 Poster: A snowHead
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If so, what?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes - the sound of the skis swooshing through the powder... the only music you need to hear.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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PG, agreed.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Surely listening to music when you are skiing is dangerous???? I need all my wits around me when I'm out on the slopes!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Not at all - are you implying deaf people shouldn't ski?! As long as you remain aware of what's going on around you.
Personally I love to listen to music when I'm skiing alone - it really helps my skiing and it certainly livens up a long lift queue.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I don't (except on the very, ver yrare occasions when I ski alone), but I doubt that it's dangerous particualrly dangerous. No-one to my knowledge has suggested that listening to music while driving is more dangerous than driving in silence.
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Yes but when your driving you don't rely on your sense of hearing. you use mirros to see behind you, you cant do that on skis and normally the first indication of someone is the noise of their skis. i feel it is too dangerous to listen to music while skiing, but great on the lifts.
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Good point about not using your hearing while driving. I don't think that listening to music stops you from looking behind you while skiing any more than it stops you from using your mirrors while driving.
On the one day when I've listened to music while skiing, I certainly didn't feel that it affected my ability to ski safely, but I don't think that it's something I'll do again.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| jonathanbone17 wrote: |
| Yes but when your driving you don't rely on your sense of hearing. you use mirros to see behind you, you cant do that on skis and normally the first indication of someone is the noise of their skis. i feel it is too dangerous to listen to music while skiing, but great on the lifts. |
We've actually done this before and this point is often made. It's a fantasy, by the time the sound is close enough to localise it's far too late to react. You need to be aware of the people much sooner than they're close enough to hear and localise given the respective speeds involved.
That people seem to think they need sound to locate other skiers explains so much that you see on the slopes 
That it's not aesthetically pleasing seem a more reasonable argument.
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I ski to music a lot, especially on my own, a mix of stuff with the right range of rhythms - a typical MD would include Vivaldi, Bob Marley, Janis Joplin, Handel, the Beach Boys, Edith Piaf etc etc etc. (You can tell I'm not young...) The beat helps with rhythmic turning - different tracks, different turn sizes. It's great on button lifts and helps to keep me relaxed especially if conditions are not good. As for hearing people about to crash into you from behind, forget it. I find turning to look behind when you hear a noise close behind is hazardous on any kind of difficult slope and makes it highly improbable that I would be able to get out of the way. Looking round and falling over in consequence would not be too clever, and if you are going to get crashed, being relaxed is a lot better than having a split second to get tensed up prior to impact. On chair lifts, it is often great to be able to listen to something other than the other passengers boasting about their exploits or - even worse - talking to their offices on their damned mobile phones. Only trouble is, when snowboarding, I am so hopeless that I have yet to find a pocket I am not likely to crash on, and I have no wish to have a mini disc player embedded in my ribs.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| pam w wrote: |
| The beat helps with rhythmic turning - different tracks, different turn sizes |
Do you pick the track at the top of a slope? A pavane, say, on an icy black would be suicidal - though it might be apt at the subsequent funeral. 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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If you don't use your hearing when you're driving, then I would doubt how good a driver you are.
Even with music on, you should still be listening to the engine sound, and that of the road. You can tell a lot by listening.
As for when I'm skiing, I don't listen to music, but I do like to listen to the snow. Skiing in powder, the sounds are amazing, if you listen. Even skiing on the hardpack, you can tell a lot about how your skis are working by the sound.
When I hit the slopes, you'll probably hear me singing, and making my own music. When I hit the bar, that's when I may end up playing music.
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I never listen to music while skiing.
I was skiing with a group of young people with an adult at the back listening to his walkman (as was then). He nearly skied into another skier because he wasn't concentrating on where he was or what was around him.
So I do not think it is a good idea to have earphones on listening to music when you are skiing.
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You know it makes sense.
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I like to sit on my board, chill out on the top of the hill and smoke a fatty before donning my large headphones, slapping on my favorite grateful dead bootleg and sliding off into the abyss 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I've only skied once with someone who had music going all the time, for a long weekend last year. Although she was a quite good skier, I've never spent so much time trying to avoid this randomly moving obstacle making completely unpredictable moves all over the slope. Whether or not being able to hear other skiers in the neighbourhood makes any difference (and I think it does), I think shutting herself off from one means of awareness of surroundings was symptomatic of a very selfish attitude to ownership of the slopes.
