 Poster: A snowHead
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Whilst we couldn't teach or guide this winter we have been putting together some fun interactive online content that will hopefully be a bit of fun and offer the opportunity to learn a few things. Over the next four weeks we will be uploading content for our Touring & Backcountry section. The first one is all about backcountry hazards, with some info on what they are, why they might be a risk and how we can avoid them. You have to opportunity to click around the screen and see how many you can spot to test your knowledge 
We aim to keep creating more content next winter, it would be awesome to hear your thoughts and what you may find useful?
https://www.snowsportschannel.com/course/reading-off-piste-hazards/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great idea, thanks
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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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Decent intro
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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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Too much like hard work forcing a sign up and the the clips very hard to tap on a phone screen..
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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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@Dave of the Marmottes,
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate you taking the time to take a look.
You can sign up/in with one click using any of the social media API options or with just entering an email address and PW for the future. Unfortunately there is no way around it and to still have all the features available on the site. Very much like snow heads I guess.
The interactive experience is definitely better on a laptop or tablet. If you flip your phone sideways it will go full screen although the usability will definitely be different depending on phone size.
It would be cool to hear how you find it on a bigger screen 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yeah like the idea as a way of interactive training so did get through it. Mind you I was frantically tapping the spine because it might be windloaded and didn't get that recognised.
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@jjc, nice idea, but that's relatively extreme lines that he's skiing there, and most who are able to ski like that, @Dave of the Marmottes, for instance know their onions to a certain degree 
Plus I do a fair bit of solo skiing but would never attempt lines like that solo for obvious safety reasons.
Think you'd be way better off starting at the basics that you allude to in the help boxes such as route choice, hiking it, avoiding rock-bands etc but then like I say maybe not so extreme terrain, so as in your commentary you say to help "learners", so choosing and skinning up a route and highlighting areas where not to go etc and then do the descent.
Good idea but think you had the video clip(s) first and then thought what can we do with it to fit the brief?
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Fair comments from @Weathercam, I've been skiing a couple of times of year for 30 years, a lot of lift served off piste, couple of days here and there with a guide and a week touring - and I don't believe I've skied a line/terrain like that. Or maybe I have and just haven't had the drone footage to see it like that! So anyway maybe it's oriented towards people on another level to me. I was thinking it might start with route planning/selection on some mellow lines.
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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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@Weathercam, @Layne, Really good feedback, thanks. It hadn't actually occurred to me that the level of terrain/skiing would influence users perception of if it is relevant for them or not. We chose those particular clips because the drone footage gave shots of a long line and we thought the cinematic shots of good skiing would be great to capture users attention.
It is really interesting feedback as all of the hazards listed in this episode exist in lift accessed off-piste and many of the short mellow options just to the side of the piste. As an instructor I see so many people skiing so many hazardous lines, oblivious to the potential risks on a weekly basis. We also have a lot of clients turn up for courses with no prior knowledge who would get so much more value from the session if they knew a little bit already.
It sounds like getting footage that skiers/boarders can relate to will be really important!
So the idea is one that is continually changing. When we set out the plan was to create some longer online material for training instructors and that they could use as a CPD etc. Once we started filming and creating content we realised there was a lot more potential in creating interactive material. You will see the other courses on there at the moment are very niche technical analysis episodes aimed really at level 3/4 instructors but we have a ton of footage we could use for the complete beginner to advanced. At the moment our goal is to keep putting out 2/3 minute videos on a whole host of different subjects to gain insight on usability and what is and isn't of interest to different user groups. If we can find the right formula we will produce some longer courses for next winter.
What other areas of snow sports would you be interested in?
@Dave of the Marmottes, ah the cornice is in there on the second set of interactions. I can relate to the feedback tho, I didn't make this one and on my first go through was very focussed on the spine. Perhaps putting the majority in there in the first freeze frame would solve that for future episodes.
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| jjc wrote: |
| We chose those particular clips because the drone footage gave shots of a long line and we thought the cinematic shots of good skiing would be great to capture users attention. |
Mmm, depends on what you are trying to convey. The cinematic stuff I kind of see as ski porn with professional skiers doing like a big film production. One of the things I watched in lockdown was "Cody Townsend 50 classic ski descents" which I thought was educational even though he was pro doing some big lines because there was a lot about the planning, the risks and was quite warts and all.
| jjc wrote: |
| It is really interesting feedback as all of the hazards listed in this episode exist in lift accessed off-piste and many of the short mellow options just to the side of the piste. |
Yeah, I get that. I wasn't suggesting the hazards were not in some way relevant to me. They certainly are. Maybe my comment across wrong in that regard.
