I need your input. How fast do you ski or board?

[digsnow]

So I'm thinking of starting a company, quiting my day job and all that, and wanted to know what you (as a skier/boarder) think of the idea. It's about speed on skis/board - do you know how fast you go? Are you interested to know?

We (some buddies and I) are developing a speedometer for your ski or snowboard. We think we’re on to something, but we want your feedback.

I know you are busy and nothing is free so we will give you a cool t-shirt just for taking the 5 minutes to complete a survey, PLUS you’ll be entered in a draw with a 1 in 200 chance to win an iPOD Nano. All you have to do is give us your honest feedback.

Only the first 200 responses will be accepted for the draw.

Sound pretty good? Then let’s get to it: http://www.ripfx.com/survey.php

Cheers, :beer:
- digsnow.

PS: THIS IS NOT SPAM! I hate spam. I want to make it clear I am not selling anything and I'm not being paid to generate survey responses. We are only looking for 200 at this point. I am a skier (first and boarder second but you get my point) like you. And your opinion is very important. Thanks.

 

[Lostone]

Not spam?

Hmmm... One post, to get people to another site? Not spam? I'll let others be the judge.

As for how fast I ski, generally cruise in the high 20s to high 30s. I think my recorded high was 47. That was... interesting!



.

 

[digsnow]

How did you know...

Lostone,

How were you calculating speed?

-digsnow.

 

[Marc]

Hey hey hey!

Come in here spamming and stealing my signature and doing a better job with it anyway!



:dunce:



To answer your question, I don't really care how fast I go on skis. It doesn't really mean anything. I'm a cyclist in the long, depressing off season, and I obsess over speed, average speed, max speed, average climbing speed, average descending speed, average flats speed, max sprint speed, and any other type there is.

But I use the info as a tool. The knowledge lets me benchmark my fitness and performance level and aids me in reaching specific goals. When skiing, unless you're clocking yourself down a mogul run for a competition, or you're a heavy NASTAR racer, I just can't imagine there would be a lot of demand for it.


Not to mention I can't think of any remotely accurate ways of doing it practically and cheaply.

Perhaps you should consider this more for nordic skiers than alpine. I would think they would be much more interested than downhillers.

 

[riverc0il]

here, i'll give you my thoughts without taking the test. i don't think you guys have a market. i've seen the topic come up once or twice, but i don't think any one would be willing to pay for this type of service. i doubt resorts would be interested in putting money into it either. there already are speed guns available. any resort interested in promoting this type of thing (and most are not interested in promoting skiers going as fast as possible!) likely already have a device like this. fairly limited market too, as individuals would likely not buy this equipment and you only have a select amount of ski areas around. ski lift companies can survive in a limited market because their product costs so much, but without an expensive product, you need high sales figures to get enough $$$ to make money off the idea.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Speed?

I read an interesting article this past year that examined "speed" as perceived by skiers themselves. After some testing of a significant number of skiers with a "radar" gun, they asked each skier to estimate their own speed. The answers were surprising. Women consistently OVERESTIMATED how fast they skied by about 15%, and men consistently UNDERESTIMATED their own speed by about 15%. You would think male egos would be the ones to think they were really moving fast. I personally ski at whatever speed I'm in the mood for. Sure, when I ski with others, things get a bit competetive at times; but only if the others are also strong experienced skiers. I take great care not to "push" less experienced companions onto terrain, and up to speeds that could hurt them. In fact, except for some periodic demonstration type runs where I lead the less able skier down a run a bit, I make a point of staying above them to assist in the event of a fall. Sometimes, when trail conditions (snow and lack of others on the trail) permit, I do let it go to the point of "terminal velocity." Most times, I just try to enjoy the conditions as I encounter them. Soft, fresh, groomed or ungroomed calls for lots of nice GS carving. Skied off, icy, trails call for lots of "dancing" on the edges where the stuff piles up. Straight down rarely appeals to me. I guess I just like getting my "money's worth" in terms of skiing all over a mountain. Schussing straight down feels like a waste to me. BTW, I hate enabling cookies, so I didn't bother with the survey. LOL anyway.

