BROOMFIELD, Colo., Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) today announced the launch schedule of EpicMix™, the revolutionary new online and mobile application that will allow skiers and snowboarders to digitally capture and share their ski and ride experience at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly. Vail Resorts also announced a new contest based on the total vertical feet skied at its resorts, in which one lucky guest can win up to $100,000 in a cash prize.

Beginning this Friday, Nov. 5, on Keystone Resort's opening day, the EpicMix scanners will capture guests' lift rides, calculating vertical feet and days skied. The scanners will continue capturing guests' lift rides with each of the other resort openings — Breckenridge on Nov. 12, Vail and Heavenly on Nov. 19 and Beaver Creek on Nov. 24, 2010. The EpicMix website and mobile applications will be launched for guest interaction between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Guests will be notified by email when the EpicMix application goes live. While guests will have to wait until the application goes live to activate their EpicMix account and review and share their accomplishments with family and friends, EpicMix will be capturing all of their lift rides from the beginning of the season. When they first access the application, EpicMix will be loaded with their total days skied and their cumulative vertical feet since the beginning of the season and any special commemorative pins already earned.

In addition, starting with Keystone's opening day, the EpicMix website will feature a live running total of the cumulative vertical feet skied at each of Vail Resorts' five resorts by everyone using a season pass or PEAKS lift ticket. This will be the first time skiers anywhere in the world can view this statistic for a ski resort. To celebrate the launch of EpicMix, Vail Resorts will be giving an Epic Holiday Gift to one lucky guest selected at random on Dec. 29, 2010. The exact amount of this special gift will be set at $1 for each 30,000 of vertical feet skied by all skiers and riders across Vail, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Heavenly mountains, from the opening of each resort to the day the EpicMix application goes live, up to a maximum of $100,000. Skiers and snowboarders will automatically be entered into the drawing when they activate their EpicMix account between when the application goes live and Dec. 28, 2010. For additional details and contest rules, visit www.epicmix.com.

"We're excited to begin the process of launching EpicMix for our guests this winter to digitally capture their lift rides with the opening of Keystone Resort this Friday," said Heidi Kercher-Pratt, vice president and chief marketing officer of Vail Resorts. "We also look forward to watching, with our guests, the vertical feet totals at each of our resorts and offering our guests a chance to have a truly Epic New Year's with a cash prize of up to $100,000."

EpicMix automatically captures the activity of guests throughout each of its resorts by leveraging Vail Resorts' state-of-the-art radio frequency (RF) scanners that have been installed at each of its 89 lifts across all five mountain resorts. An RF-enabled chip embedded in Vail Resorts' season passes and PEAKS lift tickets will automatically track guests' lift rides, calculating vertical feet skied and days on the mountain, and will recognize special achievements and accomplishments by granting guests commemorative, collectible digital pins. EpicMix will have hundreds of available digital pins for a multitude of unique experiences available at each resort.

EpicMix will allow guests the choice to "opt in" and share their statistics and accomplishments through updates on Twitter and Facebook and guests can create special EpicMix leader boards with their Facebook friends. The free EpicMix mobile application, which guests can download to their iPhone, Android or other smart phone, will alert guests when any of their Facebook friends are skiing and where they are on the mountain. The application will also allow guests to send messages to their private groups of Facebook friends on the mountain. The mobile application will also provide trail and grooming information, snow and weather reports, as well as resort news and traffic updates. EpicMix will also have a special website for kids under the age of 14, which will allow them to connect with their parents' accounts, but will have content designed specifically for them and unique pins only kids can earn. The kids' site also will have special privacy restrictions. Parents will also be able to use EpicMix to track the lift rides of their kids in real time.

The privacy of Vail Resorts guests is of paramount importance to the Company and no information collected through EpicMix will be shared unless a guest "opts in" and specifically chooses to share their information. All information collected through EpicMix is subject to the strict privacy policies of Vail Resorts. Guests can choose to disable the RF chip in their pass to prevent any scanning. Children under 14 participating in Epic-Mix will have limited features and a connection only to their parents' account.

Epic Mix and Vail Resorts Season Passes

EpicMix is available to all Vail Resorts guests who have a PEAKS lift ticket or a season pass. The Vail Resorts' Epic Pass, Epic 7-Pack, Summit Pass, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin Pass, Heavenly Pass and PEAKS Lift Ticket are all enabled with RF technology and allow guests to participate in Epic Mix.  All Vail Resorts season passes are currently on sale now and the revolutionary Epic Pass™ is back for its third season providing unlimited, unrestricted access to eight world-class resorts, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar-at-Tahoe, as well as at Arapahoe Basin and Sierra-at-Tahoe at $629 for adults and $329 for children (ages 5 to 12). New this year is the Epic 7-Pack™ (www.epicpass.com): A seven-day unrestricted ticket that skiers and snowboarders can use at any one of Vail Resorts' five mountain resorts and Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season at a price of $479 for adults and $239 for children, or almost 35-percent off of a single-day lift ticket price at the window. Also for the second year, The Summit Pass™ is available to purchase online at www.epicpass.com and provides unlimited, unrestricted lift access at the top Summit County resorts—Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin—at $429 for adults, $339 for teens (ages 13 to 18) and $229 for children (ages 5 to 12). Also new this year is a Keystone and Arapahoe Basin Pass, which offers unlimited, unrestricted skiing and riding at both resorts and is priced at $389 for adults, $319 for teens and $219 for children. All season passes are on sale only through Nov. 7, 2010.

About Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resort properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado, and Heavenly Mountain Resort and Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Company's subsidiary,

RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States and in the Caribbean. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc.Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.

SOURCE Vail Resorts, Inc.