Avalanche

In a world of rapidly advancing technology none is more important to a backcountry enthusiast as a quality avalanche tranceiver. These devices have come a long way in the last ten years since I bought my first one. The first was a simple analog device that alerted me how close I was to the signal by how close together the beeps were. It worked Ok and could save a life if it had too but was really inneficient in terms of what we have today.
10 years later ........ the tranciever I have today is amazing. I have a Pieps DSP that has multiple antennas and can find and flag up to six burials. It does a lot more than beep at me, it has a screen that tells me how many signals it is picking up, an arrow pointing me to the closest and and a distance to that point. In a situation where every second matters it is worth spending the money to get a quality device and even more important is knowing how to use it.

The future of skiing

Ski resorts all across the globe are experiencing a reduction in average snow-pack every year. Whether you are a believer in global warming or a believer in natural climactic trends one thing is for sure, ski resorts could be in trouble in the near future. According to an article in the New York Times, a new study says the Alps are now the warmest they have been in 1,250 years. This increase in temperature not only causes the snowline to retreat higher and higher up the mountain each year it also causes the snow to melt up to a month sooner than it did back in the 50’s at some resorts.

To battle these challenges ski resorts are turning to high tech snowmaking devices to accommodate for their loss of snow. These machines are becoming very efficient in snow making through technology and automation. I worked at a resort that had an amazing snowmaking system that involved a mass network of underground pipes and a giant pump system at the base of the mountain. Once all of the construction was done on the system it could easily be controlled wirelessly by a small number of people from even their home computers. As impressive as these systems were, a week of warm weather would basically render this advanced, expensive system useless.

Will it be enough to implement these high tech systems to create snow or is going to take a lot more to save skiing? A lot of the big resorts have already taken the steps to help combat this problem while the smaller resorts lack the funds to implement these expensive systems and are at the mercy of the weather. I have seen the affects of these warm temperatures take their tolls on some small resorts that I grew up skiing on and can only hope they will see a dramatic change and live on to be skied for a long time.

Skiing Technology

Most people in today’s sports cultures find it necessary to fork out the money year after year in order to have the newest and greatest performance enhancing equipment money can buy. What are we really buying, equipment that will make us better at our sport or are we simply purchasing bragging rights? Working in the skiing industry for years I have seen and experienced many things that have lead me to conclude that the benefits from having the newest cutting edge technology is mostly in our minds.
I do recognize that there have been points in history that completely blow this theory out of water such as the introduction of parabolic skis that allow skiers to reach a higher level of potential because of this innovation, however this is not always the case. Every year companies come out with new contraptions that are supposedly superior to the ones from the year before. Let’s not forget about the ski K2 released years ago in an attempt to prove their technological supremacy that included a small light which lit up when the damping system was “working” to absorb the vibrations of the slopes. These skis cost a little more and have a fancy little light but failed to really give skiers an edge.
Today, the most off-the-wall technology that comes to mind is Magnatraction introduced by LibTech putting a spin on the way we think about our edges. Magnatraction is a technology that has been out for a couple years in an attempt to attract more winter sports enthusiasts to the brand by moving away from contemporary straight edges and making them wavy, claiming increased traction and performance. Does it work? It just depends on who you ask, I have never personally tried them but have both friends that swear by it and friends that hate the way it rides. I have however fallen victim to wanting the best and paying the big money for it. A couple years ago I decided it was time for a new board due to the fact my favorite board had come to resemble a checkerboard of Ptex repairs and base welds that are simply an occupational hazard of skiing the peaks of Montana and Colorado. After extensive research I made the mistake of buying a board before I tried it, it was one of Burton’s top of the line boards with the Alumafly core and all the bells and whistles that were offered at the time. After taking it out a few times I was less than impressed and found myself missing my old board that served me so well for five years.
I have already retired the fancy board and since moved on, learning my lesson that while it is important to have quality gear, top of the line equipment is not always the answer. While the board is a great ride as long as there is at least a foot of fresh powder, it was not the “all mountain” board it claimed to be. Most skiers and boarders that spend a lot of times on the slopes will most likely acquire a few sets of equipment due to necessity brought on by changing snow conditions throughout the year. Don’t be fooled by all the promises these companies will make claiming to make you a better rider as long as you are willing to shell out the money. Learn from my mistake and make sure to demo the equipment before buying it to avoid being left with a piece of equipment that is only good for bragging about how “cool” it is.