Vail Resorts engaged Logistics Consultants, Inc. to develop a warehousing, distribution, receiving and inter and intra-mountain logistics plan and design for its Avon County Colorado ski resorts. Vail Resorts operates Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts located in the White River National Forest.
Each resort must move food, towels and linens, park and equipment maintenance materials, and operating supplies up, down, and across each mountain complex to support skier activities, restaurants and equipment (ski-lift) maintenance. In addition, the resort operates uniform distribution for its ski patrol, ski school and lift operators, and restaurants employees. The highway mileage distance between the mountain resorts is approximately 12 miles. Intra-mountain travel (sno-cats on snow covered trails can be hundreds of miles per day).
Features of the plan include:
- Two new warehouse facilities that consolidate food and MRO operations.
- One warehouse underground on the resort property for quick response food distribution to 12 on mountain restaurants.
- Inbound and outbound truck and sno-cat scheduling to insure on sequenced time delivery and to minimize vehicle contact with pedestrians and skiers during peak operating hours.
- Use of the high speed gondola lift for up-mountain transport of food items at the Vail Ski Resort.
- Emergency maintenance response capability for ski-lift emergencies.
- Bar-code and RFID tracking of food items for inventory accuracy and control.