Business

Ski trip inspires GPS-friendly maps of resorts

Some people go to mountaintops to gain inspiration. Tucsonan Marcus Needham went to a mountaintop to ski, and wound up with the inspiration for his next business, Mountain Dynamics Inc. While skiing at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado last March, Needham felt a little lost. "It's a wide mountain with many peaks," he said. "I was trying to figure out how to get from where I was to meet a friend at the lodge for lunch." Wouldn't it be cool, Needham asked himself, if you could adapt a handheld Global Positioning System satellite receiver to maps of ski resorts, so you could instantly tell where you are and where you're going? Thus was conceived SnowRanger, a series of complete ski-resort maps that you can download as software to any Garmin GPS receiver that supports map downloads. Garmin handheld GPS receivers with downloadable map support start at about $100 and cost about $250 for units with full-color screens. The maps feature varying levels of detail depending on the zoom, including terrain contours, ski trails, lifts and gondolas and lodges. As you ski, a little black arrow shows your current position. It gets cooler. With Garmin's Rino series of GPS units, which include Family Radio Service walkie-talkies, you can track others with similar Garmin units on your screen in real-time. Needham, co-founder and former top executive of The River Internet Access Co. before the ISP was sold in mid-2004, developed the software himself based on public-domain maps and resort data. Mountain Dynamics launched its SnowRanger line Nov. 1, offering the product online through downloads and CD-ROM via the company's Web site, www.mountaindynamics.com, and on CD-ROM via Amazon.com and eBay, and locally at Peter Glenn Ski & Sports. The company's first resort series includes 18 maps of ski resorts in Colorado and New Mexico. The CD-ROM set is $29.95; downloads of individual resort maps are $4.95 each through the company's Web site. Needham is working on maps for California and the rest of the West. "I think the interest is out there," said Avery Harper, co-owner of Peter Glenn Ski & Sports, 5626 E. Broadway. "I see it as that very neat Christmas present for someone who's into the cool gadgets." Harper said he hasn't sold any of the SnowRanger discs yet, noting that the ski season is just starting, but he said he thinks the product might appeal particularly to young skiers who already have GPS units. Needham said he thinks there's an ample market of skiers and snowboarders who already own Garmin GPS units for hiking and other outdoor pursuits. The National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association reports that in the 2002-03 season, 6.8 million people skied and 6.3 million snowboarded, he noted. And Garmin, the market leader, sold 708,000 units in the last quarter, about three-fourths of which were consumer products like handhelds and automotive receivers, Needham said. His company is looking to write software for other GPS brands. Needham said he's working to get his product into other retail outlets. An official of Garmin International Inc. in Olathe, Kan., said entrepreneurs have adapted map data to Garmin GPS units for a variety of uses, including local restaurant guides. "It's great that people are coming out with these applications and new ways to use our products - it's a win-win for everybody," Garmin spokesman Jessica Myers said.