Christmas came a little late for those who wished for the new Ortovox S1 avalanche transceiver….but at least it came this season. We just got the new S1 in the shop yesterday, and sold one the same day. Pretty surprising considering the current snow conditions and overall vibe I get in town these days when I continue to be amped and talk about skiing.
I put one on hold for myself (in case I can’t work some kind of angle for a ‘demo’ model) and we only had six show up, so if you are interested in one, come by soon. The price was originally set for $550, but will go for an even $500 now that it is in full production.
I played with it a bit in the store, and got a feel for the start-up and self-test function. I also was able to run through the menu quite easily without reading the manual, which is nice. I tried the search function, but it’s hard for all transceivers in the shop to work correctly, with all the computers, lights, etc…buzzing through the air, so I couldn’t really test that end of it yet.
The S1 does have some cool added features though, including a compass, thermometer, inclinometer, group test mode, and a few others. I will continue to play with it and maybe pick one up for myself, so look to hear more about the Ortovox S1 down the road.
Well….I would have thought someone would be interested enough to say something about this new safety device.
Seems like a cool thing, but too many extra gadgets on there for my liking. I’d rather have a dedicated transceiver and not have it go dead because I was spending all my battery power checking the angle of the slope that I’m on! Kudos to Ortovox for making some intereting and long awaited advances in beacon technology though.
Just got to go up on Teton pass and check this unit out, it work very well and much easier to use then the older style. So, anyone you go with will have a better chance of finding you if they have one. Most beacons use the “extra gadgets” anyways when slide occurs, this beacon just allows the user to utilize
them. Well made UNIT!!!