I personally would not want to be playing music while skiing - far too distracting, isolationist (even when skiing by yourself), and the skiing wouldn't allow proper appreciation of the music either. However there may be occasions when some music may be appropriate. How about:
- when standing at the top of a steep couloir: Berlioz' "Ride into the Abyss" from Damnation of Faust (or Chris Rea's "Road to Hell" if you must)
- when lying in a heap at the bottom: Mendelssohn's "Oh, for the Wings of a Dove"
- when you can't see more than 2 yds in any direction: "Guide me, oh though great Redeemer"
- when threading your way through a field of seracs: Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King" (but definitely not the collapsing glacier section of Vaughan William's Sinfonia Antarctica!)
- when you make that summit/col after 3 hours skinning: Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony..."Auf dem Gipfel" (I did actually start singing that myself in similar circumstances just recently)
- for threading gently around the crowds of first-timers on that inviting blue: Meatloaf's "Bat out of Hell" 
Any other suggestions?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Wear The Fox Hat wrote: |
| Even with music on, you should still be listening to the engine sound, and that of the road. You can tell a lot by listening. |
Good point; it encourages me in the view that listening to music (at moderate volume) while skiing is probably not dangerous. I can certainly hear the car engine and road noise perfectly well while driving with music or (probably even more dangerously) speech radio or the voice of a companion. I suspect that music or speech is sufficiently different from driving or skiing noises for them to be readily distinguishable, provided that the former is not too loud.
I find the stick click or other warning of someone overtaking me on a road (skiing, that is) the only helpful sound from others skiers (apart from the accasional 'Ohhh shiiiit, look out!', to which it is bit difficult to react sensibly). So long as I could hear overtaking warnings, I'd be happy. I'm sure that you'd hear (and feel) the sound of your own skis unless you were really blasting out the sound.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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First time I've ever had an player suitable - will be taking it for the plane trip, waiting around airports, coach transfer. If I'm expecting to be skiing alone, then I'll probably take it out on the slopes for when waiting in lift lines and on chairs/gondola's, although i think i would actually take it off while skiing - I love the sound of crunching snow when its all perfect and in rythm!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Are all you people who listen to music while skiing mad!!?
Is the act of skiing sufficiently boring enough to justify the need to liven it up with music?? After all why spend so much money and go away for weeks at a time if skiing is actually that dull.
My view is this, you cant actually focus your attention on two things at the same time. If you’re focusing on the music then your not concentrating on skiing and visa versa so what’s the point??
You can listen to music in the car perfectly well but I find that when you come out of "auto-pilot" mode and have to tackle a junction or something then you forget about the music and it’s almost as if you don’t hear it. I’ve often found that I’ve missed the "good bit" in a song because I was engaged in dealing with a roundabout during rush hour.
The point im making is this.. What’s the point in listening to music if it means that you’re just going to be skiing in auto-pilot mode all the time?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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freebie, people often listen to music while doing things which are enjoyable and require concentration, such as driving and sex (at different times, obviously). There doesn't seem to be any suggestion that either of those activities is impaired or any less enjoyable because of the music; why should skiing be?
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Fri 25-02-05 12:13; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Richmond, im not suggesting that it impares or makes any activity less enjoyable. Just saying if you enjoy skiing then is there a need for music?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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freebie, it's not necessary, but I can see that some people might find it an enhancement. FWIW, I've only listened to music once while skiing, and I doubt that I'll do it again.
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I am actually considering taking my mini disk player with me next week for use on easy blues in the afternoon when I want to relax a bit. But I certainly wouldnt want it for when I want to perform my best.
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| Quote: |
My view is this, you cant actually focus your attention on two things at the same time. If you’re focusing on the music then your not concentrating on skiing and visa versa so what’s the point??
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I think that's definitely coming from a man - women can multi-task! Anyway, joking aside, why do you need to focus on music? I love skiing with a passion, and music does nothing to detract from that, if anything it enhances the experience. As I said in an earlier post, I am convinced listening to music improves my skiing - for example, providing a rhythm (particularly helpful in powder) and helping to relax me when I'm pushing my limits. But of course, whatever works for you.
