Snowcialites Take to the Mountain

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Last year when I attended Snowcial for the first time, it was on a last minute invite with only two days’ notice. In fact, I had never even heard of the social media conference, which is now in its third year. But this time around, I had a full year to get excited for all the fun to be had.

Sponsored by Vail Resorts, One to One Interactive, Heavenly and Harrah’s, the conference is a four-day mash-up of fun, technology, snow and Tweeting, naturally. Some of my favorite industry pals were there, and it was fun seeing friends I made last year another time.

This year, the actual conference part of the weekend—which lasts for just five hours on the Friday afternoon—had an added travel component. There was a travel panel put on by my pal Johnny Jet; consumer advocate Chris Elliott, of whom I am a long-time fan and was thrilled to finally meet for the first time; and Travel + Leisure online editor Rich Beattie, with whom I had crossed paths at a travel writer happy hour four years ago in New York. The guys had some interesting observations on the future of social media, and Chris got a bit of a backlash from an audience member when he stated: “There are companies like high-end hotels that have no place on Twitter. If you check into a $1000-a-night hotel, you’re going to have your problems taken care of for you. I’m just saying maybe they don’t need to have an active Twitter or Facebook account.”

I understand what he meant, though. I’m in agreement that certain high-end companies shouldn’t necessarily always put themselves out there. If you’re paying top dollar for a place that prides itself on exclusivity, do you actually want them to be all over the Internet, interacting with every Tom, Dick and Harry? Now, I don’t have the money to pay thousands for such exclusive resorts, but if I did, I think I’d probably want them to maintain some air of exclusivity. Do you agree?

Chris and I also approach Twitter similarly. “I use Twitter as a battering ram to get better customer service,” he confessed. “It means different things to everyone.” (See: my recent scuffle with American Airlines, which was finally resolved over Twitter.)

Other online innovators like the CEO of Path, the founder of Gowalla and, of course, MC Hammer also took the stage at one point in the afternoon. Since I very much work in the travel industry and very much don’t work in the tech field, I get a little overwhelmed at such functions when the speakers start talking in acronyms or tech speak that sounds comparable to Klingon as it goes in one ear and out the other. But it’s fun to be a part of and learn a bit more about an industry so foreign to me.

SVV tagged along naturally, while Ella was pampered at the in-laws’ house in Sacramento, though he didn’t participate in any of the actual conference events. We wound up purchasing the Vail Resorts season pass for a steal, which gives us unlimited use of Heavenly, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Northstar, so you better bet we’re going to be up in Tahoe so much this winter, we’ll resemble snowmen by the time April rolls around.

We logged two seven-hour ski days over the weekend, and once we headed back to San Francisco on Sunday, every muscle in my body throbbed. I bought a new helmet from Porters Tahoe just before the conference, as I showed up last year—a total rookie amid a crowd of professional skiers and boarders and resort reps and ski magazine media types—without a helmet only to find that everyone now wears one on the slope after Natasha Richardson’s tragic accident. It makes sense really—why wouldn’t you take the most basic of precautions when engaging in such a risky pastime?—and I definitely feel more confident with something protecting my noggin!

Even better, we ran into my instructor from last year, Patti Vath—aka the Miracle Worker, who made me enamored with skiing and, dare I say, not bad at the sport either—and she offered to ski with me all day Saturday. This enabled SVV to take off to Mott Canyon, an area I’m not yet comfortable with, for the morning while Patti and I conquered much of the mountain and worked on some more advanced techniques like tackling moguls off-piste in the woods—something a year prior I definitely did not think I could do, nor did I think it would ever interest me. Now I say: Bring on the bumps! I cannot stress enough: This woman is a snow goddess. If you’re ever in Heavenly and in need of instruction, please call up the resort and book a lesson with her!

Want to know something else really cool that all the Vail Resorts implemented this ski season? A tracking system to follow your skiing. No, no, it’s not as Big Brother as it may sound, but with the addition of EpicMix, which uses radio frequency technology to scan the chip in your pass every time you board a lift, at the end of the day you can see how many vertical miles you’ve accrued, how many lifts you rode and other such data.

Additionally, similar to Four Square—one app I’ve actually never used, as you’ve got to draw the line somewhere and I’m overwhelmed enough by social media as it is!—you gain pins and can see how you compare on the mountain to other nearby skiers.

It’s a great idea, but there are definitely still bugs to work out. For example, SVV and I each logged about 17,000 vertical feet on the second day, which it tracked, but we skied nearly the same on the first and it tallied our lifetime total as around 20,000. Oh well. I’m sure these problems will be remedied in time. The program was only introduced this season after all.

On Friday night, there was a Hammer concert at Harrah’s South Shore Room. On Saturday night, OK Go took the stage. Now, my friend Matt, SVV and I all got the pleasure of seeing Hammer live last year. I figured since he hasn’t put a whole lot of new material out since then, the concert wouldn’t be that different. As conference participants, Matt and I each got a ticket to both shows, so we swapped: I gave him my Hammer ticket so he and his girlfriend Katy, who missed the show last year, could go on Friday, and SVV and I went to see OK Go rock out on Saturday.

You may wonder what a “YouTube band” does live, eh? I pondered the same prior to the evening. They did roll some of their videos, like the most recent hit “White Knuckles,” in the background while they played, but overall, they were just great performers: They were charismatic, engaging, charming and funny and, most importantly, interacted with the audience. I was surprised to find their show so entertaining, to say the least!

COMMENTS
  • January 12, 2011

    The tracking system is so cool! It will be interesting to see if this is just hype and will pass after one season or if they fix the glitches and we start seeing similar interactive trackers and social media connections on the slopes throughout the country….

