 Poster: A snowHead
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hi all,
this is my first post so don't slag me much please? lol
basically me and the missus will be going snowboarding for 3.5 weeks in colorado and it was only on a BA flight that I saw these watch walkie talkies. I thought this is pretty cool and was about to buy it but decided to do some research and also get your help before I buy anything.
https://www.highlifeshop.com/products/childrens-gifts/walkie-talkie-watches
Yes I know the above is for kids lol but thought it was cool coz we could just put it on our arms and can communicate with each other. I guess the main focus of getting this would be just in case I go ahead or she goes ahead and can't find each other then we can just call each other on the walkie talkie. Ok if its only going to be us two then why do we need walkie talkies when you'll be snowboarding together.
An example of what happened to us, when we were snowboarding down the slopes in Val Thorens (we were near the ski lifts) and I was just going off-piste (well just going on the side where its untouched lol). I went ahead of her and she was on the main slope just going down so then I stopped after my lil excitement and then I couldn't find her. I waited for a bit then decided to go down to near one of the carpet lifts and waited. No sight of her so got worried, didn't know if I had to walk all the way up there to retrace/find her but I decided to snowboard down to the gonadola lift where we said we'll try and get 1 more run before we left for the day and there she way - she flew past me when I was going off-piste on the side! If we had walkie talkies then she could have told me she was at the gonadola waiting for me.
So its kinda hit or miss with getting walkie talkies - i think the other thing I would get annoyed is that I'd probably have my walkie talkie in my jacket pocket and if I needed to contact her, then I'd have to take off my gloves to call her and she would also need to stop and take her gloves off to talk back - i know its probably not a big thing but I don't know - what do people think that do have walkie talkies?
In conclusion
1) should we get a 2 way walkie talkie
2) if so, is that kids one enough? lol
3) or get something like the following (saw from previous threads)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cobra-MT600-Walkie-Talkie-Radio/dp/B000SA93L4?tag=amz07b-21
http://www.amazon.co.uk/2-Way-Radio-Twin-Walkie-Talkie-Charger/dp/B0006FOARI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228944612&sr=8-8&tag=amz07b-21
4) don't worry about it and just use our mobile phones instead? (issue with this is that its going to get wet if its snowing hard but if a clear day should be ok but we'll also be on USA mobile plans hopefully anyway)
Background:
We're 2 x 30' year olds aussies doing our working/travelling adventure in London/Europe and its time to settle town (we're engaged). Firs time snowboarders and just learnt it here in Europe, the missus took a while to learn but on our last 4 day snowboard trip to Val Thorens, France she loved it and we were able to go snowboard pretty good (well doing the S turns and being comfortable with turning). I wouldn't call us beginners or advanced, intermediate would be better (oh how i had flats! lol).
Our Visa is finishing up and we're doing a 5 month trip around USA before heading back to Australian summer. I realised that we were hitting the start of the snow season so I thought, f$$k it, lets do it! so i found airbnb accommodation and ski passes here in UK and locked it in. We're planning to buy our snowboards in the states so it will give us motivation to save up for more snowboarding trips! 
thanks all
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We bought our first set years ago, (after getting split up trying to go round the Sella Ronda -the big orange arrows are apparently not big enough). The first set took AAA batteries and was a bit of pain in terms of taking chargers with us to recharge the batteries second set I bought second hand were massively smaller and came with integrated chargers. I have absolutely no regrets getting them. So i would say, go for it
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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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Sorry meant to say - Welcome!
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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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1) Wait to buy walkie talkies til you're out in the US. Europe and the US have different assigned frequencies for these "family radios" so you may be intruding in the wrong bandwidth.
2) Reception is often pretty crappy in the mountains as valleys, trees, rocks, weather all seem to play a part. Line of sight over a much smaller range than advertised would be my tip.
3) US PAYG mobile tariffs are not particularly generous and/or can be pricey. Certainly difficult to get some of the things we can get in the UK like 6 months unlimited * data for £20
4) Walkie talkies like basic Cobras or Motorolas are available everywhere from Walmart to ski shops pretty cheap. Obviously unbranded/house brand cheapest.
