Ski Idaho passport program sports new perk: AirFlare
BOISE, Idaho (Jan. 17, 2024) — The Idaho Peak Season Passport lets
5th-graders ski or ride three days for free at each of the 17
participating Gem State ski areas and offers 6th-graders two days free
at those mountains for only $29. This winter it also comes with a
complimentary family subscription to AirFlare, the app that turns your
smartphone into an outdoors rescue locator, offering families an extra
layer of safety and peace of mind.
“The family friendly reputation of Idaho ski resorts is well
deserved,” Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area General Manager and
Idaho Ski Areas Association Board Chair Brad Wilson said. “Our
incredible, uncrowded terrain offers some of the most spectacular
skiing and snowboarding on the planet regardless of your age and
ability, and our Idaho Peak Season Passport makes it a lot easier for
families to take advantage of our good wintertime fortune. And Ski
Idaho’s new partnership with AirFlare makes it an even better value by
helping your family members stay connected on the mountain and giving
Patrol the ability to locate them quickly in emergencies.”
He said the Idaho Peak Season Passport offers families a tremendous
value. For 5th-graders, the overall value is upwards of $2,373.99
counting the complimentary AirFlare subscription and up to $1,628.99
for 6th-graders.
AirFlare is currently in use by patrol teams at seven Idaho ski areas,
including Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, Brundage Mountain
Resort, Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, Schweitzer, Silver
Mountain Resort, Soldier Mountain, and Tamarack Resort. However, the
location-sharing features can be used to check-in with loved ones at
any resort — or anywhere with the slightest chance of connectivity.
Last winter AirFlare even helped save the life of an Idaho skier who
got lost in the fog at Soldier Mountain in Southern Idaho and wound up
out of bounds. She phoned the resort’s front office to report herself
lost and a staff member sent her a text message with a hyperlink to
the AirFlare app, which she was able to download. With the help of
AirFlare, patrollers pinpointed her on the map and broke trail through
at least 2 feet of fresh, wet snow for nearly two hours to get her
out.
Visit airflare.com/life-save for more details about the rescue.
“Mishaps can happen to anyone at any time — sometimes it’s weather,
lack of preparedness, or just bad luck,” Eliot Gillum, inventor and
CEO of AirFlare, said. “But AirFlare is serious protection that
everyone can have on them all the time. Research shows more than 90
percent of people bring their phone on outdoor activities.”
Friends and family can also use the app to check in via the same
Internet-based technology as rescuers.
Meanwhile, new AirFlare Family Packs make it easier for heads of
households or superfans to share the app with loved ones. Now, one
person can keep friends and family safe with a single purchase or
low-cost yearly subscription like the complimentary one issued with
the Idaho Peak Season Passport from Ski Idaho.
The applications go far beyond ski areas. Gillum said virtually anyone
who adventures in the outdoors can benefit from using AirFlare. He
said you can even use it to find your family and friends at theme
parks and music festivals. In all those environments, cellular service
is often less than perfect and AirFlare’s unique technology shines.
Gillum said the core functionality of AirFlare’s smartphone app, which
is designed for strong, spotty, or zero connectivity, makes the phone
instantly locatable by rescuers via even a fleeting Internet
connection. In addition, the company offers rescuers their proprietary
detector hardware that uses WiFi and Bluetooth to find a phone from up
to 1km away.
To order an Idaho Peak Season Passport for your child, complete the
online application at skiidaho.us/passports and pay a $29 processing
fee. Ski Idaho will email you a passport you can print out prior to
hitting the slopes or pull up on your smartphone when you walk up to
the ticket window. Your child must have a parent or guardian present
to use the passport, and it must be shown at the resort in order to
receive the lift ticket.
Ski Idaho will also email Idaho Peak Season Passport holders with
instructions and a link to redeem their complimentary AirFlare Family
Pack subscription. Those who’ve already signed up for a passport with
receive a similar email soon. The email bears the signatures of the
patrol directors at all seven Idaho ski areas that partner with
AirFlare.
The program is open to any child from any state or country — NOT just
Idaho kids.
Ski areas participating in the Idaho Peak Season Passport program include:
* Bald Mountain Ski Area — skibaldmountain.com
* Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area — bogusbasin.org
* Brundage Mountain Resort — brundage.com
* Cottonwood Butte Ski Area — cottonwoodbutte.org
* Grand Targhee Resort — grandtarghee.com
* Little Ski Hill — payettelakesskiclub.org/little-ski-hill
* Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area — skilookout.com
* Lost Trail Ski Area — losttrail.com
* Magic Mountain Ski Resort — magicmountainresort.com
* Pebble Creek Ski Area — pebblecreekskiarea.com
* Pomerelle Mountain Resort — pomerelle.com
* Schweitzer — schweitzer.com
* Silver Mountain Resort — silvermt.com
* Snowhaven Ski & Tubing Area — grangeville.us/snowhaven-ski-and-tubing-hill
* Soldier Mountain — soldiermountain.com
* Sun Valley Resort — sunvalley.com
* Tamarack Resort — tamarackidaho.com
Although Kelly Canyon Resort near Ririe does not participate in the
Idaho Peak Season Passport program, this will be the second season it
hosts Kids Ski Free Days on Jan. 27 and Feb. 3. Visit
kellycanyonresort.com for more details.
Participating ski hills reserve the right to limit passport use for
ski racers, on race days, and on any scheduled blackout dates that may
apply. Visit skiidaho.us/passport-blackout for a list of scheduled
blackout dates, and check with your ski hill for full details.
WHY 5TH- AND 6TH-GRADERS?
According to Wilson, the Idaho Peak Season Passport targets 5th- and
6th-graders because a lot of them don’t know how to ski or snowboard
yet. In addition, he said nationwide ski resorts have found that kids
in those grades are at an age where they can learn quickly and enjoy
the sports of skiing and snowboarding.
Wilson also said keeping children active in winter can be challenging.
Plus, he said 5th- and 6th-graders are at a crucial age in their
development where they are choosing healthy lifestyle activities —
including lifelong sports like skiing and snowboarding — over more
sedentary activities.
On top of that, Wilson said a lot of middle schools and high schools
offer after-school ski and snowboard programs or have ski and
snowboard teams or clubs, so 5th and 6th grade is a great time to
prepare kids for that.
He said it’s also a good time to reengage former skiers and
snowboarders, because their kids are old enough the whole family can
enjoy riding together.
ABOUT SKI IDAHO
Founded in 1982, the Idaho Ski Areas Association, a.k.a. Ski Idaho, is
a nonprofit association funded in part by the Idaho Travel Council via
the state’s 2 percent lodging tax paid by travelers and collected by
hotel, motel, private campground, and vacation rentals owners.
Boasting 29,000 feet of vertical spanning more than 21,000 acres,
Idaho is home to America’s first destination ski resort, the
birthplace of the chairlift, and often considered the soul of skiing.
Its 19 family friendly alpine ski areas offer trails and backcountry
for skiers and snowboarders of all ages and skill levels, breathtaking
views, hundreds of inches of fresh powder, affordable passes, and
short lift lines. Many Ski Idaho destinations open for the summer
season, as well, to provide lift-served mountain biking, scenic
chairlift rides, hiking and trail running, disc golf, horseback
riding, and more. Visit skiidaho.us for more details.
