Thread: Smart ski poles

Pretty cool project on Kickstarter.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...f-the-ski-pole

Nothing can go wrong with this.

Nope, nothing at all.

^^
what he said.

Not real sure why they set the goal at $100,000. If they don't reach it they don't get a dime. Set it at $25,000 and hope you hit $100,000.

I like all except the phone / text shit. Can't people take a break from "being in touch" ????

Needs a "downhill at > 5mph" lockout or something.

- Andrew

great. more crazy interference with my avalanche beacon and my compass.

maybe they can add a scanning function to the ski pole ("passing 3 riders hidden in the trees to your left going 40, increase speed for first tracks!") or auto-detect the presence of wireless activation units for ABS backpacks that can be triggered while passing to reduce competition on the hill?

What a dumb idea.....Tori on the other hand......

Originally Posted by bmg97

I like all except the phone / text shit. Can't people take a break from "being in touch" ????

Some of us are still "at work" while on the hill . . . it'd be nice to know if a client/boss is calling. But I do agree with you, if I wasn't playing hooky, I wouldn't need or use the phone/text shit, everyone else can wait.

I'm not that crazy about the specific product, but I do like the thought process behind it. Mostly the slope angle stuff as opposed to calls and texts. The example of someone dropping his phone while on a chair doesn't really work, since most of us tend to tuck our poles while on the lift anyway.

Besides, buying Hestra gloves with wrist band attachments has made it a lot easier to access my phone quickly. I guess the only downside would be when it's extremely cold out, but in that case the phone can wait.

Maybe not the dumbest idea on Kickstarter though I wonder why they just don't make the grips and then partner with other pole makers. Seems like a lot of the 100k is going towards them buying up blanks from another manufacturer. And getting skiers to pony up that kind of money in the summer is a hard task.

This sort of shit does seem to be the future -- just look at the Kickstarter for the Pebble watch. They asked for $100k and are up to 10 mill. Come to think of it, that watch could probably do everything this pole can if someone develops the program.