Skiing, Boarding…and Twittering? It Might Save Your Life!

Social networking addicts are no doubt already part of the growing Twitterati. If you’re in the anti-twittering camp and think it’s a waste of time you might want to think again - or should that be re-tweet it? 

On Monday two snowboarders became separated from their friends (all internet entrepreneurs) in the upscale resort of Verbier in the Swiss Alps.  Rescuers were able to locate the survivor and reach him much more quickly - thanks in part to Twitter.  Once it was realised that the two men were missing, the others in the skiing party used Twitter to discuss the events as they happened in real time and appealed to the Twitter community for help.  Through Twitter they were able to access the surviving man’s phone number and he was subsequently located via GPS, Google Maps and his iPhone.  The other missing man, a British national, was not so lucky as he was reported to have fallen 60 feet into a ravine.

Having a GPS-enabled phone can be very useful, and there are other gadgets on the market that work well in an emergency situation. Expert skiers who like to go off piste should ideally have an experienced guide with them and carry a locator beacon.  In the real world though that doesn’t always happen. It might be worthwhile checking out a satellite messenger device called ‘SPOT’ which it is claimed will work anywhere in the world, even in places where cell phones may not pick up a signal. 

Twitterers like the shortness of the tweets (max 140 characters) and It serves many other functions too, such as fund raising, finding lost items, and sharing media events and information.  For a bit of fun you could follow participating celebrities like Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross – even though they are not likely to follow you back! For the uninitiated - try this Beginner’s Guide to Twitter.

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