It reminds one of the old skier versus snowboarder debate.  To the dismay of some and the delight of others, cell phones are making their way onto ski slopes.  The rings can be heard in the jacket of the person sitting next to you on the chairlift. Chatter between someone and their phone can be spotted at the top of the mountain.  Greg Terry uses his phone to keep tabs of his construction business in Pollock Pines. Terry, 51, was skiing powder at Sierra-at-Tahoe. He used his phone to get updates on a bidding process.  "I don't see people giving me dirty looks," Terry said. "It doesn't really matter to me. I see a few people using them."  Terry discovered the top of Sierra is the best for reception, which is made possible by cellular towers at Echo Summit.  "I think it's a good thing to have, really," Terry said. There are "places where I've skied where I'm not familiar with the area, so if I can I'll take it with me."

 

 Tim Escobar, an accountant in Sacramento, is also known to bring his cell phone while skiing. He used it in line and on the chairlift at Northstar-at-Tahoe last month.  "I was meeting people there so I wanted to get ahold of them and also in case there is a storm or something, hopefully I would be able to use it to call for help," Escobar said.  Three friends had different views while getting ready to snowboard at Heavenly Mountain Resort.  "(It's) lame in my opinion," said Robert Stratton, a 21-year-old from South Lake Tahoe. "You come up here to go snowboarding or skiing, not to talk on the phone." Ruben Demartini, who was at Heavenly with two friends from his native country Brazil, saw someone stop in the middle of a run to use the phone. Demartini likened it to someone stopping a soccer match to answer a ring.Interestingly, those who favored

phones were skiers, while those who looked at them as a breach of peace were snowboarders.

 

 Gerry Bell, a senior ski patroller at Sierra, doesn't see anything wrong with people carrying cell phones. Bell has been a Sierra patroller for 25 years. Cell phones and walkie-talkies are becoming a common sight at the resort, he said.  "To me the bottom line is any communication is a bonus," Bell said. "If you are separated, that is a means to communicate; otherwise we wouldn't know where you are."  In December a man became lost in Sierra's out-of-bounds area. Using his cell phone, he described the area to a dispatcher, who relayed it to patrollers who knew the area like the scrapes on the skis.  "All the electronics make it way easier," Bell said. "I'm able to find the missing person quicker."  And last month a 30-year-old South Lake Tahoe man tripped an avalanche while snowboarding in Heavenly's closed area.  Trapped in the snow and cornered and cut off by a creek bed, the man called 911. A tower on Harveys Resort Casino provided reception. A search and rescue team found him at 10 p.m. after the man had survived five hours in the cold.  Even Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Alpine County has two cellular towers.  With cell phones able to carry Internet access, some Web sites are popping up to send snow conditions as a text message. Other sites offer tips on use and etiquette while sliding on snow.  Al Springer at Mountain Cellular said a number is in the works for those in the basin to get Tahoe snow reports.

 

This article is taken from the Tahoe Daily Tribune and was written by William Ferchland, Staff Reporter from the Daily Tribune.

 

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Cell Phones Popular Even On Ski Slopes — Tahoe Daily Tribune

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