 

[digsnow]

Awesome. Great comments. Thanks for your feedback. Every opinion helps.

Any idea how long ago that artcle was and in what mag? I owuld love to get a hold of it. I can't find it on the net.

I'll be back in a few days with some details from our study so we can see what the prevailing opinions are.

Cheers,
- digs

 

[riverc0il]

tirolerpeter, that is incredible about the stats you quoted. very counter intuitive. i would have suspected the exact opposite, especially with the men. i have heard a lot of people throw around some high speeds, nearly as high as downhill skiers, that are completely improbable for the trails, terrain, and equpiment these guys were skiing on.

 

[awf170]

tirolerpeter, that is incredible about the stats you quoted. very counter intuitive. i would have suspected the exact opposite, especially with the men. i have heard a lot of people throw around some high speeds, nearly as high as downhill skiers, that are completely improbable for the trails, terrain, and equpiment these guys were skiing on.

so what do you think is high speeds, just curious. I think I got above 40 and close to 50 before. I have tucked down the whole bottom 1/3 of avalance before that must get you up to almost 50mph, right

 

[RIDEr]

Ok, I couldn't pass up on the test and recommended as well that the market is very limited for such a product.

Going more vertical and controlled is the challenge while snowboarding.... speed is always fun, but never a necessity on knowing.

 

[digsnow]

Just to toss this out there...

How about as a tool to improve your jumping. This isn't my idea but several folks have brought it up so far.

the idea apparently is that if you have an idea how fast you are going when you jump successfully (say pull of a specific trick) that by knowing what you did it at you can better replicate the success. And so knowing your real speed vs perceived speed (illiminating wind and other factors) allows you to learn how to better judge speed more quickly.

I've been jumping for years (actually since I was 3) so I don't remember this challenge but have several friends new to jumping tell me judging speed, and speed checking is quite hard for them. Might this device help?

I just thought I'd toss it out as it is a bit of theme we are seeing - a learning tool.

What do you think?

Cheers,
- digs

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

So i guess with this info ill be able to figure out if i currently average 19mph over 18runs a day , if i increase my mph to 24 i should be able to get in one more run a day? I really dont think alot of everyday skiers who are mostly intermediate would be interested to know how fast they go when they have a hard enough time getting down to the bottom without falling as it is. JMHO

 

[awf170]

I would seriously kill myself with this thing, I would be thinking to myself "come on you gotta brake the 60 mph barrier" then tucking down all of avalance and falling 2/3rds the way down and rolling into echo lake. This would pretty fun until I killed myself or someone else.

 

[digsnow]

lol. a good way to go though. Thanks Austin if we do it, we'll be sure to have a good disclaimer on the back of it. Starting with "Speed kills in the wrong hands..." Kind of like the "skiing is a dangerous sport..." on the back of the ski ticket.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Speed?

tirolerpeter, that is incredible about the stats you quoted. very counter intuitive. i would have suspected the exact opposite, especially with the men. i have heard a lot of people throw around some high speeds, nearly as high as downhill skiers, that are completely improbable for the trails, terrain, and equpiment these guys were skiing on.

so what do you think is high speeds, just curious. I think I got above 40 and close to 50 before. I have tucked down the whole bottom 1/3 of avalance before that must get you up to almost 50mph, right

