So as the nights start to draw in on a wet and windy London, I am finding that my mind now starts to drift off and dream about fields (and mountains) of white at an ever increasing rate.

In body I might be kicking up leaves of beautiful autumn reds, browns and yellows as I walk home from work through the park, but in my mind I’m already kicking back in a bar somewhere high above the clouds, having just spent the day pushing my thighs to the utter brink of their endurance.  I’ve carved through powder, raced down a boardercross course, taken some awesome footage at the fun park and even managed to throw in a casual 1080 myself.

… OK so that last part was definitely a dream.  1080? More like 180, if I’m lucky.

Anyway, my point is that snowboarding and my next snow trip are very much on my mind right now, and while I start to hunt down flights, accommodation and transfers, the guys at Crystal Ski have challenged me to try define what type of snowboarder I am, and then to try detail what a typical day on the slopes looks like for me.

Here goes!

What type of snowboarder am I?

So from the possible options I could choose, I believe I bet fit the description of the below, a Gadget Guru.

crystal ski gadget guru

Gadget Guru

You spend most of your time… downloading your tracking data. If someone’s invented it, you’ve got it. Your jacket has a heating system, your phone has a resort specific GPS system, and your watch projects a hologram of the solar system. You’re indisputably the ‘King of Kit’! If however, your moves leave you a little short of becoming mountain royalty, don’t worry – just wait for reality to catch up to The Matrix, then download any missing ski and snowboard skills direct to your brain.

My day snowboarding as a Gadget Guru

7am (ish) – Rise and shine … or stagger depending upon the level of apres ski achieved the night before.  Those Apres Animals are a bad influence!

7.30am – Showered and clothed to the best of my abilities, it’s time to get some carbs on board (pun certainly intended) by chomping on cereal and toast.

7.45am – Fully fed and ready for the day, it’s now time to make sure the gadget bag is ready, and that every gadget is fully charged.  The contents of the bag include …

8am – Final supplies are loaded into my backpack.  This includes cereal bars (more carbs) and my water-2-go water bottle, which is technically also a gadget as it can filter snow into perfectly clean drinking water.

9am – By this point I am at the very least in the queue for a chair lift, if not already on one and ascending to where my days snowboarding will begin.  Instgram’s are highly likely at this point.

10.30am – A quick food and drink break after the first few twisty blues and/or reds of the day.  My head is feeling much clearer, and my GoPro is already strapped to it and filming the days action.

11.30am – I fall off a drag lift because I suck at them.

12.30pm – Time to switch angles, the GoPro moves from the head mount to the chest mount.  Hopefully the sky is blue so that the 4k footage looks immaculate when I get home and copy it over to my Macbook.

1pm – Time for a spot of al fresco lunch, followed by bit of rest time in a deck chair. Nothing like catching a few rays while surrounded by the white stuff.

water-to-go

2pm – Right, back to it, but lets up the ante in the afternoon session!  I feel a few more reds coming on, and if I’m feeling brave, maybe a black.

3pm – Fun park time, both on my board and then behind the camera.  Fun parks are always a great place to get some cool photos and video.

4pm – Time for one last run of the day, although if it isn’t a good one I’ll have join the Mile Munchers and get the last lift to go one more.  You can’t end the day on a bad run!

5pm – Apres time, although I need a few more hands to help me juggle my iphone, GoPro, Sony Alpha, beer and hammer.  The hammer is for playing Hammerschlagen, not for smashing up all my gadgets.

6pm – Time to head back to the apartment and spruce up for dinner, you need to keep up appearances when surrounded by Piste Princesses.  But all that can wait till I’v uploaded a few videos and photos.  Priorities!

7pm – Dinner time.  Lets head somewhere local, and with an open fire.  Once inside give me something cheesy or steak, or cheesy steak.

9pm – The Apres Animals are becoming a bad influence, but I kinda like it.  As another beer is passed my way, we toast to a great days boarding where everyone made it down the mountain safely.

??pm – Time to call it a night I think and head back towards my bed.  My iphone and an offline map I saved earlier lead the way home, and complete my day of gadgetary.  More of the same again tomorrow.

Why all the gadgets?

Why? Because they’re fun, and I find that they enhance my experience and lasting memories of any trip, snow or otherwise.

I quite enjoy making post travel videos (ahem, look below), and trying to capture the feel of said travels so that I can experience them again at a later date simply by pressing play.

Other gadgets such as GPS and offline maps are so that I simply make it down the mountain and home in one piece.  It’s actually not the worst idea for all skiers or boarders to have some kind of tool which they can use to track their locations and/or make contact with someone should they get into trouble. Just sayin.

ski_collage

What type of skier/snowboarder am I?

So what type of skier/snowboarder am I?

Well I reckon I’m 80% a Gadget Guru, but with tendencies to become an Apres Animal should I be surrounded by the right people and in a resort that offers amazing nightlife.

Of course there is no right or wrong type to be, just as long as you play safe and enjoy yourself.

See you on the mountain.

 @CrystalSki

 #SkiExplorer

 www.crystalski.co.uk