The 2020 Aspen Snowmass Freeskiing Open was the perfect showcase to demonstrate the versatility of Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh® network. Attracting over 200 amateur and professional level athletes from six nations, this event is one of the last and longest-running independent open competitions in the U.S, sanctioned by the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) and International Ski Federation (FIS).
Large metal containers and equipment block RF signals, plus radar, ships, and neighboring ports can all cause signal interference. These issues are made worse by the fact that their assets are constantly in motion, and designing a traditional Wi-Fi or LTE network around ever-moving obstructions is not practical because they rely so heavily on fixed infrastructure.
Any ski resort, and especially a competition venue, is NOT a hospitable location for networking gear. Consequently, there have been no permanent wireless networks installed along any existing venues. Rajant’s IP67-rated ME4 BreadCrumbs® were up to the challenge of operating reliably for the entire five days of the event during typical alpine conditions—including subzero temperatures, heavy snow, and blustery wind.
The Think Vertical Now! team, who joined Rajant on the Colorado mountain, deployed the network two days before the event started, along with fixed and PTZ video cameras to enable judging by video and live streaming.
This proof of concept showed the solution’s key features of ease and speed of deployment, mission-critical reliability, and application versatility. Challenges included significant elevation changes, limited infrastructure height, the venue’s close proximity to the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, and the existing use of Wi-Fi for resort operations and guest entertainment.
Click here to watch how our technology was used to support live video feeds of competitors’ runs for accurate judging, delivering high bandwidth and reliable performance on the mountain.