Industry News
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. 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.”
— Brad Wilson, Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area GM & Idaho Ski Areas Association Board Chair
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.
- Relate: AirFlare Phone App Saved Idaho Skier’s Life After Getting Lost and Leaving Resort Boundary
“Mishaps can happen to anyone at any time — sometimes it’s weather, lack of preparedness, or just bad luck. But AirFlare is serious protection that everyone can have on them all the time. Research shows more than 90% of people bring their phone on outdoor activities.”
— Eliot Gillum, AirFlare Inventor & CEO
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
- Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area
- Brundage Mountain Resort
- Cottonwood Butte Ski Area
- Grand Targhee Resort
- Little Ski Hill
- Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area
- Lost Trail Ski Area
- Magic Mountain Ski Resort
- Pebble Creek Ski Area
- Pomerelle Mountain Resort
- Schweitzer
- Silver Mountain Resort
- Snowhaven Ski & Tubing Area
- Soldier Mountain
- Sun Valley Resort
- Tamarack Resort
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.