Is the music / no music a generational thing? Certainly amongst my contemporaries (mid 20s) I'd say about 70% listen to music on occasion. These are mainly instructors - I find it is less common among recreational skiers who will probably be on holiday and with friends whilst skiing.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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i occasionaly listen to music, especially when boarding alone, however i only have it playing in one ear. Listening to music on its own gives me a real boost so when im boarding that just keeps on multipying!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| freebie wrote: |
| My view is this, you cant actually focus your attention on two things at the same time. If you’re focusing on the music then your not concentrating on skiing and visa versa so what’s the point?? |
Personally I can. More to the point, most of the things my body's doing while skiing are conditioned reflexes and dealt with subconsciously, on slopes that tax I'm more than able to drag my attention away from the music.
| freebie wrote: |
You can listen to music in the car perfectly well but I find that when you come out of "auto-pilot" mode and have to tackle a junction or something then you forget about the music and it’s almost as if you don’t hear it. I’ve often found that I’ve missed the "good bit" in a song because I was engaged in dealing with a roundabout during rush hour.
The point im making is this.. What’s the point in listening to music if it means that you’re just going to be skiing in auto-pilot mode all the time?
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You're making two different points, the second makes some sense though.
If you don't aspire to ski without so much conscious effort then I can't see why you might "spend so much money and go away for weeks at a time" when you might as well just go to an indoor slope 
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| beanie1 wrote: |
I love skiing with a passion, and music does nothing to detract from that, if anything it enhances the experience. As I said in an earlier post, I am convinced listening to music improves my skiing - for example, providing a rhythm (particularly helpful in powder) and helping to relax me when I'm pushing my limits. But of course, whatever works for you.
Is the music / no music a generational thing? Certainly amongst my contemporaries (mid 20s) I'd say about 70% listen to music on occasion. These are mainly instructors - I find it is less common among recreational skiers who will probably be on holiday and with friends whilst skiing. |
That sounds about right, especially the part about recreational skiers. More to the point, people skiing with music on when they're with their friends are just plain anti-social as much as anything. I'll grab a couple of hours skiing in the morning on my own and I'll have my iPod on, over the weekend I'll be with Mrs Ise and not have the iPod.
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You know it makes sense.
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ise,
Absolutely. I once had a trainer who listened to his iPod whilst he taught us...can't say any of us were overly impressed, especially as he was meant to be setting an example for future instructors!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| richmond wrote: |
| , people often listen to music while doing things which are enjoyable and require concentration, such as driving and sex (at diiferent times, obviously). |
Why "obviously"? 
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Poster: A snowHead
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I can't help but think that it is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. As much as anything even if you can't avoid something happening, you can at least brace yourself. What about the 'runaway ski' scenario - a loud shout from the top of the hill will give you stacks of time to dodge it (or better still do something productive and try and stop it) but with whatever it might be blasting in your ears you are liability to yourself and others.
Pretty strong opionions on this one as you can tell. Also think it's desperately irresponsible for manufacturers to be producing helmets with earphones in.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bootsy, for a moment there I thought that your fist two sentences referred to marc gledhill's posting (above).
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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As a near-beginner snowboarder I am often going quite slowly and am acutely aware that you CAN hear other skiers/boarders behind you and know where they are before they overtake - in this case listening to music could make me less safe. As a good skier I am almost never overtaken on piste, so here knowing what is behind me is not so necessary, I would be able to rely on sight alone and maybe listen to music safely.
I play music in the car all the time, but like PG, WTFH and others have said, on the mountain just listen to the wind, the birds, the snow, it's beautiful, and all you need...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm surprised that no-ones commented on the injury aspect - if you fall on it and it's in your jacket pocket you can easily break a rib because it focuses all the force into one spot. Mind you, the same goes for mobiles and walky talkies.
When I'm driving I often turn the music off if it gets busy - on the really narrow lanes near us I even open the car windows so I can hear if anyone is tooting.
I also *never* listen to music if I'm driving 'enthusiastically' or on a track day - I'm concentrating far too hard to have that distraction!!
Other than that then I guess it's just for just cruising or boring motorway journeys.
Translating that to skis I'd say I wouldn't listen to music unless I was skiing a quiet and boring run with no view - so why would I ever take headphones on a piste?
FWIW I think people disregard their sense of hearing too lightly - I suspect it creates far more near misses (as opposed to crashes!) than you give it credit for - including "on your left" or whatever.
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