Here's an idea for you guys

[richardvoyageur]

Hey guys, loving the site so far, seriously. Those last few responses to my "intermediate trails for first timers" was fantastic and far surpassed tripadvisor responses!

Here's an idea for you guys. Get a hold of a GoPro HD helmet (or something similar, maybe the Contour HD as an alternative) and document every run from top to bottom using the side or top helmet strap. It's a one time cost of about $350 (or $0 if you can borrow one) and you can then watermark the videos with your logo and put them in a new section of the website for everyone to view them. The only time you'd have to add to it is obviously when they add a new run like the new green one, #95.

You don't know how frustrating it is to try to visualize these trails, only to go on Youtube and see terrible handheld cameras with a ton of tilt and shake, bad lighting, etc.

I also think it would seriously set you apart from any competition. You ski the runs already, why not make use of 3 or 4 days of runs and make a KILLER new part of the website? You can also upload them all to Youtube, with your watermark of course, and youtube marks and drive some serious traffic to the site, especially if they are high quality (note the GoPro *HD* in particular, not the SD version).

Thoughts?

PS: The trail reviews are excellent but lacking in numbers, that's the kind of thing that will drive repeat traffic if you can get them all done, especially in conjunction with the videos to accompany them!

[freeskier678]

Well I do have a gopro hd just got it... It's all up to the owner of this site who doesn't have a specific name or says what to look for on the mountain.

[T360]

You have read our mind on this one...

We have budgeted the purchase of a current Go-Pro
within the last 2 weeks to do exactly what you suggest.

We say "Current" because up until recently, the quality
of image was less than ideal. Even now it's not perfect,
but with a very wide angle and a small aperture for a broad
depth of field and the ability to film at 720 p @ 60 frames
per second (which the Go-Pro would not do up until now),
we now think it is worth the investment.

We will wait until the fullness of the deep winter is here
though because having the kind of huge snowpack of say
the second week in Feb. makes a HUGE difference in the
"scenic ambiance" if you know what we mean. Trails that
have not achieved their packed, mid-winter width yet,
look quite different when they do, particularly with a full dress
White Blizzard coating.

Our Videographer is fussy. If you've ever done vid's
you'll know that to generate the Broadcast quality
our vid's have now, takes between 10 and 12 hours
per minute of finished feature video. The trial reviews
do not need that level, but to eliminate shake, jerk and
lighting issues takes a good source to begin with.
720 P @ 60 FPS is a good entry level.

We will eventually expand and include all the trails with
reviews, including the videos. One of the limiting factors
has been the time. The need to have a real job, real incomes
etc. to pay real mortgages, vehicle upkeep, student loans
etc., etc. gets in the way of the "Hobby" to a degree.
We're doing the best we can with the resources we have
at this point.

Bottom line summary... you're right on all points. The Go-Pro
is in the pipeline.

P.S. We have a sequential, turn by turn, wallpaper gallery of Trail #95
the brand new Algonquin, all ready to go. We'll probably post it in the
forums to begin with, just for ease and timing, but it will end up as a blog
before too long...


.

[richardvoyageur]

Wow, again, fantastic stuff here. It's like you're reading my mind!

A park runthrough would be good too, even if it does probably change every year.

Too bad the vids aren't ready for this year, that would have been a killer resource. I'm a nerd for this kind of in depth stuff. can't wait to see it

[T360]

Well I do have a gopro hd just got it... It's all up to the owner of this site who doesn't have a specific name or says what to look for on the mountain.

Hey FreeSkier678,

You can contact Chris Prouse via the T360 facebook fanpage.
Every single second of Video we have has been done by him
and he will be directing all future efforts.

Might be neat to do a couple of trial runs with it for test purposes
and if possible, would be keen on working toward that with you.

Thank's much!


.

[freeskier678]

Well I do have a gopro hd just got it... It's all up to the owner of this site who doesn't have a specific name or says what to look for on the mountain.

Hey FreeSkier678,

You can contact Chris Prouse via the T360 facebook fanpage.
Every single second of Video we have has been done by him
and he will be directing all future efforts.

Might be neat to do a couple of trial runs with it for test purposes
and if possible, would be keen on working toward that with you.

Thank's much!


.

I can't look at the people that have liked tremblant360 fan page. Could you put a link to his profile here.