2014/2015 Whistler Blackcomb - South Coast - Duffey Lake Thread

[gramboh]

The concern pow 11 has re cc numbers is very valid. I was able to read my card with my phone (actual true story) and was surprised by the amount of info on there. It's really scary given the identity theft risk. It even has cock size on there, which is automatically updated based on how bad ass your skiing is.

Rain to the top today and tonight but just barely. I prefer this precip trend to the no snow trend we had the first half of last season. Good base building going on.

What kind of data did you find on the card? I'd be surprised if they store CC data on it, I'd think it's stored securely on a WB server and when you swipe the RFID card to pay for something it calls the DB for payment authorization.

I think the real concern for the RFID is not trying to catch poaching but the possibility of tiered pricing in the coming years.

[lpkdz]

The scanners at Alta are pretty nice, I hate digging around for my pass at each gate at Snowbird. I can't imagine how they could track you going places you shouldn't based on your pass... if I have that thing in the pocket of an inner layer it won't read sometimes, so definitely doesn't seem sensitive enough to give them anything out of bounds. At Alta they have these big screens above the scanner gate that show your pass picture and height so the lifties can see as you go through the gate. Pictures aren't too concerning since you are usually in goggles, hat, face mask when they check your pass, but I haven't been able to loan the pass to friends because of height differences. It's also a shock to look behind you and see a big ass picture of yourself above the gate.

[Snow Dog]

My understanding is that every lift will now have staff on hand reviewing the RFID scans via a tablet. As you walk through the scanner your picture pops up on the tablet so that staff can check for fraud. Im not sure how effective that will be, but I guess we'll find out.

This.

From an employee handout:
The Photo on my pass is not as clear as the old WB passes. How does Whistler
Blackcomb know that the pass belongs to me? Whistler Blackcomb has a great quality
colour photo associated with your customer profile in our system. This photo is displayed
to our Validation team each time you pass though one of our Access Gates. Since the new
Access Cards remain in your pocket whiles skiing and riding on the Mountain it is the
Photo on file that is now most important. In the early winter our software system will be
upgraded to display this photo each time an Access Card us used to pay for a Retail or
Food and Beverage Item using our Resort Charge functionality. Our Staff will verify that
the person using the card as payment is the same person associated with the card in our
system.

[Axelerate]

Matier

[Maximus Farcisimus]

Matier

So many holes, so little snow in the forecast

[skieast]

You guys read a lot of conspiracy theory Novels . An RFID that can be embedded in the pass has a very limited range it can be read in it also has no capability of recording any additional info while you are moving around in order to track where you have been. The whole system is perfectly capable of recording every gate you went thru to get on allift, and report on how many people are using any give lift during a time period. But none of that does anything to tell the area what you have been doing in between the scanner gates. If anyone is telling you different, they are either ignorant of RFID capabilities, or trying to give out misinformation to keep the lemmings in check.

My conspiracy theory, complete with tinfoil hat, is Whistler Blackcomb has commissioned experimental ultra-high power rfid readers. Say on the order of several hundred watts. As the rfid tags are read by being excited by a rf field this will increase the range. Not being a scientist or even knowing as much as a typical politician I can say this would be a BIG number. Real big.

It will also provide the added benefit of warming the customer as he/she passes within range of the readers. Maybe a bit of a burn if they amp up the power enough.

[puma]

FYI, for those considering sharing passes with other people now that you won't have a person checking the picture on your pass. I understand they record some kind of bio-metric information (maybe weight?) and if it differs by a lot between scans of your pass, it alerts staff. Anyway, that's how I understand these things work to try to prevent pass fraud.

Not sure about the Whistler system, but at Bachelor they have RFID. On the lift side of the gates there is a screen. It shows your pass picture, and I believe says Adult\junior Male\Female. That makes sharing a pass with a friend\family member of the same sex\relative age fine, but not quite so easy with your wife...

[xyz]

So is Mike Douglas and the Whistler media machine out making turns today?

[pipedream]

What kind of data did you find on the card? I'd be surprised if they store CC data on it, I'd think it's stored securely on a WB server and when you swipe the RFID card to pay for something it calls the DB for payment authorization.

I think the real concern for the RFID is not trying to catch poaching but the possibility of tiered pricing in the coming years.

