Skiing with Tunes -- Good or Bad?

I like it, from time to time. It is like skiing with my own soundtrack. I use bluetooth headphones (in my helmet) but at a low volume. The headphone design vs. in the ears still allows ambient sounds to be heard. I don't favor in the ear type buds due to the fast that they shut off other sounds. 

I don't ever use em.   I don't have a problem with others,  as long as they know what's going on around themselves. 

If you have the music cranked, you better have your head on a swivel?

I was riding on a rail trail last week and there was a girl running right down the middle.   I was yelling and she couldn't hear shit.

I took her on the right and she spooked?

If you're skiing properly- no matter how loud they are, you shouldn't hear them on decent.  At least how it is for me. 

Tunes are most useful on the lift.

They detract from the experience that I'm after, which includes the sights, smells, and sounds of the mountains.  I feel like I'm in a bubble when I listen to tunes on headphones, and I want to be fully involved with where I am.

I like the cheezy piped in music that areas blast from lift tower speakers on runs near the base lodge.  That way I can hear some tunes that don't block out the other sounds.  I listen to my own stuff during the 3 + hour trip to and from the resort.  But, up top and on the more remote areas I prefer nature.  So, "no" to skiing with tunes in general.

Tunes are great for the lifts but leave them there. I believe they pose a genuine hazard if used while skiing. They impair sensory feedback necessary for safe skiing.

Why not bring back the Bone Fone?  That way you can still have the other sensory feedback AND share your favorite radio station with your lift ride neighbors

I'm with Kneale.  I am sure it makes it more enjoyable, but it interferes with your awareness of your surroundings.  

I was a hold out for a long time until a friend practically forced his old Ipod on me.  I figured I had enough music in my car & at home without having to bring it into the mountains.  Before that, there was always music in my head anyway.

Now I am hooked!  I go nowhere without music.  Music is the fruit of life & makes everything better.  With that said, I listen less skiing than with most of my other activities & rarely when I am with others.  Mostly at a very low volume on the downhill.

JF

Normally yes when skiing solo, never when with others.  The volume is left low enough to hear 'crispy' snow, and rarely surprised by a passing skier.  It probably adds risk, but what doesn't in skiing; and a bit of discretion helps.  It can be so nice to get your head aligned a little before entering something interesting, and the metronome effect can help when doing drills. 

The social aspect can be kind of interesting sometimes too.  Riding the bubble-lift at the Canyons with a young park rat guy this winter.  I am the the old gray haired grandpa looking fart to this young man.  He has a really cool Grateful Dead patch on his coat, and commented on it.  Old folks aren't supposed to know that kind of stuff.  We got talking music and Dead concerts.  Turned him onto some Quicksilver Messenger Service and Beautiful Day from my play-list, he had never heard of either group and was blown away.  At the other end of the chair was a 40 something banker looking guy who had not said a word, he chimed in near the top with some Dead trivia neither of us had ever heard before.  Suspect all of us have talked about that chair ride, music made the day more memorable.

I agree strongly with those that have said it detracts from what I think of as "situational awareness."  Part of that is being able to see what's going around you, but I like to be able to hear what's going on around me also....especially when there are quite a few other people on the slope.

If I hear someone coming up behind me, I know not to veer one way or another so as not to obstruct them.  Yes, I know that as the downhill skier I have the right-of-way, but I subscribe to a "Defensive Driving" philosophy while skiing, in that there are things I can do to prevent collisions...even though the Responsibility Code doesn't require I do them.

The flip side of that are the few times I've come upon someone from behind banging my poles and shouting "on your left/right," and they've been oblivious due to earbuds, thereby necessitating abrupt evasive action...including one unsuccessful effort on one unfortunate occasion.

Secondarily, they do hinder conversation, the ability to hear instructions from ski area employees, warning sounds, or even someone shouting for assistance.  Lastly, a little AC/DC blaring in my ears does nothing to enhance the peace and serenity of gliding on snow through the forested mountains...once away from the teeming hordes, that is. 

Some Floyd or Moody Blues on the lifts, and some Cramps or Stooges for the ride down...Priceless

I ski mostly at night and pretty much get the hill to our selves,so don't get any traffic.Weekends i am off the hill by 10.30 am

Just to many people.So i think i am pretty safe cranking it up and dancing my way down the hill

Every good skier should have their own theme music..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adie 

Tunes are great for the lifts but leave them there. I believe they pose a genuine hazard if used while skiing. They impair sensory feedback necessary for safe skiing.

Not really true. I ride with one headphone in specifically so I can keep an ear to the slopes, so to speak. Never had a problem. I'm sure there are plenty of others that have never had a problem, either

There's no guarantee they would hear you without headphones. Some jack bag ran into me one time from behind (on a crowded green slope at the beginning of the season), then tried to blame me because he was yelling "on your left" (as he ran into me). And I didn't have headphones. Frankly, if you're yelling "on your left," you're doing something wrong. If you slow down and pass with caution with plenty of room, you don't have to say anything. Yelling at someone as you attempt to eek by them doesn't sound very "defensive driving" like.

