Vail Resorts on Friday launched its much-touted “My Epic” iPhone and Android app, allowing guests to access the lifts with their phones instead of a lift ticket.
The company has been teasing the new technology since September 2022, piloting it during the 2022-23 ski season and setting a deadline of fall 2023 for a full roll-out to all customers.
During the initial announcement of the idea, which came via a Sept. 28, 2022 press release, Tim April, chief information officer at Vail Resorts, said the app will allow for a “more seamless arrival experience” for guests.
“As a company focused on investing in the future of skiing and riding, we believe that digital innovation, more than ever, will be key for delivering a great guest experience on-mountain,” April said.
The new technology, allowing guests to store their pass or lift ticket directly on their phone, requires downloading the My Epic app and creating an account where you’re asked for your name, date of birth, phone number (optional) and pass number.
Once that information has been obtained, you’re asked to add a photo, sign a waiver and allow Bluetooth access. A green check with a tag saying “your pass will scan from your pocket” lets you know you’re ready to ride the lifts.
The technology allowing guests to have their lift ticket scanned hands free via their phones uses Bluetooth low-energy technology, Vail Resorts said.
“In addition to the significant enhancement in the guest experience, this technology will also reduce waste from printing plastic cards and RFID chips — supporting Vail Resorts’ Commitment to Zero sustainability promise,” according to the company.
The My Epic app also offers to track your location while you’re at the resort, something that’s also optional. A “precise” option has the ability to home in on your exact location, if you desire.
This can be used for interactive trail maps with GPS location; personalized stats, including vertical feet, number of lift rides and other data, as well as direct access to ski patrol for emergency situations.
Upon activating, the app asks you to select the mountain you plan on visiting, and then a home screen for that mountain shows which lifts and trails are open, a trail map, grooming report, weather report, and directions to dining, ski patrol and parking areas. From the app, there are buttons allowing you to buy lift tickets, use buddy passes, book ski school lessons, rent equipment, book lodging and book activities.
The My Epic app replaces Vail Resorts’ previous stat-tracking app, EpicMix.
Other plans for the My Epic app include Vail Resorts’ plans to reimagine gear ownership and rentals through a new membership program. The My Epic Gear idea, being piloted this year, will use the app to allow guests to enjoy customized boot fitting through the app’s scanning technology, along with custom insoles and a choice of 50 different models of skis and snowboards, allowing guests to “try a different model any day, such as powder skis, based on availability,” according to Vail Resorts, and be “guaranteed that gear will be available any day of skiing and riding, fully tuned” with “free slopeside pick up and drop off every day.”
The My Epic app will manage the entire membership experience, “from gear selection to boot fit to delivery,” according to Vail Resorts.
The promises offered by the app have drawn skepticism from local shopkeepers, who say an app might have trouble with the intricacies of ski selection and boot fitting.
But Vail Resorts says it’s an idea worth exploring.
“Our view is simple: innovation of the ski and ride experience and more choices for the guest are good, not bad,” John Plack, a spokesperson for Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek, said in April. “We’re looking forward to piloting this innovation with our guests next season.”