bits and pieces
22nd May 2007
Now the season is pretty much over and the skis have been hung up and replaced with hiking gear I thought I’d take a few minutes for a quick round-up of some kit I’d been using recently that’s not made it to the main section yet.
First up is the SnowQ (http://www.snowq.com/snowq.html) which is a ski sling. I’ve got to say I was slightly dubious about this, I’d assumed that ski slings were amongst the items that skiers living too far from slopes to actually ski spent their weekends buying from the local store as a substitute activity. It turns out this is a useful little item to have in your pocket, so much that we’ve both wanted to use it at the same time. Where it’s proved useful is for those times you find yourself walking back along the road to the car or village, I’ve never had a problem just slinging the skis over my shoulder before but after suffering some back and neck problems I’ve grown to prefer using the sling, it lets me walk more upright and doesn’t strain my neck quite so much.
SnowQ mention that it can be used to help carrying skis (or boards) in the “backcountry”, I’m not so sure about this point. Personally, when I’m skiing off-piste or touring I’ve got a rucksack with ski racks on it, I need the rucksack to carry at least shovel and probes and more typically climbing skins, crampons and assorted climbing gear so I think just using a ski sling suggests traveling a bit too light for safety. But, I’ve not actually tried the sling along with a rucksack, if that works then it’s ideal particularly late season where you keep taking the skis on and off at the end of some tours.
In all though we’ve both been impressed with the SnowQ and I must pick another up sometime ! I still think buying gadgets is a substitute for skiing of course and that people staggering around with the skis across their arms look awkward, uncomfortable and like they’ve never seen a pair of skis before but the SnowQ has convinced me that ski slings are useful.
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