A while ago I heard about a useful sounding gadget called Satski. It’s pocket-sized satellite navigation gizmo which tracks your moves on the mountain side. I obviously wondered whether it was any good and if it even worked, but was more interested to be honest in the promise of stats and analysis of your runs. According to Satski you can receive a CD after you’ve finished with all of your replays and vitals, so that you can see exactly how you did and pit your times against friends. My seasoned-skier colleague Adam Johnson kindly helped to give it a test run, in the breathtaking Austrian resort of St Anton no less, and he’s reported back with his findings.
I had the opportunity to trial the new Satski GPS system for a day in St Anton this season. I met up with their in-resort Rep, Alisdair, at the foot of the slopes near the Galzigbahn on my trial day to go over the operations of the GPS tool. He was very helpful and came for a ski on the first few runs to get me used to how it worked.
It’s very simple and shows your up-to-the-second position on the ski map at any time. You can also replay your day’s skiing on the ski lift map at any time and get details on distance skied, distance on lifts, elevation, average speed and top speed. The latter becoming a good game during the day but more about that later.
The GPS tool has up to date information on the mountain and town restaurants and bars including location, time taken to ski to, and any specials like live music or happy hours. You can plot a course for the day, get guided to a hidden restaurant (handy for finding the secluded Rodelhutte), or take one of the several recommended day trips for intermediate or advanced skiers.
The instrument comes with a neck strap but it was small enough to fit in my ski jacket front pocket. [It] was a hit at lunch when we pulled up Kapallstube and I soon had a wrack of ski bunnies looking over my shoulder at my morning’s skiing replayed.
In the afternoon we put in some serious speed cruising and we took turns with the GPS to see who went the fastest. I would stress that this is not the purpose of the Satski but it was a fun game for a few runs anyway. After I handed it back, which I did at the Krazy Kanguruh over a few drinks with Alisdair, they produced a CD-ROM of the day. You then run the CD at home and you can link through to Google Earth to see your activities in 3 dimensional display with your speed and distances constantly updating on the side of the screen. Very Cool!
The Satski website has a ranking system and I’m happy to say that my top speed, and skied elevation record, is still well above anyone else in my age bracket for that resort. Now I just need to set all the records for all the other resorts. I’m hooked.
- Adam Johnson
We have had so much fun with our unit – We purchased twp units in March and whilst it is sometimes hard to read in bright light its a great tool if you dont know where you going!