Vail Resorts Sees RFID in the Forecast

Contactless payment capability built into the season or day passes could prove particularly convenient for skiers and snowboarders, Chakraborty explains, because it could enable them to avoid having to dig through layers of clothing to locate wallets when paying for food and other goods and services. "The last thing people want to do [on the slopes] is to take off jackets and layers to search for money," he says.

Vail Resorts' Vail ski area, in Colorado, currently offers guests a card that can be used to make purchases on the mountain, but it employs bar-code technology. A contactless payment card could instead utilize an RFID inlay and transmit payment data via RF, which could save the user the hassle of fishing the card out of a pocket. Still, Chakraborty stresses, Vail Resorts' top concern is that any RFID system be deployed with strong protections around the financial data and personal privacy of its patrons.

"RFID is a double-edged sword," Chakraborty says. While the technology could benefit Vail Resorts' properties and customers—through efficiency gains, labor savings and added convenience—it also raises consumer concerns about how data collected and transmitted via RFID could be used or abused. "One of the first things we'll bring to bear," he states, "is…a layer of security to prohibit the tracking of people [without their consent or knowledge], and to secure customers' financial information from being stolen. This is critical."

SkyeTek, which specializes in developing and deploying non-supply-chain applications of RFID technology, is providing the interrogators and software Vail Resorts will need to implement its passive RFID infrastructure. The company is also supplying systems integration services to get things up and running, and to identify the best use cases for the technology. In addition, SkyeTek will provide integration services that will link the passive RFID systems to back-end software platforms, such as those used to power point-of-sale terminals at Vail Resorts' ski areas, or to create and manage lift pass IDs.