OnTheSnow Announces New Site Features and Mobile Applications Giving Skiers and Snowboarders the Most Comprehensive Set of Resources for Skiing and Snowboarding

ORINDA, Calif., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- OnTheSnow, the most visited snow sports website in the world, today announced several new website enhancements and mobile applications designed to give skiers and snowboarders more comprehensive and accessible information on skiing and riding, including a new iPhone Gear Guide application, free snow reporting mobile applications, a new iPad application, and a new resort photo and video section on the website. The Company also announced the launch of new Brazilian and Russian OnTheSnow websites and the opening of its European headquarters in Innsbruck, Austria.

"OnTheSnow is designed to be the source for all information that skiers and snowboarders need," said Chad Dyer, global managing director, Mountain News Corporation, which operates OnTheSnow. "The new website features and mobile applications we are launching now and throughout the remainder of 2010 will help skiers and snowboarders easily access the information they are looking for this winter season, including gear reviews, snow reports, resort photos and videos, and other information to help them plan their vacation."  

iPhone Gear Guide Application

Available in Apple's iTunes store is OnTheSnow's free iPhone Gear Guide application that helps skiers and riders choose the best gear. It is the first iPhone application dedicated to selecting gear for skiing and riding, and is one of the first gear guides of any kind for the iPhone. Just in time for the upcoming ski season, the application provides detailed information on more than 230 skis, snowboards, ski boots, snowboard boots and snowboard bindings and includes "Top Picks" by experts selected by OnTheSnow.   The free application allows users to filter their selection by gender, sport, ability level and terrain and includes an innovative feature that lets users compare their favorite selections. Users can also watch OnTheSnow gear videos which review all of the Top Picks and a selection of Adventure Series ski videos. The application also introduces "Snowpedia," a glossary of standard terms used in selecting gear.

Free Snow Report iPhone and Droid Application

OnTheSnow announced that it will re-launch its iPhone snow reporting application, which will be free to all users (previous price with $1.99) and will be releasing free Android and Blackberry snow reporting applications. The applications will give skiers and snowboarders comprehensive snow reports from over 2,000 resorts around the world. OnTheSnow is the dominant worldwide source for snow reports, providing information for more news media outlets than any other company in the world. All of the applications will be available in November 2010.  

New iPad Application

OnTheSnow will launch an iPad snow reporting application that will contain the same robust content featured on the OnTheSnow website and in the mobile applications, but with a completely new design tailored to the unique features of the iPad. This will be the first snow reporting application designed specifically for the iPad and will be available in December 2010.

New, Expanded Ski Resort Photo and Video Section

In December 2010, OnTheSnow will launch a redesigned and expanded photo and video gallery on the OnTheSnow website. The new multi-media section will include "current" photos and videos submitted from ski resorts around the world and will be easily searchable by resort, region, type of photo or video and more. The editors of OnTheSnow will select the "Top Ten" photos and videos of the week and all of the content will allow users to provide their own ratings. The new media gallery will give OnTheSnow visitors a visual perspective of what's happening "real time" in skiing and riding at more than 2,000 resorts across the globe.

New Brazilian and Russian OnTheSnow Websites

OnTheSnow will launch new websites for the Brazilian and Russian markets this month. The content for both sites will focus on providing the most relevant travel information for ski resorts around the world, but will be localized to the unique interests and needs within each market. The sites will offer snow reports for more than 2,000 ski and worldwide, along with live resort web cams, video, resort information and news, vacation packages and deals, user-generated resort reviews and a comprehensive ski and snowboard gear guide, all updated regularly by a team of editors within each market. The addition of the Brazilian and Russian websites further enhances OnTheSnow's global reach – it already has websites in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe (U.K., Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, France, Sweden, Italy and Benelux) and the South Pacific (Australia and New Zealand).

New European Headquarters

This week, Mountain News announced the opening of its European headquarters in Innsbruck, Austria, complementing its existing operations in London. "While we will continue to keep an advertising sales and editorial office in the UK, the establishment of our European headquarters in Innsbruck allows us to continue to expand our European snow sports content, and better serve our clients throughout the Alps," said Dr. Eduardo Santander, Europe managing director for Mountain News.

For more information please visit www.OnTheSnow.com.

About OnTheSnow.com and Mountain News Corporation

OnTheSnow is operated by Mountain News Corporation (MNC). MNC, a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, is the top provider of snow reports to more than 1,500 web sites throughout the world, including approximately 400 news media websites. The Company's pre-produced radio snow reports are delivered to affiliate stations in 17 radio networks and 800 stations across the country. In addition to their snow reports and website, OnTheSnow.com publishes and delivers a weekly e-mail newsletter to its database of more than 250,000 subscribers worldwide. MNC also operates MountainGetaway.com, the year-round headquarters for information regarding popular mountain resort communities and regions in the summer months.

SOURCE OnTheSnow.com