  • January 12, 2011

    Sounds like a fun mix of work and play! I saw Ok, Go in Nashville a few months ago. So much fun! I loved all the confetti and craziness.

    I’ve been really intrigued by the EpicMix app. I’m kind of a FourSquare whore, so I’ve been wanting to try it out. Unfortunately I’m not going to have a chance to make it to Vail or Breckenridge this year, so I guess it will have to wait 🙁

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      The confetti was insane. They seemed to shoot it out at the end of every song!

  • January 12, 2011

    That tracking system looks amazing! Especially to a huge social media dork like myself.

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      It IS really cool. I just wish it had kept my stats for day one! Also, it has me having skied three days, which definitely hasn’t happened yet this month, ha.

  • January 12, 2011

    I skied Heavenly once, right after learning to ski in IL. (yes on a man-made hill) I loved that place. It is so appropriately named. But I found the “gun barrel” of moguls very intimidating.

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      Gaelyn, I don’t dare try Gunbarrel–not now, maybe not ever! It looks scaaaaary.

  • January 12, 2011
    k

    That tracking system is really good. We have RFID passes at a couple of places, but they are not on all the lifts (just those on the bottom and front side of the mountain) so it couldn’t be used to track your vert. but I’d love it if they could!

    Yay for the helmet. I bought my nephew one of Christmas (he is a speed demon out there). I feel naked if I ski without mine!

    I need to get back to Tahoe…

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      I second that: You need to get back to Tahoe. This season? =)

      • February 8, 2011
        k

        I might have to wait a couple years… need to finish up this whole grad school thing and get a job that allows for splurges like a weekend in Tahoe!

  • January 12, 2011

    Wow – looks like a great conference! And, I’m glad that AA resolved your issues via Twitter. I think that’s one of the better uses for Twitter . . . getting in touch with actual people from major airlines and hotels and such.

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      I feel like far too often I use it to complain–or as “a battering ram” as Chris said–but what else are you to do if it’s the only way to get a company’s attention??

  • January 12, 2011

    Kristin,

    Thanks for coming to Snowcial again. We’re stoked you enjoyed it.

    I was the one who jumped on Chris about the luxury brands on Twitter comment. Was more trying to get him to discuss the hows and whys in more detail as opposed to calling him out on it. I still feel like there’s more to explore there as it shows that there’s a continuum of interaction and presence on social media rather than the idea that everyone needs to be all on all the time…

    -M

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      Hi Mike,

      Thanks for stopping by! It wasn’t you I was referencing, but a woman who was very offended by Chris’ proclamation =)

      Regardless, it was a good discussion and another fabulous Snowcial. Thanks for all the hard work from everyone on your end!

  • January 12, 2011

    What a fun weekend! I remember 10+ years ago Northstar had a club you could join that gave you a wristband to track your vertical feet. I think you got prizes too if you got to certain levels, but I never did – I usually just went for ski week, and joining the club gave you a season pass and was cheaper than buying lift tickets for each day. This sounds like the much improved 2011 version.

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      Scott was just telling me about that! He used to go with his best friend to their cabin near Truckee every season, and they always skied Northstar. His friend’s dad would rack up something like one million vertical feet every year, so that he’d get the free season pass the following year. Apparently, he went five years straight without paying for a pass!

      I haven’t been to Northstar since I was 8(!!) but we’ll be there in two weeks. So excited!

  • January 12, 2011

    Sounds like SO much fun!!! Hope you learned some new tricks you can apply to your site. 🙂

  • January 12, 2011

    SO FUN!

    I like the idea of that app or whatever it is they do to track your slope-time. IF I WERE ALLOWED TO SNOWBOARD THIS YEAR, I’d be all over that! I love all those little factoids.

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      Next year, girl. Next year.

  • January 12, 2011

    Wow, as someone on the other end of that “battering ram,” I have to say that the analogy scares me a little!

    Looks like you had a great time — I might need to take you up on that ski teacher’s name; I’m so rusty that I doubt I could even make it off the bunny slopes at this point!

    • January 12, 2011
      Kristin

      Holly, you would LOVE Patti. Seriously, she’s taken me from not even wanting to ski at all to tackling black diamonds and moguls. The woman is a star!

  • January 13, 2011

    A) This sounds like a terrific weekend! 2) Patti sounds amazing. I haven’t been skiing in over a decade, and while I’d like to try snowboarding, I’m kind of terrified.

    • January 18, 2011
      Kristin

      My sister tried snowboarding for the first time last week and found it pretty easy to pick up! You should give it a shot. I’d just recommend finding an instructor like Patti to give you a lesson or two in the beginning!

  • January 15, 2011

    I like the observation about using Twitter as a customer service bludgeon: it’s worked for me, rather unglamorously, with Paypal. But I think high-end hotels et al should be on Twitter, just to be able to monitor and respond to what is being said about them. Though their presence needs to be more stately and elusive than, say, budget places. What a fascinating thing to do, though…

    • January 18, 2011
      Kristin

      I agree with you about the high-end companies. They can have an online presence as long as they’re not responding to every last Tweet and question–I can see how a customer shelling out thousands of dollars for the exclusivity of such a brand may not be too keen on that. And I love the term “customer service bludgeon,” as I feel like that’s how I use Twitter 90% of the time!

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  • November 4, 2016

    une pure merveille. j’adore, cela valait bien la peine d’attendre.. meme des années pour trouver la BONNE boite. Bravo. Tres joli. Bizz my

  • February 28, 2017

    I don’t think they’d change the in-air jump animation when he does a homing attack. They usually just add the blue blur to his trail. Also, he looks pretty much the same when he’s rolling on the ground. I think it’s safe to say they changed it from the abomination we saw in that alpha footage.

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