Val Thorens, France – When announcing its new Vista Bahn gondola in December, Vail Mountain in Colorado said that the new state-of-the-art lift set to debut next winter will include free Wi-Fi for guests. They’re not the first, however, as Val Thorens, comprising one third of the Trois Vallées high in the Savoie region of the French Alps, has already installed free Internet service on all of its ski lifts.

The service has already proven to be very popular. Already available at several lifts last season, connection rates have increased by 30 percent this winter.

“We want to offer visitors the best services to facilitate their stay in the resort,” said Eric Bonnel, Sales and Marketing Director of ski lift company SETAM. “We are anticipating their needs by offering them access to Wi-Fi on the ski lifts.”

Plans are also afoot to expand the free Wi-Fi into Orelle, an adjacent valley also part of the massive Trois Vallées complex, the world’s largest interconnected ski domain.