The Winter Tech Series is supported by Goodyear. Goodyear’s Winter Reactive Technology helps drivers react to changing winter weather conditions. Be prepared for rain, snow, ice, sleet and slush. Learn more here.
If you’re dreading winter, you are most likely not a skier or snowboarder. The same snow that strains shovelers’ backs, causes traffic jams, and turns to black slush on sidewalks is actually fantastic when you’re sliding blissfully down a mountain. Also, if you’re a skier or snowboarder, you’ll know that winter has already arrived.
Resorts in the U.S. have been open since October and some of the best mountains in Europe have already gotten a healthy dose of snowfall.
Winter sports season is upon us, and, like everything else, there’s an app for that. Here are six of our favorite mobile apps for keeping track of resort conditions, navigating the slopes, and capturing evidence to back up your bragging rights.
1. REALSKI Augmented Reality
If you’ve ever needed to ask someone what chairlift you’re on, you’ll appreciate this augmented reality app. The app uses the iPhone’s compass, camera, and GPS to label points of interest that fall in your phone’s viewfinder. You’ll be able to name the runs, chairlifts, and facilities ahead of you just by holding your phone up. REALSKI is free and includes maps for Copper Mountain, Deer Valley, Killington, Northstar-at-Tahoe, and Stevens Pass. You can download additional maps of about 80 other resorts for $0.99 each.
2. Vail’s EpicMix App
If there weren’t enough reasons to be jealous of skiers and snowboarders headed to Vail Resorts, this winter’s debut of the EpicMix app adds another. The application logs your day on the mountain, rewards you with special pins for accomplishments, like being on the first chairlift of the day, and helps you keep track of your friends.
Even visitors without smartphones can take advantage of many EpicMix features, because the phone relies on a chip embedded in lift tickets that is scanned by Vail employees at the bottom of lifts. The application uses information about which lifts the visitor rides to calculate vertical feet skied, days on the mountain, routes taken, and other feats. Visitors can log into the website or the app for Android and iPhone (the app for BlackBerry is currently in development). They can use the same app to track their family members and Facebook friends’ locations and accomplishments.
3. iTrailMap 3D
With the right app, smartphones with GPS can track your spot on the mountain and keep track of your total distance, vertical distance and elevation. But sometimes you just need to pull out a static map and plot your day. This iPhone app offers the best of both worlds by letting you flip between a “paper” version of resort maps and their 3D, GPS-enabled counterparts. The former also allow you to retrace your day and upload it to the web.
The full 3D version ($4.99) gives you access to 750 resort maps worldwide. The maps are downloaded onto your phone, which means they’re still useful on mountains out of reception range. Slightly cheaper single-destination 3D versions are available for popular resorts like Vail and Brekenridge. Big Air Software, which makes the iTrail Map, also makes an advertising-supported free version, but it only includes static “paper” maps.
If you have a BlackBerry or Android phone, try similar application Satski ($8.99).
4. Snow and Ski Report by REI
While it’s fine to remain blissfully ignorant of business, politics and world affairs during a ski weekend, one kind of news that you’ll definitely want to keep up with is the weather. REI’s recently updated Ski and Snow Report App makes it easy by letting you track the weather at up to 12 of your favorite resorts. You can either add resorts that are near your current location or pick from a worldwide list. See how much snow has fallen in the last 72 hours, how deep it is at base of the mountain, the number of trails open, and the number of lifts running at one glance. If you’re planning ahead, there’s also a five-day forecast available for each resort. The updated version also has the option to include a resort’s Twitter feed on its weather dashboard and even includes live web cams for some resorts. (Oh yes, and the ability to search for the REI stores within a 200 mile radius.)
REI doesn’t seem to have updated Android or BlackBerry versions, but The North Face makes a comparable app for both the BlackBerry and Android that works just as well.
5. Elevation Pro
This $0.99 app is pretty simple. It tells you what your current elevation is, which is something that being on a mountain, especially on a long chairlift run, often makes you curious about. Elevation includes two different calculations. One is the ground elevation using USGS data at your current location. The other is a calculation using the GPS on your phone. If you feel an urge to broadcast what you’ve learned, there’s a tweet button built right in to the application
6. snowEdge
If you must quantify your slope time, snowEdge will help you. The iPhone App judges your skill based on how fast you go, how dynamic your turns are, and how much air you get on jumps. By leaving the application open, you’ll get a measurement on each of these factors for every run that you do. Speed and air time are about as self explanatory as expected, but the measurement for dynamic turns is based on the app’s “Turn Acceleration Index” and takes into account the lateral acceleration during the turn.
An especially appreciated detail is that the default interface displays your latest run and your best runs throughout the day on the same screen. That way, you can aim to improve and easily track your progress.
Series Supported by Goodyear
The Winter Tech Series is supported by Goodyear. Goodyear’s Winter Reactive Technology helps drivers react to changing winter weather conditions. Be prepared for rain, snow, ice, sleet and slush. Learn more here.
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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AnastasiyaShanhina
Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, iStockphoto
More About: android, apps, blackberry, Elevation, iphone, iTrailMap, mobile apps, REI, skiing, snowboarding, winter sports, Winter Tech Series
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