The latest technology available in the Alps this season will put an end to false boasts about who has skied the fastest and the longest. The Sumit Tracker allows skiers and snow boarders to find out exactly what they have been doing on the slopes.
Trialled in a couple of resorts last year, the cutting edge tracker uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to enable the wearer to track almost every element of their day on the mountains including runs, height, speed and even how long they spent on lifts, in queues and having lunch.
Now available at selected French resorts, it is the same size as the average mobile phone. Strapped onto your arm, it leaves the user free to have a great day ski-ing and forget about it until the end of the afternoon when it is returned to Sumit who download the information and provide a full colour double sided report.
‘We have all been ski-ing in a group where there is always someone who brags about how many black runs they skied or how fast. There was never any way of knowing if they were boasting or not,’ said Sumit director and founder James Doughty whose knowledge of IT data systems, maps and geography helped him to come up with the idea of using the very latest technology on the ski slopes.
It is basically a very simple idea. Using the 30 plus satellites whizzing around the skies, the tracker takes readings every five to 10 seconds and stores the data. At the end of the day the information is downloaded and Sumit’s specialised software converts it into a double sided full colour report.
The Sumit report has a map of the area skied on one side and a graph on the other showing altitude in blue and your speed in purple. Users have found the detail fascinating. It includes distance skied, distance travelled on lifts, maximum speed and average speed in km/h as well as the number of hours and minutes spent ski-ing, on lifts and resting(yes that lunch really did take two hours).
‘Those who have used the Sumit Tracker have often been amazed by how much time is spent on lifts compared with actual ski-ing time. We show this as a percentage as well. You might feel like you have skied all day but then find out that less than 25% of your time was actually spent physically ski-ing,’ added James.
‘It is a fantastic souvenir. It was great to find out where I had been and I was really chuffed with my top speed of 118 km/h on the end of the Men’s World Cup run at La Daille,’ said Ben Simpson, one of the first skiers to use it in Val d’Isère last season. ‘It made ski-ing much more exciting. When I got my report I felt really excited and re-lived the whole experience. It also made me want to try it again,’ he added.
According to James it has many uses. ‘The obvious is one is to compare where you have been with fellow skiers. But it has also been used by a beginner who used it to track her progress during the week. I can see it being used by families, groups and individuals who want to chart their progress regardless of their standard of ski-ing and even those who want to ensure they are ski-ing safely and responsibly as it does not encourage speed,’ he said.
It is also ideal for large groups and Sumit is keen to get companies interested in using it for corporate events including staff challenges. It has been particularly popular with seasonal staff.
It is also entirely safe. Because it receives data and does not transmit, Sumit Tracker does not interfere with mobile phones or avalanche transceivers.
To find out more go to www.sumitski.com
Note to editors: The Sumit Tracker is £16.50 per day if booked via the website and €25 if booked in resort. Prices for groups and events are available on request and depend on numbers. Sumit Tracker will be available in Val d’Isère, Tignes, Morzine, Les Gets, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Courchevel, La Tania and Méribel. For further press information, photographs and interviews please contact Ray Clancy, Gotcha PR on 01594 510532 or 07802 408266 ray.clancy@gotcha-