| jjc wrote: |
| As an instructor I see so many people skiing so many hazardous lines, oblivious to the potential risks on a weekly basis. We also have a lot of clients turn up for courses with no prior knowledge who would get so much more value from the session if they knew a little bit already. |
Sure, that makes a lot of sense.
| jjc wrote: |
| It sounds like getting footage that skiers/boarders can relate to will be really important! |
Yeah, I guess for me you know, there is that ski porn thing (helicopter flies away, big mountain shot, skier 1, 2, 3 dropping and then there is my reality... schlepping along a slicely dicey ridge trying not to ding my ski's on some sh!tty rocks, whilst trying to pick a line that is both fun, buzzy but avoids avalanches, terrain traps and ultimately gets me back to the lift system with no unnecessary polling! Oh and brucey bonus, gets me some fresh tracks!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Going back to @Dave of the Marmottes, initial post, if I'd just happened across it (as opposed to following the link from here) I wouldn't be enticed to sign up to see more based on the front page content. Maybe having the video on the front page with "sign up/log-in to get an interactive lesson on the hazards in the video" might work better.
As you say, sH's does require sign in, but only to view some areas and to post. Most of the content is viewable without.
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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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It's very pretty but, gonna be honest here, I think the video format is just distracting. The same information could be conveyed more clearly and in more detail in a still format or, indeed (showing my age here.....) in printed format. I think the click-through nature of it leads to very surface-level information and interaction. Don't know, maybe it's aimed at newbies more than at me, but "rocks are dangerous, sometimes they're hard to see" isn't really engaging.
I also think that the major hazard on both lines - the avalanche danger due to the steep terrain and fresh snow - seemed to be lost in the noise. The rocks, sluff, etc are very minor hazards by comparison.
As an instructor, I would find this sort of thing pretty frustrating for CPD. It takes a long time to convey a very small amount of information. Maybe that's me, I find video tutorials, etc. incredibly irritating because it takes so much longer to get the info I want compared to reading a couple of paragraphs, maybe a well-anotated diagram or two.
I find video IS very good for technique though, whether ski/snowboard or mountain bike. These things are dynamic and the moving format is therefore more-or-less essential. Still images showing a turn, for example, are much less useful as they only show a frozen moment of the turn (or two or three moments), not the full, fluid progression.
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I could not help thinking that it may be better if there was a voice-over from the skier explaining at each point what the choices were and why and how they were made.
Maybe if I could click a hazard and then see what happens when the skier rode that way it would be more fun? 
Seriously, a flight simulator approach would be more interesting. No one would click the massive cliff if they wanted to get to the bottom as
we all obviously know that's a game-over move unless packing a 'chute.
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You know it makes sense.
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@stevomcd, Thanks for the feedback. This one isn't intended to be used as a CPD or for instructors just a two minute episode testing how we can use the interactive features to make some thing engaging and of interest to snow sports enthusiasts of all levels. A big take away from this thread is that I think we need to create a beginner, intermediate and advanced one as difficult to make something useful for everyone in one two minute course. Did you get a chance to try the technical ones? Again they are a tiny snippet to test certain ideas.
@philwig, Thanks for taking a look, and 100% agree with you on being able to click and see what happens perhaps not with a 500ft cliff but in other areas of skiing. We are looking at doing some stuff along those lines with racing flipping between go pro footage where you can choose from various tactics to do with line etc and then video to show the outcome.
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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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| adithorp wrote: |
Going back to @Dave of the Marmottes, initial post, if I'd just happened across it (as opposed to following the link from here) I wouldn't be enticed to sign up to see more based on the front page content. Maybe having the video on the front page with "sign up/log-in to get an interactive lesson on the hazards in the video" might work better.
As you say, sH's does require sign in, but only to view some areas and to post. Most of the content is viewable without. |
+1.
I was a bit disconcerted that just by signing up you might collect (perhaps via social media) some or all of: date of birth; job title & profession; telephone numbers; postcode, preferences and interests; and financial information such as credit / debit card numbers. So I didn't. (Also parts of the website looked a bit amateurish, with bits missing).
You might get more traction if people could see a sample without having to sign-up.
| jjc wrote: |
| ... all of the hazards listed in this episode exist in ... many of the short mellow options just to the side of the piste. As an instructor I see so many people skiing so many hazardous lines, oblivious to the potential risks on a weekly basis. |
There is potentially a much larger market for "just off the side of the piste" stuff, but it would be better illustrated by an example that piste skiers will relate to.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| ecureuil wrote: |
| ... I was a bit disconcerted that just by signing up you might collect (perhaps via social media) some or all of: date of birth; job title & profession; telephone numbers; postcode, preferences and interests; and financial information such as credit / debit card numbers. So I didn't. ... |
Oh, that particular hazard of off-piste skiing is trivial to avoid: just use disposable email addresses, for example: https://www.disposablemail.com/
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FAQ
