Ludlow, VT – Vermont skiers and riders visiting Okemo Mountain Resort will no longer have to fumble with gloves, zippers and lanyards as they search for lift tickets and season passes prior to loading a lift. Instead, they can glide through special gates equipped with RFID readers that scan radio-frequency-identification-enabled cards that can be stowed safely inside jackets or pants pockets.

This technology makes the cumbersome visual checking of lift tickets and season passes a thing of the past, and reduces labor requirements for the resort. And, after an initial visit to the ticket window to purchase an Okemo Real.Easy Card, skiers and riders can go direct-to-lift on subsequent visits; they simply visit okemo.com to load new products like lift access and even resort credit onto their card prior to visiting.

Beginning this ski season, all Okemo lift access products will be sold as RFID-enabled cards, though only Okemo Real.Easy Cards will be personalized and reloadable. In addition to convenience, online purchasers can save up to 25 percent off the published lift rates, with greater discounts corresponding to how far in advance lift access is purchased. Real.Easy Cards can be used in subsequent seasons.

“We work toward being a leader in the use of technology,” said Okemo Mountain Resort Owner Tim Mueller. “We recognize that our guests are attuned to the conveniences associated with new technologies and we strive to serve them in a way that demonstrates ‘The Okemo Difference.’”

RFID uses radio waves to recognize people or objects through the use of a microchip and an antenna that enables the chip to transmit the information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information.