Don't understand broad generalizations to explain away the divergent opinions natural in human nature - especially for something as simple and universal as liking music.  Music helps speed the lift ride, and it gives some rhythm to the ride. If I didn't love snowboarding, there are a lot of other places I could listen to music. If I wanted to get in touch with the mountains or whatever, I would do something other than riding machines up a man-icured hunk of mountain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crgildart 

Why not bring back the Bone Fone?  That way you can still have the other sensory feedback AND share your favorite radio station with your lift ride neighbors

Done: http://www.sonicwalk.com/sonicwalk/

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeUT 

Not really true. I ride with one headphone in specifically so I can keep an ear to the slopes, so to speak. Never had a problem. I'm sure there are plenty of others that have never had a problem, either

 

 

 

Sounds like the same argument people present for using mobile phones (cell phones) in their cars or driving (or skiing come to that) after a few drinks. Never had a problem with it! Look at the statistics and see what the problem is. Sure 1 headphone is better but without 2 ears functioning directional information will not be right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adie 

Sounds like the same argument people present for using mobile phones (cell phones) in their cars or driving (or skiing come to that) after a few drinks. Never had a problem with it! Look at the statistics and see what the problem is. Sure 1 headphone is better but without 2 ears functioning directional information will not be right.

Yeah, except that a better analogy would be driving with music (which isn't a social problem, from what I understand). Incidentally, skiing with music isn't a government regulated problem, either.

Should they make deaf skiers ski with guides and wear special vests?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeUT 

Yeah, except that a better analogy would be driving with music (which isn't a social problem, from what I understand). Incidentally, skiing with music isn't a government regulated problem, either.

Apparently, in CA it IS illegal to drive or bike with earbuds in.  But, you are OK because one ear is fine, two is illegal hahaha..

Can't agree with you there as music in the car is generally not through earphones and good drivers are getting constant feedback of all that goes on around them from mirrors etc. Raw auditory perception is not quite as essential but I would agree if it were blotting out extraneous noise. I hope none of it is ever government regulated, but I do hope smart considerate and safe skiers think carefully about it. I remember when skiing accidents through poor equipment were commonplace and this was our great enemy. Now with collisions accounting for so many problems I think we need to do what we can to make this aspect of skiing as safe as possible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeUT 

Frankly, if you're yelling "on your left," you're doing something wrong. If you slow down and pass with caution with plenty of room, you don't have to say anything. Yelling at someone as you attempt to eek by them doesn't sound very "defensive driving" like.

So, are you implying that in your entire skiing life, you've never once alerted someone ahead of you that you were about to pass them on one side or the other???  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skierish 

 

So, are you implying that in your entire skiing life, you've never once alerted someone ahead of you that you were about to pass them on one side or the other???  

That's what I'm claiming, yes. Except that I've never skied, so I'd call it my snowboarding life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adie 

Can't agree with you there as music in the car is generally not through earphones and good drivers are getting constant feedback of all that goes on around them from mirrors etc. Raw auditory perception is not quite as essential but I would agree if it were blotting out extraneous noise. I hope none of it is ever government regulated, but I do hope smart considerate and safe skiers think carefully about it. I remember when skiing accidents through poor equipment were commonplace and this was our great enemy. Now with collisions accounting for so many problems I think we need to do what we can to make this aspect of skiing as safe as possible.

Depending on volume level, music can drown out the sounds of the road, lowering your awareness - exactly the complaint about skiing with headphones. Drinking is an awful example (compare that to drinking and skiing, if you want to bring it up) and talking on the phone involves active cognitive processes that have been proven to be distracting. Music is much more passive.

I think the whole headphones collision argument is pretty overblown. The knock on headphones is that they limit your awareness of sounds around you. Now that doesn't prevent you from being aware of what's in front of you in any way - that's why you have eyes. So mostly what they limit is your ability to hear someone creeping up from behind. Well, the ski code indicates someone shouldn't be creeping up from behind anyway, and with hats, helmets, ear muffs, wind howling in your face, etc., there's no guarantee you're going to hear them with or without headphones. Sounds like the problem is people skiing and passing unsafely, not headphones.

I agree that it's in one's best interest to maintain some audio awareness - which is why I only use the one headphone, plenty sufficient.

Just remembered these, which seem relevant: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1415303287/airbudz. They create a little air space, which supposedly allows you to hear while still listening to music. Built in Utah and looks like they pulled out their funding by a hair, so should be available at some point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeUT 

That's what I'm claiming, yes. Except that I've never skied, so I'd call it my snowboarding life.

So, you're half deaf AND have a huge blind spot?

Hmmm... you know, despite using my iPhone for a number of things, i have never even considered listening to music while skiing.  I think it's because I already play music in my head, or rather it comes to me, in response to the rhythm of my skiing.  The song in my head may change with the terrain, a kind of "environmental shuffle play" that my IPhone can't yet match.

Also the earbuds don't work with my helmet, and I would be forced to use a ski hat. And we all know that everyone should be wearing a helmet at all times. It should probably be the law. (Changed this to another helmet thread.) Bwah ha ha