Powder Project is an app and website developed by the same folks who made MTB Project that boasts GPS access to “secret stashes” and “backcounty zones.” Their mapping technology shows skin tracks via yellow lines and green, blue, or black lines as the skiable, downhill terrain.
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Upon examining a few particular ‘projects,’ we quickly noticed a lack of ski inventory on the site. Let’s use take the Lake Tahoe area for example. This area boasts hundreds of backcountry lines. But according to Powder Project, there are only a small amount on Mount Rose, Mount Tallac, and the Luther Pass, most of which are uphill.
So far, it’s clear skiers are taking a largely hostile stance against Powder Project and that opposing logic is solid. These backcountry zones are supposed to be an escape from the crowds and Jerry’s at ski resorts.
Backcountry skiers work hard to explore skiable terrain in remote zones and have earned the right to access these off-the-radar ski lines without an idiot proof iPhone app.
Sharing these backcountry areas with the world wide web and Powder Project will lead to more and more people skiing these lines and unlike dusty mountain bike trails whose conditions stay mostly uniform, powder/snow gets skied out. That’s not to mention the hordes of ill prepared that will flock to these so called “secret stashes.”
The idea of reaching the top of the skin track and finding a gaggle of cell phone-toting tourists is enough to give many skiers a stroke.
On the other hand, there are countless backcountry ski guides in paperback. These guidebooks outline much of the same skiable terrain save for some well-kept secrets. Some might argue that there is a bit of a double standard here. Guidebooks are okay, but publishing the same exact information on a website is not okay? Maybe this is a prejudice against technology? Maybe its a scheme by publishing companies to sell more books?
To skiers, good old paper books are one thing, but being able to unlock untracked secrets via a smart phone is straight up heresy.
*These views are not necessarily shared by Unofficial NetworksÂ