) because it did not include the INSIDE LAAX ecosystem, which is the core of Inside Labs creations. Would the study have been done half a year later, Laax would have been among the top contenders for first place. The main factor why Laax is in the forefront of digital at the moment according to Amherd, is the focus on customer journey or customer experience instead of individual technologies or services.
Beside ski resort tools, other apps have been developed to improve the customer experience. There are adaptable skis on the drawing board, skis manufactured to a personalized design, skis hooked up to phones to record performance. Rossignol and PIQ have launched PIQ ROBOT, which consist of movement tracking sensors in charge to show progress in technique and jump analysis through a dashboard hooked up to a phone. PIQ is a French start up focused in sports robotics, with the aim to change the definition of sports wearables.
Diversification due to global warming and green power to embrace challenges.
The annual amount of skiing days in the Swiss Alps is expected to decrease in the future, as seasonal snow water equivalents are estimated to decrease by up to 28 per cent by 2050, which shortens snow seasons by two to four weeks. The reduction in snow cover and shortening of the winter season is expected to increase in the second half of the century. (Bavay, Grünewald and Lehning, 2013)
Snow coverage changes are expected to equal an elevation change of 800 meters by the end of the century due to climate change. This situation will force ski resorts to invent new ways to remain profitable by implementing cost cuts and expanding their value offerings. Many ski resorts in Switzerland, France, Italy and Austria operate in similar geographical circumstances. So if you’re a non-skiing hanger-on, or have still enough energy after a day on the slopes, you can now try everything including:
· Electric fat tire mountain biking on snow (Les Deux Alpes)
· Winter zip lines (La Tyrolienne at Val Thorens)
· Mountain roller coaster rides (Breckenridge)
· Snow yoga (on a yoga piste at St Moritz)
· Snowshoe yurts (Solitude, Utah)
· Bobsledding (La Plagne)
· Hot air ballooning (Aspen)
· Pony luge (Le Grand Bornand)
Every season, resorts up the ante to compete for the most innovative winter offering. Topping the charts is surfing in Tignes. In the pipeline, excuse the pun, for the €62 million Skyline project is a swimming pool with three meter waves for surfing. Prof. Simon Hudson who recently wrote an article on diversification for HotelExecutive.com, says that the priority for the future sustainability of ski areas is for ski hotels, as well as resorts, to expand their menu of activities in order to satisfy non-skiers, expand après ski, create all-season interest, and counteract the negative impacts of climate change[6].
Green has been the new white in ski resorts for many years now. But is it enough to change the light bulbs to LED, recycle all the rubbish, reduce energy costs and emblazon POW[7] badges on staff uniforms? Vail, Aspen and Whistler Blackcomb might be making great strides in seeking a negative footprint, but it is humble Mt Abram, a five-lift resort in New England, which is going the whole hog by building its own system of 803 solar electric panels. This $940,000 project complements its electric vehicle charging station and the carbon-neutral wood pellet boiler for heating lodges and accommodation buildings. In Australia the Mt Buller and Mt Stirling ski area has pioneered snow making from treated effluent literally recycled sewage water. No worries about head plants, though. It is purified, both for health and environmental reasons, to class A standards those required for human food crops and irrigation of park lands and golf courses.
In Switzerland Weisse Arena Gruppe considers environmental issues so important that energy consumption in Laax-Flims-Falera is fully covered by energy produced from renewable energy sources. The ski resort uses both hydroelectric energy and solar energy. Weisse Arena also runs the Greenstyle Foundation in co-operation with other local businesses and dedicated people in the region. The Greenstyle Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment[8].
Alternative living in the mountain.
Pow Mow has a plan for building a next-generation Alpine town[9] modelled after Wengen with pop-up stores, micro-apartments, farm-to-table restaurants, yoga boot-camps, public art, media labs and educational outlets offering training in everything from transcendental meditation and software development to athletic performance. It will embody next-generation urbanism that nourishes social entrepreneurship, connection and collaboration, and responsible living. Last season, work was underway to construct the first ‘tiny chalets’ scaled down versions of the mountain mansions you see at typical Utah resorts. Communications Manager, J-P Goulet says that preserving the pristine Pow Mow experience is made possible by limiting lift ticket sales, capping day passes at 1500 daily and season passes at 3000 per winter. ‘That averages three skiers per acre,’ he explains.
