Words by James Box
Garmin, the leaders in satellite navigation, kicked off their first winter season by holding a competition participated by over 5,000 snowboarders and skiers.
The competition lasted 5 months throughout the 2009/2010 winter season with each participant wearing the Foretex 401 GPS device which measured their every move. After competitors strapped the mountain -orientated devices to their wrists, it was the fastest, highest and furthest travelled riders from the winter season who were announced the Test Centre Alpine Champions 2010. The state of the art equipment measured distances over 10,000 miles and clocked speeds over 75 mph!
The winners were announced in three categories;
‘How Fast?’ -Jonathon Brothers who clocked 75.1 mph
‘How High?’-Andy Fisher who travelled a vertical descent of 10,585m, and
‘How Far?’ -Ben Lakin who travelled 45.07 miles.
In addition to the bragging rights of being the first ever Alpine Champion each winner took home Garmin devices and a week’s holiday at More Mountain Chalets in Morzine.