That Taiwanese spelling? But Baiyue in Hanyu pinyin?
Ah, Atayal, and Tsou, I see
Sekoan is the Atayal word for Mount Sylvia, and Patungkuonʉ is the Tsou word for Mount Morrison. Beiyue as a concept I think was coined by the Japanese, so… Hyakutake?
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And the reasoning for using the language of indigenous tribes here is…?
Showing respect to the earlier inhabitants of the lands or just having fun letting people guess which places you mean?
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Just imagine following that kind if map!
Back to survival skills being #1 
Finally
I also seem to recall years ago (maybe 4-5 years ago) there were talks about maybe conducting a small trial of some satellite communication devices being able to be rented out for hikers, but never heard anything about it since (assuming I’m remembering correctly that is…). Anyone else remember this?
I found about that French guy’s videos recently, and yeah, it’s fucked up how fucked up things can wind up.
Also he needs to fix those subtitles… speed and grammar. But kudos to him, great job and impressive performance in the mountain.
I don’t remember anything about his. I might buy one of those though, if they aren’t super expensive.
He is not French, but Czech, I believe, or Slovak, one of the two.
Petr Novotny from Czech Republic
Huh… I really thought he was French.
It was something I saw in a new segment many years ago, in the same segment they were also talking about using drones for rescuing hikers. So maybe the video/news segment would have been about 6-7 ago actually…
The inReach mini 2 costs 13k in Taiwan.
Hmmmm definitely more than what I’m willing to pay now!
I always wondered what to do if I get lost in the mountain. Honestly, I don’t know. I asked this question to my ex, she’s a certified mountain guide in Taiwan, apparently she got the best score in her class… she didn’t know what to tell me. WTF. Or maybe she hopes I get lost for good in the mountain xD
I always use offline maps (don’t confuse that with GPX). I posted something many years ago about how I almost get into troubles for taking a shortcut many years ago… but even with your GPS and maps, sometimes you can get lost; GPS reception can be bad depending on the surroundings.
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In most of his videos accidents happened to solo travelers, and often went for the hike despite knowing bad weather is approaching.
Yeah. I’m guilty of both things, solo or with bad weather, but not both things at the same time. Also I rarely do the more hardcore, long hikes. Still some trails are pretty secluded… . Even when not far! I remember one wrong turn I took many years ago somewhere in or near YMS and the trail became really really tiny in the middle of a slope, pretty dangerous. Well, next weekend a couple of hikers in their middle age was found that ravine. Or she was found down the river, and they were still looking for the other guy.
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Never, ever underestimate some of the old folks on the trails…short trails or long trails. Once I was resting on a trail when a group arrived going in opposite direction. Around 8 of them…and I estimate the youngest was 65 with most looking over 70…male and female. I wanted to just wish them “jia you” but they were moving by so fast…almost jogging by.
When I reached the mountain hut a few from their group were there…seems the older ones did not want to spend another night in a hut as they had been hiking 5 days…so that day they were hiking double my amount at a much, much faster pace.
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And you pay for the monthly subscription on top of that.
100g weight is pretty sweet though.
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I would definitely buy one if I was to hike alone in remote areas regularly, even if it’s pricey and I don’t like subscription fees.
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New generation of smartphones will have the ability to directly communicate with satellites using limited bandwidth. One will be able to send emergency messages with GPS location even without cell coverage in most remote locations.
But I think this is still a few years out in Taiwan.
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/t-mobile-takes-coverage-above-and-beyond-with-spacex
Emergency SOS via satellite is available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Canada.
Ive had this for 3 years now (Bought and billed in USA). Bought it to please my wife since I like hiking alone.
It works but does really require open sky. Never had real use for it but tested a few times and messages went through.
Monthly fee of course does add up over time.
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For most people in Taiwan I think it’s a hard sell depending on where you hike since some mountains you still get great reception…and with the continued expansion of cell service on mountains for most people phones will probably be enough. It’s more useful for people that do multi-day hikes or go through more remote areas.
Also at the price just to buy the device itself I’d be more tempted to buy a Garmin Instinct 2 Solar watch which is only 1000ntd more, which would be a device I would use/take advantage of more often.
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I love my Garmin watch, but the battery life is crap. My watch and my phone are only good for day hikes without a solar panel or battery bank. Tech gets heavy. This gadget isn’t.
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