Skiing and cell phones...too much technology on the slopes
Maine Sunday Telegram Column by Heather Burke Dec 20, 2009

You can track your accumulated vertical feet with one gadget, and video your friends in the Terrain Park with another. The tunes you downloaded last night keep you entertained inside your audio equipped helmet. Your first six runs (according to your altimeter) have been sublime on machine groomed corduroy, but you just might dial your Jester Schizzo bindings forward as you make your way to the moguls.
 
Snow conditions are sweet, so you Tweet your friends at home. Your facebook page will be updated faster than you can say “I am heading to Bubblecuffer.” Your fans and friends can view your amateur Terrain Park outtakes on YouTube when you post them at your next pit stop in the WiFi lodge.

Wondering whether that big dump of snow is coming tonight? There is an “app” for that, you can get an accuweather forecast on your iPhone and confirm it with WMTW.com Live Doppler Radar. If your last run wasn’t satiny smooth, refresh the resort’s mobile grooming report on your Blackberry to find the fresh cord.
 
While you’re online, browse the live web cam at Gepettos before you phone in your request for that window table, then text your family on the next lift ride with the lunch meet time. When the vertical tracker shows you have met your target number of runs, you can download your ski day to determine your average descent speed, and contemplate calories burned and therefore earned for dinner.

Good thing you have the GPS dialed for home, because when you take off your temperature controlled ski boots, you’ll want to put on your comfy shoes and the cruise control for the ride home while those in the backseat watch a feature film on the flipdown DVD. Tonight you can surf the Sharpshooters website to see if the pictures the photographer took of you on the fly today are worth the click and purchase.

Even our remote Maine Mountains are seeing sophisticated gadgetry and gizmos designed to dial in your on mountain experience. Your altimeter and handheld GPS can tell your elevation, everything you need to know, every moment. And your family and friends can call you any time, even in the middle of a perfectly peaceful run. Your boss can find you by phone you too, but there is a separate ring tone for that. You can let it go to voice mail if you are focused on finding a good line in Cant Dog glades.

Has skiing gone a little too techno? Perhaps. I applaud the advancements in bindings, boots and boards that enhance your experience while improving your safety, comfort and control. And I see the value of staying connected via cell with those in your ski party while you are on the slopes. But I also vote that you put your phone to vibrate and turn your earbuds down so you can hear what’s going on around you. It’s a flimsy argument that you need your tunes really loud to improve your skiing.
 
When I ride the chair with a chatty rider, only to discover he’s talking to someone else on the phone in flat hot Florida, not me, I think we have missed the point of escaping to the mountains.
Hypocritically, I will admit that when the dude next to me brags about his last big trick in the terrain park, and then backs it up by showing me pictures on his buddy’s phone – that’s cool.
 
Everyone can fashion themselves as Warren Miller these days with phones and cameras complete with video recording capability. I will assume that these fresh filmmaker know to shoot from a safe spot, in view of oncoming skiers and riders.

My real fear is that the more technology invades our mountains, the further we get from the purity and purpose of the sport. I don’t think you can measure your ski day by the number of miles you have recorded. I think the number of smiles and sweet turns are a much better indicator of your fun factor.

Sure, there is a wealth of information that you can track, download and stream, but don’t forget the purpose of the downhill sport is to escape to the outdoors, to feel the exciting pull of gravity, and to play in the present moment. If you are yakking into a digital device or plugging your ears with a cacophony of canned music, you could miss something important, or worse - hit something or someone important.

That’s my take on technology; there is the good, the bad, and the completely wired. You need to keep your human receptors open for the sights and sounds that surround you when you are on mountain.

For those of you obsessed with being online all the time, may I suggest you unplug your headphones and turn off your handheld for a few runs. Just savor the high alpine setting, enjoy the serenity of sliding on snow. Instead of looking at your electronics, talk to our chairlift neighbor about their latest adventure. Why call your buddy who didn’t get out of bed, when you can have a new and interesting conversation with the person next to you who clearly shares your passion and also shed the comfy pajamas to be here.

I hope to see you out on the slopes, unplugged.

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