Technology has changed the way we do almost everything – including hitting the slopes!
Even though we get out into the great outdoors, get away from work and daily troubles, and lose ourselves in the beauty and majesty of mountain scenery… there’s no need to be primitive about it!
Apps can help plan trips, get deals, keep track of stats, compare with friends, find friends, make friends, and keep safe – all housed neatly on your iPhone or Android device.
Apps for On the Slopes
What counts most is the time you actually spend on skis, so we’ll start with a few for use on the slopes themselves.
Many apps listed below track your stats including speed, distance and time taken.
Just a reminder to not get too fixated on beating your times. Injuries happen when you over-stretch your ability.
Ski Tracks
This app is for both iOS and Android, and includes a host of stat-taking functions.
Keep track of speed, total daily distance, separate run data and even slope angle!
All of these metrics can then be logged, divided into different runs and plotted out on a map.
The app runs in background for battery efficiency, so you also won’t have to worry about it eating up all of your battery power.
The Ski Tracks app is a great way to understand your time on the slopes.
Learn more about the Ski Tracks App
Find Ski Tracks in the App Store (£0.99)
Trace Snow
Made for both iOS and Android, Trace Snow used to be called Alpine Replay, but has been updated and renamed.
It can track your time on the slopes, the distance you’ve covered, routes taken and speeds throughout.
You’ll know how much time you spend sailing through the air, your vertical drop and how much of your day was spent trundling up in chairlifts, laughing about the past run or planning the next one.
Compare different runs and trips via the online dashboard where your data is safely stored.
You’ll even know how many calories you burnt doing all of this.
A very clean and user-friendly app!
Learn more about the Trace Snow App
Find Trace Snow in the App Store (FREE)
Snocru
Another stat-recording app for iOS and Android, Snocru has other tricks up its sleeves too.
It records skiing data such as vertical feet, number of runs, speeds, etc – but it also compares it to your friends’ stats for some friendly competition!
A great addition!
There is also a messages feature so you can keep in contact during the day and meet up for group runs, specific challenges, or a meal and a session of sheepish excuses and friendly gloating.
A very social app, making communication on the slopes much easier.
Learn more about the SNOCRU App
Find SNOCRU in the App Store (FREE)
SkiLynx
SkiLynx is for iOS and is another great way to keep in touch with the group you’re skiing with.
You can use the app to find your friends using GPS and trail maps.
It includes a display of the difficulty of the areas they are skiing at the moment, and what percentage of the run they’ve completed, so you can choose the best place to meet up with them – without risking getting trapped on a run that is beyond your skill.
You can also send messages, including using your Apple Watch to send pre-set messages with a single tap!
The app tracks some data too, of course, but is primarily for communication and staying connected.
Learn more about the SkiLynx App
Find SkiLynx in the App Store ($2.99)
Epicmix
Taking the social aspect of ski apps to the next level, Epicmix not only lets you keep in touch with existing friends – it helps you find new ones too.
Find and keep in touch with new friends who share similar interests using this app for iOS and Android.
It is growing in use, but is still not available in many smaller resorts. At most major resorts though, you should be in luck.
Share statuses, mountain conditions, and even gain ‘slope points’ for your time on the mountains.
The app can also gather all of the pro photos taken while you were on the mountain, so you can have a collection of really great shots of your day, without spending it staring at your own screen.
Let the shutterbugs take your scenery pics for you – you’re there to ski!
Learn more about the EpicMix App
Find EpicMix in the App Store (FREE)
Mountain Hub
For a map app with a bit more sophistication, consider Mountain Hub.
It is a free app, available for iOS, that maps the mountain and indicates possible hazards.
Hazards and points of note can be geo-tagged, bringing them to your attention (and to the attention of other users) before they become dangerous.
The app can also track routes, functions as a map for navigating, and helps with route planning before your trip, or while on the chair or slopes.
A very useful app.
Learn more about the Mountain Hub App
Find Mountain Hub in the App Store (FREE)
Off The Grid
This one is for the Android users who don’t want their skiing interrupted by other Android users… or by iOS users either, for that matter!
Not specifically made for skiers, but really a great idea if you want to leave the rest of the world behind and focus on what’s right beneath your skis, and the scenery all around you.
The app blocks incoming calls and messages while activated, giving you the peace and isolation you need. Those who try to contact you receive a kind of ‘out of office’ message that you can customise.
Then, when you’re ready to reconnect, it gives you a newsfeed of everything you missed (or didn’t miss) while you were skiing.
It seems like a little thing, but it really helps you to be in the moment while on the slopes and, unlike simply turning off your phone, keeps track of everything that went on while you were gone, and those trying to contact you won’t think you’re ghosting them.
Learn more about the Off The Grid App
Find Off The Grid on Google Play
Apps for Deals, Weather and Conditions
Before you ski, there is always the planning and preparation phase – and the budgeting!
If you want a hand finding great deals, scoping out likely weather and snow conditions, and taking the guesswork out of your planning as much as possible, these little apps will help.
Liftopia
For iOS only, this app finds thousands of discounted lift tickets and other deals, local or worldwide, and lays them out before your eager eyes.
You can set up alerts for deals at your favourite locations, places you’d like to try, or serious deals for places you haven’t yet considered.
Once you’ve found the deal you want, in-app booking is quick and easy, so you won’t have to go hunting resort or ticket sales sites to find the deal yourself and buy it.
It’s informative, quick and easy – just the way a planning assist app should be.
It also includes snow reports and other information so you know if the deal reflects someone trying to offload tickets for a bare mountain, or if you’ve found a great promotion for a prime skiing experience.
Learn more about the Liftopia App
Find Liftopia in the App Store (FREE)
Mammut Connect
For the safety conscious – and we could all stand to keep this in mind – Mammut Safety has put this app to provide a wide range of useful safety information including avalanche bulletins and risk assessment levels, including snowfall and snow conditions.
The app includes functions that can be useful in an emergency on (or off) the slopes.
It includes a compass, altimeter, clinometers, and displays your longitude and latitude location for easy reference and for passing it on to emergency and rescue personnel, if necessary, via its in-app emergency call ability.
We hope you’ll never need something like this, but it can be reassuring to know that if you, or someone you come across, needs this kind of information in a hurry, you’ll have it at hand.
Learn more about the Mammut App
Find Mammut Connect on Google Play
The Best Skiing Apps
The best skiing apps are the ones that best suit you.
If you’re about the social interaction and a log-keeper for your activities, there’s a lot of choice.
If you even find yourself lost or in an emergency situation on the mountains, there are apps to help get you safely home.
The best part of all is that you don’t need to choose just one.
Load up on a few of your potential favourites and give them a try on the mountains.
Use the apps which help to improve your trip so that you can concentrate on the reason you’re out there: A great ski experience!
