 Poster: A snowHead
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Browsing through The Piste Office’s website this evening, I came across a Resqski electronic ski finder for sale. Apparently it can find skis buried 1 metre deep and up to 30 metres away. Now that would have saved worry and frustration on occasion in my off-piste life.
Those days are over for me, but I am curious. Has anyone here got the kit? Have you used it in anger? How did you get on?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bought it after one of our group spent 30 minutes searching for his skis. Haven't needed it yet myself. Seams pretty user friendly.
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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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@achilles, I think the fact that they don't appear to be on every ski in e.g. Chamonix kind of answers the question?
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@WASHOUT, Interesting, thanks.
@under a new name, no. I don't know how long the finder has been on sale. And some or even many Chamonix skiers may be confident that they are extremely unlikely to become detached (and hard to find) from a ski powder. It didn't happen to me much either - but when it did it was both frustrating because I didn't want to delay the party, and worrying because as time dragged on there was the unwelcome prospect of having to manage on one ski. In practice, the ski always was found - but IIRC there were a couple 20 minutes or so searches.
Hence the question to those who had actually used it, rather than to those who had noticed that many didn't 
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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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@achilles, I’ve had them on my skis for years, and yes they do work as advertised. They fall into the category of ‘insurance’, in that you might never need to use it, but when you do you really do need to. I know a couple of people who have been helicoptered out after losing a ski in inaccessible locations, and run out of daylight to search.
Unless you are fortunate enough to ski in areas that get regular deep snow, their value goes down, as you will probably be able to see any ski that comes off. But even in those situations you will quickly know if the skis has taken a trip down the piste without you. I can remember watching a couple of people searching for a ski on a steep slope while eating lunch, we could clearly ski a ski stuck vertically in the snow at the bottom 200m below them, which we assumed was the ‘other’ ski, but it turned out to be the ski they were searching for.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @achilles, I think the fact that they don't appear to be on every ski in e.g. Chamonix kind of answers the question? |
I think that’s more down to arrogance, in the ‘I never fall over’ way.
I know there was a thread on here about losing a ski from someone who had Resqski’s but hadn’t used them.
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I should have added, the downside of the latest Resqski’s is that they replaced the ultra sticky base pads with much weaker stuff, so the you have to use the supplied screws to secure them. This was because people had been complaining than they couldn’t get the bases off when they transferred to new skis. I never found swapping to be an issue, and actually lost a tag before I realised the pad glue was so weak.
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I was always hoping Jon would come up with a quiver killer adapter for them.
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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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Also note the guy who lost his ski by the time he found it and caught up with us he was bloody knackered but we had our 30 minute (tbh more like 15 minutes) rest and was ready to go again. He played tail end Charlie for rest of afternoon. Slightly spolied his afternoon.
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@PowderAdict, in fairness, a not insignificant element of much terrain is that losing your ski if it comes off is the least of your worries ...
Seriously though, there's technique to finding your ski after a tumble, which probably works 95% of the time in your average off piste deep snow situation, mostly retaining your awareness of where your ski(s) were likely to have headed.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Have a pair bought from Jon. Main reason of getting it was my first trip to Japan. Did not fall/loose the ski in Japan but if you do it would be a very good thing to have! Tried how it works and it was very accurate. Main motivation for buying was a very sweaty one hour experience of looking for a lost ski in Meribel. Falling in soft snow and “walking” back even 1m is a challenge if you know where a ski ended-up. Not knowing where to look is a nightmare. Purchase decision was very easy after that episode. The fact I did not need to use it in Japan is a different story. Maybe should be more adventurous next time and then have a chance to look for my ski(s) in Japow
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Wed 13-07-22 10:14; edited 1 time in total
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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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I've got a pair and had to use them in anger once so far. Thanks to the Resqski I spent longer trying to get me/the still attached ski out of the snow bank I'd ended up in than I did taking off my backpack/getting the finder out/finding the skis. And the ski was some way from where I would have started my search so a lot quicker than a manual search.
Of course fabric ski tails would probably have done the job even quicker (assuming some stayed above ground) but they are more of a faff every time you swap between sliding and carrying to get to your back country run - and have nothing like the ski toy buying excitement 
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| under a new name wrote: |
| Seriously though, there's technique to finding your ski after a tumble...mostly retaining your awareness of where your ski(s) were likely to have headed. |
The one time I needed to use my Resqski, after the 'incident' started I had very little idea of where I was headed, let alone my skis! I remember lots of swapping between seeing snow and sky, and taking a minute when I stopped moving to see if any part of my body was about to hurt - but not so much where I was/was headed.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Mjit, yes I had the odd fall in chopped up deep snow when I went flying and had little idea where whatever triggered the fall uphill was. I have also had a ski stay under snow more or less at the point of fall - but equally I recall one sliding under snow downhill.