The Swiss Laax-Flims-Falera has also launched the program “The Bridge”. The Bridge offers a space for all forward-thinking entrepreneurs, innovators, start-ups, digital nomads and tech heads to take things to a new level. Whether you’ve come to create the next million dollar idea with your team, want a place to return to when in need of inspiration or simply want to relax and discuss how to change the world between slashing turns at the Swiss ski resort Laax[10].
There is a vivid and acute discussion in the US Ski resorts around the rising housing costs and the shortage of options, which are making it harder for transient ski bums to settle down. While resort towns are in desperate need of reliable workers the hardest part of living in a ski town is not finding a job, it is finding lodging. In Jackson Hole, some people who work in Teton Village hotels or for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort commute from Idaho over mountain passes. Just recently, the Jackson Hole News & Guide spent three weeks examining Jackson Hole’s housing shortage. Finding accommodation in Teton County is exceptionally difficult in the summer, and workers camp or live out of their cars. A recent lottery for affordable housing in Pine Glades shows how acute the problem is in Jackson: more than 100 people applied to purchase seven residences. Other ski towns like Aspen and Telluride have housing funds that battle the chronic shortage of affordable places where workers can live. But even in areas that have affordable housing options, housing for ski bums can still be a problem. Despite the well-liked and incredibly successful affordable housing program in Aspen, huge numbers of workers live in the lower valley in Basalt or Carbondale, where lodging is cheaper. And there is still an ongoing debate about whether Aspen needs more affordable housing or whether the demand has been met.
In other parts of Colorado, like Summit County, there are more than 2,000 units lodging ski employees, but most are rentals. And while this is certainly a step in the right direction, ski towns need both affordable seasonal rentals and deed-restricted ownership homes that make it possible for locals to buy homes. Ski-town housing has certainly been a problem for a long time[11]. The key questions are: “do we want ski towns to be communities of second-home owners and a transient, commuter working population? Or a place where a core group of powder-loving locals live and work towards a better community?”
Robotics for automating operations and integrated processes
And, how about robots and automation? Could they take over repetitive jobs such as ski lift operation, ski patrolling, après ski food preparation and service, and all the driving, snow-clearing, and maintenance work around resorts and even be used in high risk situations for search and rescue? The skiing robot invented by Manitoba University Autonomous Agent Laboratory, Jennifer can ski short runs and cross country but flounders in powder just like any newbie! At the recent Olympics game of Pyeongchang, robots of all shapes and sizes skied, and in some cases tumbled, down a course at the Welli Hilli ski resort, in their own “Olympics” ski challenge in a beginner’s slope. Eight robotics teams from universities, institutes and a private company competed for a $10,000 prize in the Ski Robot Challenge. The teams had to meet specific requirements for entering a ski-bot. It had to be more than 50cm in height, stand on two “legs” with joints resembling elbows and knees, have an independent power system and use skis and poles. The robots were equipped with camera sensors to detect the blue and red flagpoles in their path and turn as they raced down a beginner’s hill. Teams were awarded points for the number of flagpoles avoided and the fastest time to the finish line. Organizers said they held the challenge to promote South Korea’s robotic technology during the Olympics[12].
Regarding the introduction of robots to take over repetitive jobs such as ski lift operation, ski patrolling, snow clearing, and slopes preparation and maintenance around ski areas much more has to be achieved. Robots are not yet advanced enough to replace human tasks and a lot of resistance against this innovative and disruptive change is met, since its adoption would imply the loss of several traditional jobs. But it is believed to be a question of time as the process of replacing human tasks with automated ones carried out by robots has already started.
At this stage it would be useful to understand if there is an innovative technology capable of connecting the different actors involved in the process of preparation and maintenance of the slopes. This technology exists and is called SNOWsat, provided by the company Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG. SNOWsat is a satellite system for positioning and snow depth measurement that connects the different players who are performing the activities necessary to maintain the slopes operational. The accuracy of SNOWsat can be measured in centimeters. How does it work? A topographic digital terrain modelling of the whole ski area is carried out during the summer months, by employing a team of geologists and geometers. This model must be very precise and accurate. Complex calculations are carried out and the resulting model serves a base model for satellites that regularly measure the coverage of snow in every square centimeter of slope area during the winter months. Data are forwarded to the on-site snow groomers that display information through GPS tools.
