Opportunity:
With a large and relatively affluent population base in Denver and the surrounding area, the Colorado ski resorts have enjoyed great success and are among the premier ski resorts in the World. Unfortunately, the large volume of people that visit these high end resorts often results in extraordinarily long lift lines that can extend upwards of an hour.
Solution:
Slipstream Systems is a text/web subscription service which allows users to enter the resort name into their cell phone and receive instant feedback on the wait times for each lift at the resort. The website will present compiled data and provide line forecasts and trends so that guests may better plan trips to the mountains.
Value Proposition:
Many of Colorado’s premier resorts have season pass prices that are pushing $600. Locals that pay this premium want to get the most for their money and are usually avid skiers who would prefer to spend more time on the slopes and less time standing in crowded lines. Our service will allow users to find which resort or even which individual lift has the shortest wait times in real time. This is done by utilizing new RFID technology which is being implanted in the 2008/2009 season passes. Our service will allow people to make informed decisions on were they would like to ski that day or even which part of the mountain to head to after lunch.
Competitive Advantage:
There is currently no direct competition in this niche market. There are currently websites that display traffic updates for driving to the mountains but little has been done to consider the crowds at the resorts themselves. Initially, we will be working exclusively with Vail Resorts in which there is currently little being done to provide info on lift lines other than rough estimates posted at the line itself or on the large maps situated around the resort.
Marketing Strategy:
Our marketing strategy will be focused on two areas. We will be posting advertisements at ski movie premiers, online forums and ski related magazines as this is often reasonably cheap and hit on our target market of Colorado locals almost exclusively. As we expand, we will also invest in more expensive physical advertising space such as billboards and signs posted at the resorts themselves. Depending on how closely we work with Vail Resorts, we may include our service as an option when guests sign up for season passes online.