Bingo. You can't store that much info on an RFID. There's just a unique identifier, called the EPC, stored on the chip. The chip itself is passive, meaning that a reader provides sufficient energy to activate the circuit and backscatter the EPC to the reader. The reader firmware then splits-up the EPC into its components and communicates with a database-backed service to obtain any other information. So, nothing that would personally identify YOU is stored in the tag. Of course, there is choice in what gets stored, but typically it's just a unique ID that can be used to get more information from a service (for example, the RFID-enabled bus passes in the Puget Sound area store your 10 most recent transactions to simplify fare disputes and then a unique ID to links to your profile in their system). As long as the service is properly secured, you shouldn't have to worry about having your personal information compromised by someone who's reading your RFID tags.

But then again, what I do know? I'm just a computer scientist...

[BDoubleYou]

ya, with you on that one. Those vids each year kinda make me want to hurl but probably because nobody calls me early on those mornings offering a seat and I have to hoof it up there on my own....fargin' bastiges.

[Axelerate]

The snow wasn't as good today.

[powderbro]

This is from a week ago during that one storm, but hey why not. Wedgemount glacier on the way back from the Wedge NW couloir.

I posted a photo gallery / TR to the community side of things and don't feel like reformatting it for the forum, so here you go. (Spoiler alert: we get turned around by weather partway up)

http://www.tetongravity.com/photo/sk...mpt-november-3

[t.odd]

nice stoke.....you guys are way more motivated than I for snow at this point, I've just been slinging dirt on the trails and getting in the occasional ride while patiently waiting for real winter

[LeeLau]

nice stoke.....you guys are way more motivated than I for snow at this point, I've just been slinging dirt on the trails and getting in the occasional ride while patiently waiting for real winter

Same - we're both jaded!

[Axelerate]

Same - we're both jaded!

Impending surgery dates were motivating. Last day of the season for her (till May).
We've been mountain biking a lot too, but we've been packing as much in as we can.



Two different parties skied the Aussie over the past few days. Boot top reverse loaded pow was apparently quite nice.

[filthyfrenchbum]

Hello again all,

Looking forward to seeing some shared stoke in this thread and sharing turns with some of you!

For the soppy, stormy, windy days, the sleeper 5 cm days, the sunny touring days, and everything in between, let it snow!

Oh, and since I will be a regular Squam to North Van commuter, I am looking for beta and touring partners for weekday Hollyburn dawn patrols.

[Maximus Farcisimus]

Two different parties skied the Aussie over the past few days. Boot top reverse loaded pow was apparently quite nice.

South aspects look better than they did last Christmas. Hard to tell from this photo but bodybag/disease look to have some snow

[powderbro]

Well, if anyone is wondering, north facing things are extra shitty right now. Instavid from Tuesday: http://instagram.com/p/vT3PZAD2uD/?modal=true

We wanted to ski the Birkenstock and had hoped that it had stayed cold, being north facing and all... nope.

[powder11]

Im gonna hike up the backside of Currie solo, with no water and then wait until after dark to drop into the pencil. Probably down climb the boulder runnel just to spice things up... my interwebz TR is gonna be so sick, they'll post it up on the TGR Facebook page for sure.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Im gonna hike up the backside of Currie solo, with no water and then wait until after dark to drop into the pencil. Probably down climb the boulder runnel just to spice things up... my interwebz TR is gonna be so sick, they'll post it up on the TGR Facebook page for sure.

Do it, brah! #internetfamous

[Shaggy]

SAR now offers a free water delivery service from what I've heard, so you should be good to go. Plus you'll get to bad mouth the RCMP for being insensitive meanies afterwards.

[shirk]

SAR now offers a free water delivery service from what I've heard, so you should be good to go. Plus you'll get to bad mouth the RCMP for being insensitive meanies afterwards.

It's tricky to do but if you time a pizza delivery to the heliport as just the right time they'll bring it along with the water delivery.

[powder11]

Apparently the new RCMP response to SAR calls will be "man up and walk out"

[Clownshoe]

my sources say the 22nd is the day.

[gramboh]

my sources say the 22nd is the day.

Nice. VD and Ratfink good to go first run full speed right?