GPS SKI

It’s official – I’m a lazy skier. Oh the shame of it.

Ever since I found out that a company called Sumit was renting out GPS tracking devices to follow your day on the slopes, I had been itching to try one. The poor start to the season kept me waiting so I had to wait until December 19 before finally getting the opportunity to test one out in Val d’Isère and Tignes. Now, having had the results back, I’m not so sure I’m so keen.

The day started badly. It took me till 10 before I was kitted out with skis, a lift pass and a Sumit GPS tracking device and was standing in the queue for the L’Olympique cable car. Using the tracker is easy. It’s the size of a mobile phone and fits with an elasticated Velcro strap around your arm. After wearing it for a few moments, you forget it is even there. You turn it on before you get on your first lift and then turn it off when you get off your last and then hand it back to Sumit who do all the rest.

Or so they say. For me, it took 25 minutes of queuing inside the bottom station before emerging and the device managing to lock onto the orbiting GPS satellites. Most people already know about GPS through the satnav devices in their cars. Unlike a car satnav, Sumit’s little device will not direct you around the slope although it can’t be far off. It won’t be long before we hear the clipped tones of John Cleese saying ‘Turn right at the next fir tree, you horrible little oik.’

With all the reports of poor snow, I had been expecting to be skiing on grass and rocks but in fact the day was beautifully sunny and the snow in fairly reasonable condition, certainly better than the doom-mongers had predicted. The fine weather put me in good spirits and I ripped all over the Espace Killy. I came off the mountain early, at 3.15, in order to catch up with a friend in the resort but felt I had done a good five hours of skiing and looked forward to seeing what I had achieve.

Later that evening, an email popped into my Inbox. I could hardly contain my excitement. By this time, my thighs had started burning so I knew I had pushed myself reasonably hard. With mounting anticipating, I double-clicked on the file attachments – one a map showing my progress around the runs of Val d’Isère and Tignes, the other a page of statistics and a jagged chart plotting both my altitude and speed.

It all looked pretty cool until I noticed the very last statistic, which showed the proportion of the day I had spent resting - 64.40%. I was so shocked I had to read it again. 64.40%. There it was in black and white (well, blue and yellow). Ah but that must include all the time I spent on and waiting for chairlifts. Err, no. According to Sumit’s little device, I had spent a further 12.30 per cent of my time on lifts and just 23.30 per cent skiing. So that was it. I had always thought I skied reasonably well but now my ego was totally deflated. I was a skiing skiver.

So why were my thighs burning so much? The altitude/speed chart certainly seemed spiky enough to indicate I hadn’t been slacking. My top speed of 75.34 km/h sounds impressive when you think that the fastest lift (the funicular to the top of the Grande Motte) was half that speed. However, Olympic downhillers can typically reach 120km/h and speed skiers more than double that. I quickly started to make excuses. If you look at the chart, you can see where I waited 25 minutes for the Grande Motte funicular. Lunch, at 50 minutes long, looks particularly bad. I blame the queues at La Folie Douce at the La Daille gondola mid station. Luc Reversade’s posh mountain caff has become so popular, thanks to its combination of live music all afternoon and tasty, if pricey (13.40 euro for spag bol served in a trendy jar) food means that the queues are almost out of the door. 25 minutes was spent waiting in the queue. Honest.

Despite the battering my ego has taken, I still think a ski GPS tracker is a pretty cool concept. Everyone I have show the map and chart has been intrigued and wants to do it themselves. And I’ll admit that my competitive spirit has been irked into wanting to give it another go, to see if I can go faster and further next time. And perhaps skive a bit less too.

Need to know

Hiring a Sumit (www.sumitski.co.uk) tracker for the day costs £15 when you book through Esprit (www.esprit-holidays.co.uk/sumit) or Total (www.skitotal.co.uk), a ten per cent discount on the public price. The service is available in Val d’Isère, Tignes, Courchevel, Paradiski, Les Gets and Morzine.



 

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