Where are you going?
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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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Prankster, Welcome to Snowheads! 
Firstly, the British Airways watch type walkie talkies you referred to are claimed to have a range "up to 100ft", which is pretty useless if you want to use them on the mountain (most walkie talkies will have a range of a few km in contrast).
Secondly, the Cobra MT600 and the Oregon Scientific TP329 walkie talkies from Amazon.co.uk are PMR446 types, which is the standard (i.e frequency band and power) for such walkie talkies within Europe. As the linked article states, these frequencies are used by licensed amateurs in the US and Canada, so if you want to be strictly legal then you'd be better off waiting till you get to the US and going to somewhere like Wal-Mart to buy a pair of the US standard FRS walkie talkies, e.g http://www.walmart.com/cp/2-Way-Radios/164120
Hope this helps.
Edit: I just noticed that you mentioned you were Aussies and aimed to go back home fairly soon. Just to confuse matters further, it seems that in Australia the legal walkie talkies operate in a band designated UHF CB on 477MHz, which is different to both European pmr446 and US FRS walkie talkies. Don't you just love different national technical standards... 
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sat 6-07-13 17:24; edited 1 time in total
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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've not got a set but did ski a day with some people who used them and to be honest it was almost comical how poor they were.
Mobile phone calls, while not all that cheap when travelling, are pretty fool-proof.
But my favourite is the rather low tech approach of agreeing which lift/restaurant/landmark/whatever you're going to meet at for each run and then if you do get separated you can just head there and find them.
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Of course always best for when you're in a group and your mate gets on the chair in front or behind with strangers so you can ask him loudly how the syphillis is clearing up and how the paedophilia trial is going. May not be so much fun with the missus.
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fatbob, i understand from recent UK media coverage that paedophilia is properl referred ro as "The Hobby"...... 
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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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Go for option #4
In my experience the proper PMR radios are great toys to have, but almost useless on a ski holiday. Reception is a real problem in the mountains, you probably still have to carry a mobile phone, the batteries don't last long etc. etc. Save your money for the minuscule extra cost of your phone bill.
If you are worried about getting separated on the mountain buy a bright yellow ski jacket like mine!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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LA isn't your best bet probably. Dillon/Silverthorne near Breck have plenty of big ski stores and an outlet mall for buying clothing.
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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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oh really Dillon/Silverthorne? Basically we won't have a rental car for our stay as we're going to get transfers and then do the bus between the towns plus not sure if we will have time as basically we arrive on sunday and then attempt to start our snowboarding trip on the monday
wonder how this option can be viable for us...
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Prankster, I was joking about the yellow jacket!
Regarding the radios, I hope you got the message that the 100m ones would be completely useless. At that diStance you might as well shout.
You can get Decent PMR raios for £50, so don't even thimk about thetoy ones.
TBH I really don't think you'll need them anyway. Use a mobile, send texts etc.
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You know it makes sense.
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
Regarding the radios, I hope you got the message that the 100m ones would be completely useless. At that diStance you might as well shout.
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It's worse than that - the link prankster gave to the BA advertised ones said they have a range up to 100 FEET (not metres)! Definitely better to shout over that range ... 
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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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| Prankster wrote: |
oh really Dillon/Silverthorne? Basically we won't have a rental car for our stay as we're going to get transfers and then do the bus between the towns plus not sure if we will have time as basically we arrive on sunday and then attempt to start our snowboarding trip on the monday
wonder how this option can be viable for us... |
I d check out what size and product I wanted from a UK store and then order with these guys or similar to coincide with my arrival : http://www.backcountry.com . I ve rung my accommodation in advance to advise that I ve got stuff coming and its worked perfectly every time for me. Perfect solution to accessing best US prices and max snow time. For cheaper thermal layers, socks etc also look at LL Bean, Eddie Bauer etc. There is plenty of choice.
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