Do you listen to music when you ride

[Rambo]

I am thinking about gettting one of those new Giro helmets with the built in head phones. Do you guys think muisc hinders your riding or enhances it.
Thanks
Rambo

[philw]

No question, I have to have tunes on the piste. It helps with the rythm. Let's not have a poll on which type of music works best.

Just got one of the new iPods for this season, so now I can carry hundreds of CDs right there in my pocket and listen to anything I want.

[Tommy D]

No tunes. I like to hear when people are overtaking me.

Plus, I like the natural rythm that I hear in my head. No, that is different from the voices...

And one of the best sounds of all is the silence during a snowstorm experienced on any mountain.

[GeoffG]

I love music, but I find it actually detracts from the riding experience. Back around 1980 when Walkman stereos first came out, I did try one--but even as a 20 YO I soon discarded it.

I do, however, often sing on the chairlift!

[emark7]

Tunes, definitely! Use a Nike mp3 player.

[kjl]

Help or hinder, I think it's just plain not safe to ride with music. You can't hear the scratching/skidding of people losing control behind you, and you can't hear people talking/screaming at you. It really freaks me out when I try to pass somebody who has little wires going up to their ears, because I know they don't know I'm next to them and they can't hear when I say "on your left."

my 2c.

Also, for a weekend warrior like myself, it seems really weird to go all the way to the mountains, where it's quiet, natural, and peaceful, and wreck it with loud music. Kind of like travelling all the way to the brisk, pristine mountain air and then sucking in a bunch of burning cigarette smoke in the lift line... but that's another pet peeve :)

[Mellow Yellow]

No tunes.... I love going early enough to get first runs....no ones around and its <u>dead quite</u>...that's the best

[philw]

[...]I think it's just plain not safe to ride with music. You can't hear the scratching/skidding of people losing control behind you, and you can't hear people talking/screaming at you. It really freaks me out when I try to pass somebody who has little wires going up to their ears, because I know they don't know I'm next to them and they can't hear when I say "on your left."

:p I can't remember when anyone last overtook me on my board.

I'm sure better hearing will always help, but listening is only one way to know what's behind you. Those with ear-warmers, helmets, iPods, or those below me (I don't side slip) have to rely on knowing what's behind them. Although of course we're all aware of where the responsibility lies in these circumstances.

I do occasionally shout, for example at idiots attempting to start out in my path on a black race-course. I can hear my own shout, so I guess I'll probably catch yours too:D

I note that tunes are banned at major heli-operators (you have to listen to the guide a fair bit and they like to know you're concentrating). I also note that deaf people aren't (those I know are pretty careful). I have seen one guy who would have died if he hadn't been well shouted at (it was a very big cliff he was on top of).

Each to their own. I'm with you 100% of the way on the ciggie smoke: vile.

[Howard Roark]

As carvers, we generally are going in directions that are 100% opposite of the other riders on the Mountain. We go horizontally almost as much as we go vertically. Given that, carvers need to be very aware of what is happening around them. I, for one, can not accomplish this while listening to music. I love music in every other part of my life, except while skiing or riding.

[kjl]

Originally posted by philw
:p I can't remember when anyone last overtook me on my board.

Yeah, actually you sound like somebody who probably rides just fine with music, because you ride very fast :) I've definitely noticed that the faster you go, the safer it is w/r/t people hitting you from behind, and if you just need to look out for people in front of you, you probably don't need to hear anything. When I used to go really, really fast on my freeride board, I rode with tunes a few times (quit because it was inconvenient more than anything), and never felt unsafe - If somebody else passes you while you're going 40 mph, they don't expect that you can hear anything besides rushing wind anyways. Now that I'm on my carving board and making lots of slower turns across the entire run, I definitely feel like I need to be very aware of my environment.

[Bobby Buggs]

Been using a Minidisk for the last 2 seasons, Just got a I pod.
I dont feel Unsafe using music when I ride. It makes the day Even better, especially when you hear one of the songs you ride with while you are working and it brings you back to one of the last turns you did.

[tigger]

i think headphones belong into the funpark not on pist,
i like to hear my surrounding and the condition of the snow under my edge!
for the rythm your right, but i usually sing it myself ( normally the song that burned into my head when making apres ski the day before)
have fun
phil

[Stan]

not for me.

However, if you do not like cigarette smoke - don't get on the same chairlift I'm on . . .:)

[Jeffrey Day]

Hey boys & girls!

I find that I love the sound of a well executed carve ( wether it is me railing around my friend or my friend railing around me! ). Plus, I like the idea of being able to here other people skiing/riding around me.

Happy trails!

[willywhit]

4 to 1 not in favor of tunes? C'mon. If you ride on the weekends then of course tunes are a bad idea, but so is carving at high speed.On weekdays, when there's much less danger of collision, look up the hill for ANY potential overtakers and proceed to BOMB the hill with the Hendrix cranking.Tunes are great for those annoying buzz kill conversations in the gondola too.

[Vahur]

Oh, I though that Hendrix belongs more to grass-boarding than snow-boarding :D

[garrett]

I listen to music when the runs aren't over crowded. If some dufas is going straight down at 50MPH, my only chance is to see him above me anyway--by the time he'd be yelling about my uphill carve, it would be too late.

The coolest music player I've found is called the iRock -- it's solid state (no moving parts, no hard drive) so it's very hard to break and can't skip. Holds two or three CDs of mp3s and costs $50.

The first time I rode with it last season, I was really sore at the end of the day. Music makes me push myself harder. :)

-Garrett

P.S. is snowing