I rarely post on Fridays, but my calendar for March is jammed with good stuff and then (gasp!) it will be springtime. So, today I’ve got two short reviews of products I tried last week when my younger son and I traveled to Lake Tahoe.
Coalition Snow Skis For Women
I’ve been writing about these skis for several years — since the women-owned, women-designed brand first launched.
Thus, I was very happy to meet up with one of the Coalition team members and demo some skis when we were at Northstar.
Being an all-mountain kind of girl, skiing all-mountain kind of conditions, I demo’ed the SOS All Mountain ski (available in 166 cm, 173 cm and 180 cm).
The side cut profile on the 166 cm skis is not much different from my current boards, although each dimension is more narrow — especially the tail. With slight rocker at both tip and tail, and just 2mm camber, the SOS turns quickly and effortlessly.
I skied them in heavy crud, broken powder in the trees (again, heavy) and on groomed snow. A solid, all-around ski, they are light, yet firm; stiff, yet forgiving. For these conditions, they were more responsive than my skis.
Plus, they’re currently on sale.
Interested in demo’ing Coalition Snow skis? They’ve got an online form for demos at Truckee/Tahoe, Aspen, Whistler and Crystal Mountain and Caberfae Peaks, Michigan. If you’re demo’ing snowboards, they’ll ship one to you to try for a few days.
SkiLynx: Track Your Friends, Your Family and Your Day
SkiLynx is a super-handy new app that let’s you keep track of your friends and family on the mountain.
Set it up in the morning be choosing a resort, setting a timer and inviting invite your friends and family (who have the app installed on an iPhone or Apple Watch) to join your virtual group via text messaging.
The app features a detailed map for each resort and live, constantly updated tracking. You can watch yourself ride a chairlift up, and it will quickly tell you where your friends are skiing. It’s a lifesaver for parents whose children ski and ride independently.
Each day is limited to 8 hours of tracking, so you can’t stalk anyone, and the tracking only works on certain resorts at this time.
Similar to EpicMix, you’ll get an email report at the end of the day telling you which lifts you rode, as well as which runs you skied.
The app also has weather, grooming and lift status details for each resort.
SkiLynx stores personal data so you have a record of your ski season, the resorts you skied were SkiLynx is available and each ski day.
The only tricky part of using SkiLynx is remembering to set up your group before you start you ski day — at least if you want accurate data.
I’ve used it three days and rarely remembered to turn it on right away. But I’m learning!
As for battery life, I have an iPhone 6S and had no problems with this app running all day.
SkiLynx is currently available for these California resorts: Alpine Meadows, Bear Mountain, Bear Valley, Boreal, Heavenly, Homewood, Kirkwood, Mammoth, Mt. Rose, Northstar, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Snow Summit, Squaw Valley and Sugar Bowl.
You can use it at Aspen Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Steamboat, Telluride and Vail, Colorado, as well as Deer Valley, Park City, and Snowbird, Utah and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
More resorts are being added,and soon the $2.99 app will also be available for Android.
Thanks to Coalition Snow and SkiLynx for allowing me to try their products. As always, all opinions are my own and are exactly what I would tell my family and friends.
More Skis, More Apps:
- Update on Coalition Snow Women’s Skis, April 6, 2015.
- Why Ski $10,000 Skis? February 4, 2015.
- Girly Skis? Yes or No? December 8, 2014.
- Let Epic Mix Be Your Mountain Ski Guide, Plus Keep Your Phone Alive in the Cold, January 26, 2015.
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Richie Silver says
Tahoe is a fun place to ski- and who was that guy in the bright yellow jacket trying his best to keep up with you guys all week? LOL