Billed as a "Ski D-ROM" multimedia guide to Utah's ski resorts, Discovering Utah woos winter tourists with photos, maps, charts, text and about an hours' worth of 45-second video clips.
The CD-ROM, which retails for $49.95, is easy to use. Even computer novices should be able to find answers to whatever questions they have about Utah ski resorts.There are point-and-click menus that direct users to information about individual resorts, including the video clips of skiers on selected runs, as well as general mountain facts and trip planning tips.
Fourteen resorts are featured, including Beaver Mountain, Brian Head and Elk Meadows as well asthose along the Wasatch Front. Even the state's premier would-be Olympic venue, the Utah Winter Sports Park near Park City, is there. The resorts and Ski Utah cooperated with their project.
Included with the CD-ROM is another enticement, a book of coupons valued at $250 that are good for everything from a free ski jumping session at the Utah Winter Sports Park to an upgrade on a rental car.
But don't look for the Mountain View Media product in most local stores, although copies are available through the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Developer Marty Hollander said the California-based company has targeted tourists, not locals. The product's been a big seller in Georgia, Florida and the Midwest, especially Michigan and Illinois, Hollander said, estimating 10,000 copies will be sold nationwide by the end of the season.
Hollander said the idea for the CD-ROM came after he and partner Danny Shapiro spent a winter skiing Utah. "We thought we'd love to do this again, and had to come up with a way," Hollander said.
The pair, which make up the entire full-time staff of Mountain View Media, both spent a number of years in the computer industry before turning into ski bums two seasons ago.
They were back on the slopes again last winter, but this time they were researching information about the resorts for their CD-ROM.