With the usage of SNOWsat the following roles can benefit in the following way:
· Pistenbully operators can see the slopes that have been groomed, obstacles like snow cannons, snow depth with an accuracy of plus or minus 3 centimeters. This facilitates their work.
· Workshop managers can plan all the necessary maintenance operations at an early stage, minimizing the fuel consumption by recording and analyzing all the data coming from the fleet of snow groomers.
· Slope or fleet managers, who are responsible for the grooming of the slopes as efficiently and as precisely as possible, through reliable snow measurements stored in daily maps, can optimize the trail system, realizing perfect ski slopes with less effort.
· Operation managers focused on costs and earning, take decisions on how many slopes should be opened for the skiers and what costs and efforts will be involved.
The advantage in terms of savings of operating costs can be up to 15 per cent[13].
Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG concluded a decisive cooperation with companies from Switzerland with a view on the future. The aim of the agreement, as a provider in conjunction with leading companies in their fields, is to support the ski resorts in the digitization process. The cooperation partners are developing a product that, in simple terms, manages the flood of information and data in the ski resorts and thus provides a real competitive advantage.
This cooperation is a milestone in the digitization of Ski Resort Management. The digitization of ski resorts is progressing faster and faster. Each individual ski resort has digital information from various sources, such as ticket data, guest data, skiers, lift data, weather data, energy data, snowmaking information, GIS data, safety technology, gastronomy data, snow depth measurement, vehicle data from snow and fleet management and much more. So far no central management of this data takes place. The aim of the cooperating partners is to develop a product, SNOWsat Analytics, which links, utilizes and combines the diverse information from various data sources within a ski resort. The resulting information and applications then form the basis for further decisions and actions in the management of a ski resort. Figuratively speaking, the decisions are made in a resort management cockpit. The further use of this processed data is an enormous competitive advantage for the ski areas! This can greatly increase the efficiency in the ski resort. The usage of resources such as energy, snow, lift capacities or marketing activities of the ski areas is tailored and optimized[14].
The cooperation was concluded by three companies from Switzerland: Geocloud AG based in Schlieren, Weisse Arena Bergbahnen AG based in Laax, Grünenfelder and Partner AG based in Domat / Ems. Geocloud AG is a leading GIS company (Geographic Information System). Its main business is basic ICT (Information and Communications Technology) services and geo services. Geocloud AG contributes development services and hosting to the project. The Weisse Arena Bergbahnen AG, a subsidiary of Weisse Arena Gruppe, (the holding company behind LAAX ski resort), and responsible for e.g. the operation of the ski lifts in Flims-Laax-Falera with an outstanding infrastructure, formulates the digitization requirements from the customer’s point of view. Grünenfelder und Partner AG consists of engineers, geometers and planners who bring a lot of experience to the project in the field of surveying and GIS. Kässbohrer will distribute all products and services resulting from this cooperation. Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG is thus the first supplier in the world to offer ski resorts such a product for the management of their ski areas. With SNOWsat, Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG has its own product line for slope and fleet management, including snow depth measurement for snow groomers. The company is contributing its know-how in this area to the cooperation.
The usage of drones.
Using drones in order to provoke small controlled avalanches will improve the safety of the whole ski resort. An American company has come up with an innovative approach to avalanche safety dropping explosives from remote-controlled aerial drones[15]. This could reduce the risks faced by patrol teams in resorts. To prevent the build-up of snow in unstable areas, especially after heavy snowfall, explosives are routinely planted by hand or fired from artillery guns to dislodge the snowpack. These small, controlled avalanches reduce the chance of larger, more serious slides. But planting the charges can be dangerous work. Patrollers sometimes have to venture out on to snow-laden slopes that could give way at any moment on average, one patroller is killed every year in the United States alone. This is where Mountain Drones aim to make a difference.
The founders of the company realized the technology’s potential for avoiding avalanches as first advantage and secondly as an aid to mountain rescue teams. By dropping explosives from the air via remote control, the company hopes to remove the need for patrollers to put themselves in harm’s way. Flying drones in the mountains presents a number of challenges, including low temperatures, high winds and thin air at altitude. Built to carry heavy loads, the prototype uses components that are specifically designed to withstand adverse conditions, and is kitted out with LED lights to improve visibility. Before adopting this innovation policies of resorts must be changed, due to the fact that a growing number of them have banned the use of drones as a potential hazard.
Conclusions.
