The Pieps 30° Plus, an electronic slope inclinometer including thermometer, is already available in stores. But it's only now that news about it and a short practical test have appeared on PowderGuide. The reason for this is that we only stumbled across this small, inconspicuous but very useful product at the Winter-ISPO 2010.
Great, I thought, finally a reliable slope inclinometer that makes it easier for snowboarders, for example, to measure with the inadequate slope inclinometers that were previously available. And a reliable thermometer is a great tool for all ski tourers and freeriders anyway.
Pieps 30° Plus - slope inclinometer and thermometer
The small device is simple and self-explanatory and that's a good thing! It is attached to the ski pole with two reliably holding climbing fasteners and can always be with you from now on. Pressing the button displays the current temperature and the slope inclination or the current angle as a difference to the vertical plumb line. The slope inclinometer shows the steepness to within one degree, which is more than you can achieve with most measuring methods.
The use is very simple: simply place the pole in the fall line on the snow surface, press the button and look at the display.
After a few seconds, the device switches off again to save energy. Unfortunately, it is not possible to replace the batteries in the device, but this seems somewhat bearable if the battery life of at least five years announced by Pieps is reached or even exceeded.
Since the thermometer is attached to the ski pole, it reliably displays the temperature, but when freeriding, where you repeatedly cover large differences in altitude and thus temperature, the displayed temperature may often lag a little behind due to the buffer effect of the pole (it slowly gets colder, but then stores the cold), which is, however, bearable.
Pieps 30° Plus: A clever product, but useful for whom?
Skiers who have mastered the simple pole pendulum trick or are experienced enough in estimating certainly don't need the Pieps slope inclinometer. But for freeride beginners, for mountain guides, freeride and avalanche instructors, for all those who are in the terrain with less experienced skiers and want to pass on some of their knowledge to others, the Pieps 30 degrees is a fine little tool, and the 55 euros are really well spent here. And you also get the thermometer to boot.
Technical data
- Weight: 29 grams
- Size: 8.8 x 2.3 x 1.8 cm
- Power source: lithium-ion battery
- Altimeter: 20°- 50° / measuring accuracy +/-1° at 0°C
- Temperature measuring range: minus 20°C to +45°C
The device is available from selected sports retailers. Recommended retail price: 55 ?
