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Los Angeles is known for its sky-scrapers, beaches and celebrities. Many people don’t know that there is a mountain range in LA’s backyard. Mountain High, Los Angeles’ closest ski resort, recently underwent a one-million dollar make-over. The upgrades went to improving visitor’s experience, from the park’s terrain to guest amenities.

Now guests can enjoy the 50-foot air-filled Bagjump, environmentally friendly snowmaking machines, as well as smartphone apps which use GPS technology to help visitors get the most out of their stay.

The Bagjump may be one of the resort’s most popular new features. As one might expect, the Bagjump is a 50-foot tall air-filled cushion that allows skiers and snowboarders to practice high-jump moves, without such a high risk of injury.

A 50-foot landing on a snow-covered mountain-side is likely to break some bones, if not worse. This feature is great for beginners, but has also proven useful for professional athletes training for the X-games and even the Olympics.

The resort, which expects more than half a million guests during the 2011-2012 winter season, is offering free iPhone and Android compatible applications. The apps use the GPS tracking capabilities of these phones, allowing guests to record their own location on the mountain, as well as the location of their friends.

Season Pass and Express Pass users can also employ the GPS tracking technology to record their vertical feet, runs per day, as well as days ridden. Users can use these free apps to check real-time on-mountain conditions, weather forecasts, live cam images from the mountain, terrain park updates and snowmaking overviews.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

The apps also allows users to connect directly to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Mountain High’s forum. These free apps will be available through the App Store and Android Marketing Place in November 2011