I did try coloured ribbons attached to the ski bindings, but I too found them a lot of faff, so tended not to use them,
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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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Yes I have got them after 3 of us spent 30 mins searching for a ski after a tumble in Canadian Bowl, Argentiere, Chamonix (some people do use them there  ). I have tried powder ribbons and they are a complete faff. Since purchasing ResQSki I have only used it once in a snowstorm in Andorra, and they helped locate the ski very quickly. As I’ve got better off-piste and tightened my bindings I haven’t needed them so much but far cheaper than a lost ski! Have got bases on all of my off-piste skis now. After losing a ski tracker tag (LOL…not lost but tumbled below a gondola while rushing to put it on a ski so not recoverable) bought a new one but would not pair with the handset. ResQSki replaced the handset and tag FOC and their customer service was excellent and quick.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@achilles, powder ribbons are a (small) bit of a faff, but they work. On the occasions I've needed them I've always been amazed how far a ski can go, and not even remotely in my direction of travel!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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As a reasonably competent off piste skier don't tend to bother with anything these days.
Early days we all used ribbons and had few problems with their use. The problem with improved ability is extending to more serious terrain, many occasions I've thought "not a good place to part company with a ski here"!!
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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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@Rogerdodger, the sort of thing that could get me towards the end of my off-piste days was a hidden rock. Add that to declining DIN settings to allow for ageing bones and the risk of losing a ski was there.
I did use ribbons from time to time, but don’t recall them being used for ski recovery. Then again perhaps I am forgetting the details of when ski recovery was easy in contrast to the serious searches.
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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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Just get a snowboard. More fun in powder anyway
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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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Add me to the list of people who have them and has used them in anger. Got them after spending about 15 minutes looking for a ski and finding it somewhere I didn't expect. For a big lad like me that was a very hot and tiring 15 minutes, right under a lift too but I think it was so quiet that the only person who went up was my old man  Since getting them I used them once in Austria, wasn't massively deep but enough to hide the ski and resqski (or whatever it is) guided me straight the ski.
On a price per use basis they've got a pretty low return for me, but there's a convenience to them and for someone who's fairly new to off piste skiing it's great to have some insurance to reduce the chances of spending hours digging through snow while worrying about how you're going to get off the mountain.
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| .....In practical terms, what's the battery life like? Indeed, is there a battery in the ski-mounted part at all, or is it OK to just make sure you have some spares for the finder in case you need to use it?...... |
The battery life is truly excellent. The transmitter on the ski contains two hearing aid size batteries and the receiver has one of those 10p coin type. The system is designed to get a seasons daily use from a set of new batteries. But like the batteries in transceivers, they should always be removed duing of the off season in case of leakage.
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Thanks to those all responded to my query. From those who have actually handled the kit, it looks as though it is practical, works well, and can reduce search time. Wish that it had been available in my off-piste era.
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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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One bit of advice another SH gave me on a PSB was that when fitted in the 'off' position they can get bumped and bashed to the 'out' position, as he'd lost one that way. This doesn't happen from the 'on' position and as spyderjon said batteries last 'for ever' so fit them and switch them on when you unpack your skis into the locker on the first day/turn them off and remove them when you take them back out and pack them away on the last.
Also avoids the huge embarrasment of losing a ski...only to realise you forgot to switch them on that morning/they are still in your backpack!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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| Mjit wrote: |
| One bit of advice another SH gave me on a PSB was that when fitted in the 'off' position they can get bumped and bashed to the 'out' position, as he'd lost one that way. This doesn't happen from the 'on' position and as spyderjon said batteries last 'for ever' so fit them and switch them on when you unpack your skis into the locker on the first day/turn them off and remove them when you take them back out and pack them away on the last. |
That might have been me, certainly I've had that experience. In fairness to resquski the transmitter was available as a spare and not expensive as I recall.
I have had a battery go flat between trips. On reading the instructions more carefully it seems it is necessary to pause between switching to off and removing from the base for the unit to properly shut down - so I assume I had just lazily popped it out quickly.
My only criticism is that the search unit isn't waterproof so comes with a zip seal bag to keep it in! I think this is a common component used by multiple products as we had a very similar system to find our cat (!) which used the same search unit.
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Didn't realise search unit wasn't waterproof. Cheers for the tip.
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