It's going to be a tough talking season, as two editorial titans of the
slopes pit their opinions against each other. First up for discussion, the Ski-Mojo
- shock absorbers for your legs that allow you to "ski all day".
Purist Mark Frary is appalled - tech lover Sean Newsom is already a
convert.... Tell us your opinons at the end of the article
Mark Frary, wintersports editor of The Times:
Ben Johnson. Marion Jones. Floyd Landis. All people who have been stripped of
their titles because they had been found out for using artificial aids to
achieve their sporting glory. What has that got to do with skiing? Well,
I’ve recently been hearing a lot about a new skiing gizmo called the
Ski-Mojo. Now normally I am a sucker when it comes to new technology but
something about this doesn’t strike me as quite right.
It’s essentially a set of springs that you wear over your thighs and under
your ski bottoms which forces you to adopt the correct bend-ze-knees
position. The idea is that by forcing you to adopt good posture, you’ll
become a better skier and also be less tired by the end of the day.
Hang on, you say, there’s a whole world of difference between using artificial
aids to win a gold medal and using it to improve your performance as an
amateur.
I see it differently. You’re meant to suffer when you go skiing whether that’s
down to the cold, ill-fitting boots or falling over too many times.
I put the Ski Mojo in the same category as heated chairlift seats – the patio
heaters of the skiing world – attempting to warm up the entire outdoor world
just because you can’t being a little bit chilly. The Ski Mojo is yet
another invention for the pampered skiers that are increasingly cluttering
up the slopes. If you don’t want aching legs at the end of a hard day on the
slopes, then you might as well invest in a snowmobile and be done with it.
Sean Newsom, wintersports editor of The Sunday Times:
And in perfect world, I'd agree with you Mark. Because in a perfect world,
before my holiday started, I'd have completed a 12-week programme of aerobic
and strength-building exercises designed to bring me up to peak skiing
fitness.
Only this isn't a perfect world, and just like the vast majority of other
British skiers, there¹s no way I'm going to find the time to get into shape.
So I've got two choices. One is to go to the mountains, having spent a several
hundred quid for the privilege, and manage only an hour or two of decent
skiing before I lose my edge. Or I can make use of the Mojo, and prolong my
skiing pleasure until the lifts close. In other words, I can have an amazing
trip doing something I love, or I can sit about in an overpriced restaurant
nursing my weary legs, and my bruised ego, as the world skis by.
Hmm, now that really is a tough choice. I should say, at this point, that the
Mojo is a brand new product - and I've only tested it on an indoor snow
slope. Its aim is not so much to correct your posture, as save your thighs
(and by extension your knees) from some of the stresses and strains of
skiing. I can¹t give it the full thumbs up till I've tested it on the
slopes. But the signs are good.
When I tried it, I felt a renewed appetite for the kind of sharp, hard,
dynamic skiing that will put a smile on my face to last the whole winter.
Where on earth is the harm in that?
Got an issue you want our snow bosses to debate? Email us at yoursay@timesonline.co.uk
