 Poster: A snowHead
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Does anybody know anything about hand held GPS systems?
I am thinking of getting one to use for hiking and mountain biking, but see no reason why it couldn't be used for skiing as well.
Some have the ability to map areas. Can any of them incorporate a piste map?
I've been looking at Garmin products like the Geko and E-trex. Has anybody got any comments or suggestions?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I had a look at a Magellan Sportrak colour (or color if in the US!). It was a great bit of kit and apparently you can download maps to it, including topological ones (at least of the UK and US). The guy in the shop (who seemed pretty knowledgable/helpful) also reckons you can get some ski resort trail maps for it too. It also has a funky antenna so is good and acurate in poor conditions/trees/etc, has a altimeter and barometer, some sort of compass (that has some feature that is unconfusable (apparently this can happen to GPS compasses?)), a good colour screen, and supports the EGNOS (and US equivalent) accuracy improving system.
Down side was that it's pricy - about £300, though I've seen it in the US for $250 (on Amazon.com), plus it connects to a PC by RS232 so for my laptop I'd need a USB to RS232 converter and apparently these aren't always that reliable.
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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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This site might be a good plac to start. Their forum may be able to help.
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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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The Garmin Forerunner 201 is designed for runners, walkers and cyclists mainly. It is not a true GPS in that it has no maps facility nor a compass display (altho' there is a Point North arrow) but it can generate a biscuit-crumb trail and will show you back to start or direction to a marked waypoint. It does however have an autopause feature so it will give you a true average speed while on the move (if that's of any interest). And you can upload your training data off it to a PC.
I use one on my bike handlebars and find it ideal for that purpose. Just used a piece of foam to provide a bit of shock absorption and to make the bar thick enough for the wrist strap. Very small, light and waterproof and not too expensive.
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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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I got the Green E-Trex one as a prezzie last year. To make it really worthwhile you need to be able to download good mapping softwear onto it. That's as expensive as the GPS and I'm not aware of any that cover ski resorts - but I haven't looked yet.
Without the mapping softwear you get (potentially) interesting data only, such as elevation, total distance covered, total change in elevation etc. If you can't get the softwear then a paper map and compass works better IMHO.
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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 got a Garmin E-trex which I've had for a few years, never really had to use it in anger but it is fun to check your speed with it.
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There's been a fairly heated debate on Epic about using GPS to measure your speed when skiing...
http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=18523
So, they are definitely being used in skiing, but it's up to you if you want to use them for speed.
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One possible good feature of the otherwise basic Forerunner is that you can use the Lap feature to very easily stop it when using a lift or drag and then restart it for the runs. So you will get only distance skied and not total distance travelled. It will also record rest time.
In our bike club, we've had loads of near misses caused by people staring at GPS screens instead of looking where they are going. I'd guess the same would apply for ski navigation. If you really need a GPS for a piste map, visibility would have to be seriously bad. Back country, however, I can see a possible use.
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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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As stated above it depends on what you want it for i've used quite a few over the years in places that are so hard to navigate in the normal way its unreal ie no prominant LM's etc and they've been fantastic mainly stuck with magellans becuase that is what we where given but the garmin is meant to be good too.
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Be aware that in valleys or bad weather, you may not get a good enough signal for a GPs to function. They need a biggish arc of clear sky.
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