Have you ever wondered what it’s like to hit the slopes at a ski hill that you haven’t been to before?
A new virtual tour of Mt Seymour ski resort – made up of hundreds of drone images and videos – gives potential guests a detailed lay of the land at the North Vancouver winter sports destination.
Via the Mt Seymour SkyView online interface, you can navigate the resort in three dimensions, with visual overlays showing the individual runs, as well as video footage of skiers and snowboarders riding the terrain.
The tour is a “game-changer” for guests prior to visiting the mountain, says Simon Whitehead, marketing manager for the resort.
“It’s not just a tour. It’s an immersive experience that captures the essence of Mt Seymour,” he said.
The point of the online tool is to demystify the unknown and reduce uncertainties around trying things out for the first time, explains Boris Maganic, founder of 360Pros, which developed the online tour.
His company, which has worked with Grouse Mountain and the Victoria Conference Centre, primarily uses panoramic drone footage to create a user interface, much like you’d build a website.
'We made the user experience very accessible,' developer says
The Mt Seymour project started a few years ago, when Maganic was approached by the mountain’s staff videographer to put imagery he had into an online tour format. A few iterations have been developed since then, with the most recent, fully fledged version launching on Jan. 5.
“We really overhauled it with the goal of not just being a showcase piece, but also being a piece where a specific audience member gets to experience their part of the resort,” Maganic said. “For instance, newcomers – it’s very clear for them where to click and check out what the mountain actually has to offer.
“It’s not just about big terrain parks, these pro features, but they’re really welcoming to new families or future skiers and riders. So we made the user experience very accessible and approachable,” he said.
Apart from the piste, the tour also shows Seymour’s snow tubing, tobogganing and snow shoeing areas. The tool is also optimized for use on mobile, as well as desktop devices.
The tour has also been built in such a way that it can easily be updated over time, to include newly added features or preview future additions. And with the proper budget, it could even be made to be compatible with virtual reality devices, Maganic said.
“From a tech perspective, that’s the ultimate goal,” he said.
Growing up in North Vancouver but now living on the Sunshine Coast with two kids, Maganic rarely gets to play on the North Shore mountains these days, which he still calls “his backyard.”
“But there’s a sense of nostalgia when I make these kinds of virtual tours, because it lets me relive my youth in a way,” he said with a laugh.