After this overview on the new advancements related to ski resorts it is easy to notice that the industry is experiencing a patchy situation where there are ski resorts with a high level of development and sophistication and others that are left behind the train of digital transformation. This is mainly due to cultural and financial reasons. In Spain for instance the bulk of ski resorts are managed by public institutions and are not profitable. An exception is Sierra Nevada, where in March 2017 a study conducted by consulting company Synergic Partners revealed that the ski resort could easily walk along the path of digital transformation by adopting technological solutions to measure the amount of visitors on the slopes in real time, understand where skiers and snowboarders tend to concentrate, and eventually improve the whole customer experience of boarders and skiers[16].
But despite this encouraging and isolated initiative the difference with the most advanced ski resort like Laax or Zermat remain sidereal. High levels of innovation can basically be found in the ski resorts located in Switzerland, Austria, Canada and USA, locations which are pushing the digital transformation. The alpine nations (Austria and Switzerland) are leading this progress due mainly to cultural and historical reasons. In fact, the passion for winter sports was born there. North America certainly has a head start terms of usage of technologies related to business transformation, since it is believed that US and Canadian companies have employed BIG DATA solutions at least 5 years earlier than Europe ones. Ski resorts located in other nations will act as followers to these leading ski resorts.
Laax in particular has to be considered a leader because it is not only proposing solutions to improve the customer experience in the ski resort throughout the year, but is also working on the optimization of the maintenance processes, which lead to operating costs savings through predictive maintenance actions. Beside these two innovative aspects Laax is presenting a wide range of service offerings in order to adapt to the future climate warming effects. The goal of all these activities and services is to transform Laax-Flims-Falera into a year-round brand.
What can be established is that it will be crucial to collect, store and manipulate data in order to extract useful information for the future ski resort. Collection of relevant data and interpretation of these data allow for improving customer experience, by proposing new products, and for reducing maintenance costs by planning actions in advance. Balancing opposite strengths and tendencies will be key in future ski resort, since the profile of the mountaineer will change, bringing more heterogeneous people as long as mountain communities will arise.
References and notes.
“The digital transformation of a ski resort: a case study” by Niklas Lindroos
http://www.stylealtitude.com/the-future-for-skiing-and-snowboarding.html
https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/News/Zermatt-is-a-Pioneer-in-Digital-Transformation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVCdmZfpxdo
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/articles/ski-resorts-drones-avalanche-control/
https://www.pistenbully.com/deu/de/innovation/snowsat-pisten-und-flottenmanagement.html
[1] Check the part 10 related to GEAR AND CLOTHINGS of the link http://www.stylealtitude.com/the-future-for-skiing-and-snowboarding.html
[2] Weisse Arena Gruppe is the organization in charge of managing the ski region Laax-Flims-Falera
[3] Please see “The digital transformation of a ski resort: a case study” by Niklas Lindroos p. 17–18
[4] See the following link: https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/News/Zermatt-is-a-Pioneer-in-Digital-Transformation
[5] See “The digital transformation of a ski resort: a case study” by Niklas Lindroos at pages 31–33
[6] See in particular part 3 related to diversification behind the link http://www.stylealtitude.com/the-future-for-skiing-and-snowboarding.html
[7] POW stands for “Protect our winter” and is an organization, which has been supporting the winter sports community and giving it a voice on climate issues at national and international levels
[8] Please see “The digital transformation of a ski resort: a case study” by Niklas Lindroos at page 13
[9] http://www.stylealtitude.com/the-future-for-skiing-and-snowboarding.html check the first part related to the concentration of the market
[10] See the website http://www.bridge.laax.com/
[11] From https://ski.curbed.com/2014/8/19/10058952/why-the-death-of-the-ski-bum-will-ruin-ski-towns-everywhere
[12] From https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-alps-robots/robots-take-to-the-slopes-on-sidelines-of-winter-games-idUSKBN1FW1FX
[13] See the following video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVCdmZfpxdo
[14] See as well: https://www.pistenbully.com/deu/en/innovation/snowsat.html
[15] See the link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/articles/ski-resorts-drones-avalanche-control/
[16] See the link: http://www.synergicpartners.com/sierra-nevada-estacion-de-esqui-pionera-en-big-data-gracias-al-proyecto-de-synergic-partners/
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Niklas Lindroos, without whom this article would not have been possible to write.