I will try to find the article. I think it was in either "Skiing" or "Ski" magazine. As far as speed is concerned; it is a highly subjective issue. Much depends on how the snow feels under your feet. I have probably hit my highest velocity while using my Volant FX2's. They are straight stainless steel cap skis that have exceptional stability and will hold their edge on virtually any kind of surface. They absolutely do not chatter regardless of conditions. In any case, at 200cm they can really get moving. Basic physics dictates that the highest speed will be achieved when the bottoms of the skis experience the least amount of friction. That occurs when conditions are very firm, or on the icy side (also called "packed powder" by eastern ski areas). This results in a significant amount of time where your ski bottoms are not actually in contact with the snow. That said, I have definitely hit 60+ mph on a number of occasions. How do I know? During my misspent youth I had a number of situations while driving home very late at night wherein I needed to hang my head out the window in sub-freezing temperatures to compensate for, shall we say, a certain lack of mental and physical clarity of thought and physical impairment bordering on unconsciousness. During those episodes I felt my eyelids peel back, and as I attempted to breath, the blast of frigid air really curled my lips! OK, I think you get it. I have gone fast enough on skis to experience similar facial distortions. The only difference being that I have done so without the ingestion of nefarious substances. Seriously, yes, as a former motorcycle rider (I gave it up in 1975 when I learned that my wife was pregnant with our first child and I didn't want him to grow up without a dad.) and as a current cyclist (I use a mountain bike for some conditioning when the weather is nice.) I do have a pretty good sense of my road speed. I really don't focus on speed when I ski. I just let the skis run at times when the terrain bores me, and/or I am looking for a little challenge. Again, I never allow myself to outrun my ability to stay in control when there are other skiers around who are clearly not aware of my approach, and who I feel might make a "bad" move as I get near them.

 

[Lostone]

As for how I calculated my speed, I will occasionally take my GPS out with me. When I download the data onto Mr Computer, it calculates the speed for each section of it's tracks.

There are some abnormalities, like when I'm going 242mph, :wink: but when I take them out, the rest is pretty repeatable.

 

[digsnow]

So I'm thinking of starting a company, quiting my day job and all that, and wanted to know what you (as a skier/boarder) think of the idea. It's about speed on skis/board - do you know how fast you go? Are you interested to know?

We (some buddies and I) are developing a speedometer for your ski or snowboard. We think we’re on to something, but we want your feedback.

I know you are busy and nothing is free so we will give you a cool t-shirt just for taking the 5 minutes to complete a survey, PLUS you’ll be entered in a draw with a 1 in 200 chance to win an iPOD Nano. All you have to do is give us your honest feedback.

Only the first 200 responses will be accepted for the draw.

Sound pretty good? Then let’s get to it: http://www.ripfx.com/survey.php

Cheers, :beer:
- digsnow.

PS: THIS IS NOT SPAM! I hate spam. I want to make it clear I am not selling anything and I'm not being paid to generate survey responses. We are only looking for 200 at this point. I am a skier (first and boarder second but you get my point) like you. And your opinion is very important. Thanks.

We are almost there but could still use a few more reponses. Very good odds on the iPod. Thanks again for input.

Cheers,
- Digsnow.

 

[digsnow]

T-Shirts and Draw.

To all Alpinezone members who participated in the survey, due to a complex set of curcustances I am no longer affiliated with the outfit that is driving this project.

I have however been assured they plan to make good on their promise of T-shirts and draw for the iPod. You can contact them directly at:

sales@ripfx.com

Thanks for your input, and happy turns!
- Digsnow.

 

[Marc]

We'll forgive you, as long as you keep posting here.



Otherwise, it's your first born.





Or maybe that's a little too harsh?

:dunce:

 

[NYDrew]

using a rough estimate of time vs. trail lenth, I was once able to calculate my average speed doing a straight tuck down the Jet at Jay peak in the 60mph range. I assure you I will never do something that stupid again although the adrenaline rush was worth the experience

If I remember correctly, the trail is approximately 1/2 mile long and I completed it in 31 seconds. How accurate is that...probably not at all, I was 16 at the time using a watch and my ego. I wonder how fast I was really going, i was definately booking.

I prefere a natural challenge now. Pick a line through ungroomed terrain and try to use as little ptex as possible at the end of the day. Speed...i got a camaro with roll bars for that...much safer.