subject: High Tech At High Altitudes [print this page] The times they are a changing It used to be that it was very bad form to answer a cell phone while on a ski lift or be found chatting on the lodge catwalk. It was like being caught with your cell phone going off in the movie theater. Now due to social media platforms, Smartphone apps and the like, it is no longer a faux pas to whip out your cell phone on the slopes. In fact, you are probably in the minority if you dont.
High Tech at High Altitudes
Is it any wonder that high tech is catching on at high altitudes? Ski and snowboard apps are everywhere, whether its GPS-based trail trackers, data info like backcountry slope inclinometers, or live feeds of mountain conditions at your favorite resort. Besides all these apps, helmets are now equipped with Bluetooth cameras or video mounts. The list of high tech for the ski resorts is extensive.
Social Media has hit the slopes! If you ski at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone or Heavenly Valley, you probably have heard of EpicMix or are already a part of it. The EpicMix social media app from Vail Resorts keeps track of all kinds of personal information on skiers. For example EpicMix tracks your runs, vertical feet skied, days skied and powder days skied. It is of course linked with Facebook and Twitter so you can share your info with your friends. The downside is that the app only works at Vail-owned resorts.
EpicMix has the ability to track your physical accomplishments, similar to Nike+, and then combine it with the community experience of location-based social media, similar to applications like Gowalla, said Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz. The app was unveiled in September, with its official launch on November 5 at Keystone.
GPS on the slopes means better communication. Digital pins on the slopes allow you to unlock the pin for recordable achievements, which will then be shared on Facebook or Twitter. But there is much more to EpicMix. According to an article by Joe Lindsey, Wired, The mobile app can also find friends and family on the mountain in real-time and instant message them, meaning a possible end to the plaintive John Walton, please meet your party at first aid/ski patrol scrawls on the dry-erase board at the lift. EpicMix offers updates on trail conditions, weather, and even traffic. For fans of Foursquare and Gowalla, there are digital pins for certain achievements and milestones.
Are you onboard with high tech for the slopes? Do you ski or snowboard? Think you may use your Smartphone for hooking up with your friends on the slopes? Want to try EpicMix and all its tricks? Or are you a purest that thinks cell phones and technology should be left in your ski locker and not taken out on the slopes? Let us know.
